Member Profile - Dorothy Hollohan

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Dorothy started hearing of the Unitarian Church from friends and colleagues after she moved to Racine, Wisconsin from Chicago, where she had already decided the church of her family did not work for her. She liked the UUs she knew and what they talked about. So she tried it out after having tried out eastern religions, Native American spritualities and lots of Protestant churches with other friends over the years.

Her reaction: "I can tell you I experienced an immediate feeling of comfort in this church. I found a place where someone who was questioning ideas was encouraged to continue questioning and searching. I got involved in religious education to see what they were teaching the kids to further understand. UUism challenged me to define my spiritual beliefs, it challenged me intellectually and emotionally. In time this became my true spiritual home."

And, as her life changed, she discovered just how deep her commitment was.
"Here comes another 'home connection.' my husband and I experienced two corporate moves with his job, in 1988 from Wisconsin to Dallas and then in 1990 from Dallas to Richmond. If you have ever gone through this, it is an amazing process; you have several months to relocate your home and personal and professional lives."

"I can reflect back now that during this process I found both times that right up there with finding the house to live in and school for our son was the question: Is there a Unitarian Church and or where is the nearest UU Church? Both times with an advance trip of 3 or 4 days to find a home I looked up in the yellow pages for the address of the UU church and had to plot it on the map among houses we were considering. Both times I found we had to drive by the UU church to make the connection, to ground myself during the transition and move.

"So I came to this church because I am a Unitarian. And because of the religious education program for my son, the adult religious education program for me, the social action activities and opportunities, for the Sunday services that feed me intellectually and spiritually, for the Singers and the music, and because of the Quuilters. And I come to this church because of the people here and the friends I have made. I think Unitarians are the most interesting group of people, hands down, for their ideas, their values, and the way they live their lives. I have found this to be true for me in three states.

" I am thankful for this place and thankful for this church as part of my life."

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