I often receive handcrafted delicious food gifts from congregants during the holiday season (no pressure, I promise!) In the olden days, ministers were frequently paid in provisions — potatoes and beef, soap, candles, cakes, bread and linens. One could say that the tradition lives on in magical ways. It surely did in a New England…

As Thanksgiving approaches each November, with the accompanying food magazine frenzy over “the best stuffing recipe ever” and miraculous “to-die-for-but-low-fat” mashed potatoes, I ask myself: Is it really necessary to do something “new” with dinner this year? Honestly, I’d still be ecstatic to finally master lump-free gravy…and make enough! Oh, and don’t forget to thaw…

With 100,000 or so residents, Koloszvar is one of the largest cities in Transylvania, where a large population of ethnic-Hungarian Unitarians resides. A ministerial colleague of mine visited there many years ago for their General Assembly, with nearly 5,000 Transylvanian Unitarians in attendance! (Can you imagine?) My blue and white embroidered stole is a gift…