The Words of the Rosenbaum Family
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The Words of the Rosenbaum Family |
Recently hosted in the San Francisco Bay Area, over 20 West Coast UTS Alumni, Family and Friends gathered here and connected during the course of the June 28 -- 30th, 2013 weekend.
Beginning with an optional Friday night dinner and presentation, then a lively all-day event at The Gardens on Saturday, June 29th, plus an optional breakfast before the Bay Area Family Church Sunday Service delivered by our visiting guest speaker Dr. Richard Panzer, we had a dynamic weekend together. Some would say full of a few pleasant surprises.
Along with great food, fellowship and sharing, we were also graced to start our Saturday morning with Dr. Mose Durst offering authentic reflections and a heart-felt, inspirational call to create a brighter future together. Dr. Durst, a member of the UTS Seminary Board for 20 years, advocated better leadership and board member training, pastoral counseling, genuine give and take to create compassionate culture, use of common sense to do what works, a core for social ethics, uplifting art, and a need to emphasize the positive – all in the spirit of doing good things together.
After a short bio break, each of us was able to share something about our seminary experience and our current hopes, plans and vision for using and multiplying our many blessings. We heard personal reflections with many previously unknown personal anecdotes and humorous stories.
In the afternoon, Dr. Panzer (President of UTS and Barrytown College) presented us some interesting information on the developments currently underway. Launching Barrytown College in the USA where much of campus life is corrupted for 3,800 colleges nationwide, is a bold endeavor. Barrytown College intends to be a place where students can unabashedly pursue a relationship with God and cultivate a life of faith, without embarrassment or shameful pressure. Also, a Marriage and Family Institute, as well as an Applied Unificationism institute, are under development. Lastly, Dr. Panzer reported to us about the exciting 1 month summer intern program, Direct the Change, which is now happening – attracting and engaging 2nd Gen interested to write Applied Unificationism scripts, create films and produce YouTube videos.
Dr. Panzer also talked about crowd funding strategies as a way to raise money and scholarships, thereby passing on the best of our experiences to future generations. He reminded us that, back in 1997, True Father proposed we start a 4 year college to host as many as 200 students at a time. After Dr. Panzer's presentation, we created small discussion and brainstorming groups on various topics, in which each of us could share more of our thoughts together. Our focus was on topics related to Real Love, Capacity Building and Church Growth, and Better Service to the 2nd Generation.
At the end of the afternoon, Dr. Durst, sharing stories of weddings and leadership meetings, took us on a brief tour of the house where True Parents had often stayed, had prayed, and had enjoyed the wonderful San Francisco Bay vistas. We concluded the tour and the day in True Parents prayer room, where we joined hands and closed the day united in an offering of prayer. Eight of the local Northern CA UTS graduates attended, plus one spouse, and two friends. In addition, three fellow UTS grads joined us from Southern CA: Bianca Palmigiano, Michael Ginze, and Helgi Hardarson, making this truly a West Coast UTS Alumni gathering. Many said they felt the presence of God throughout the day and were glad they came. Then off to dinner at a Berkeley restaurant.
Most of us expressed interest in following up with the topics discussed and friendships, some begun, some renewed. In fact, on Tuesday evening, July 9th, we did a follow up conference call and planned future rendezvous, coffee klatches and bagel breaks, starting in September, going into the holidays. Beyond our discussions and fellowship time together, there was an atmosphere of we "can-do" anything when we do it together. We were all encouraged to continue our conversations and work together, going forward, onwards and upwards. We encourage you to do the same – even better.