Humor is Crucial

By Ted Resnikoff

Beverly_LivingUU

Beverly_LivingUU

BEVERLY

by Kristen Psaki kristen.psaki@gmail.com @kristenpsaki Beverly McCormick Valley UU in Chandler, Arizona

Beverly McCormick knew she was a UU as soon as she walked through the doors of her church and saw the seven principles. She laughs while telling the story. “I thought it was a Unity church!” Surprised but excited by this new and welcoming community, Beverly now calls Valley Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Chandler, Arizona home.

On #LivingUU

You might find Beverly McCormick collecting signatures for her “Support the Black Lives Matter Movement” Action of Immediate Witness in high traffic convention center corridors. She describes Valley UU’s commitment to action as what sustains her in the community.

“There are things that need to be approved, as always, but at least it’s moving in the right direction. At least I find myself in a community of people who are open to ideas.”

At her home church Beverly facilitates Beloved Conversations, a curriculum that guides the spiritual and intellectual exploration of race and ethnicity in our lives. Beverly is a black woman and speaks frankly about her overwhelmingly white congregation:

“I facilitate Beloved Conversation and I tease them I lot. I call myself their token and say they have to be very careful with me because they don’t want to lose me.”

“It’s a good thing that I can do that” she shared after reflecting on her own words. “What I’m trying to do is to desensitize people so that when they need to ask really difficult questions with people of color they have the courage to do it.”

Humor, she says, is crucial. Humor is “the only thing that gets us through these really bad times. I’m telling you, it’s kind of wicked out here sometimes.”

 Find more stories of #LivingUU here.


The authors of #Living UU are Beth Neavel-Cortez and Kristen Psaki. Beth is a free-lance journalist based in Austin, Texas. She is a life long Unitarian Universalist who knows that story-telling is what saves us. Kristen is a member of First Unitarian Society of Denver. She is pursuing ministerial ordination with Unitarian Universalist Association. Kristen loves chocolate and coffee, together or separately.