Rev. Michelle's Message October 1, 2026

October is here! And with that, the spooky season has officially arrived. We have some fun things coming up this month you won’t want to miss.

Our Spooky Anniversary Celebration Banquet is Friday October 23rd, at Bayonet & Black Horse. If you haven’t already signed up, you can do so in the Sacred Grounds. You can come dressed up for Halloween or not, whichever you prefer. With a lovely dinner, silent auction, live auction, and dancing, a good time is sure to be had by all! If finances are an issue, we have angel tickets made available by generous donors. Please see me or Vicky if you need an angel ticket.

With the arrival of October, the Days of the Dead will soon be here at UMB—a time each year when we intentionally set aside some space to talk about death. Our Day of the Dead altar will go up in late October and you will have an opportunity to bring in photos or other mementos of your loved ones to place on our communal ofrenda.

On Sunday October 25th, we will have a guest speaker—Jenny Garmendia, who is a certified pre-arrangement advisor for Trident Cremation Services. Jenny will share with us some of the diverse ways death is treated around the world. Her talk, “Different Cultural Traditions for End-of-Life,” should be very informative and help us to gain some new perspectives on death to expand our own understanding.

Also on October 25th, at our monthly Church of the Wild Meeting at 2 pm at Via Paraiso, Laurie Wheeler, a death doula who hosts a Death Café on the second Sunday of every month at UMB, will lead us in a seasonally-appropriate “Letting Go” exercise using stones to release negative emotions.

Finally, on November 2nd we will have our annual Day of the Dead Remembrance Ceremony in which we honor our loved ones who have passed through song, poetry, sharing, and a meaningful candle-lighting ritual.

It is shaping up to be a busy but fun month. And we are finally getting our beautiful end-of-summer weather! I’m off now on another hike with my best hiking buddy, Alexander! Looking forward to a great month with all of you.

Spooky Blessings,

Rev. Michelle