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Rev. Linda Thomson, likes to joke that if there had been a poll entitled “Least Likely To Become A Religious Professional”, conducted in High School, she would have been at the top of the list. Yet life surprises us all. In June, Linda is retiring as the CUC’s Congregational Life Lead for the Central and Eastern regions, after holding this position for over 20 years. Based in Burlington, Ontario, she had previously served in a similar role with the Unitarian Universalist Association’s St. Lawrence District. She applied for her current position when the CUC took over providing services to Canadian congregations in 2002.
Linda was drawn to her position by her strong belief that Unitarian Universalism can be a positive force in both individuals’ lives and the wider world. She’s appreciated how it creates communities of support and challenge for people including herself.
“Things I don’t think I ever would have thought of before became apparent to me through my involvement with UUism,” she says. “My worldview really expanded. That felt to me like a really important and good thing to be part of.”
As one of the Congregational Life Leads, Linda has felt privileged to witness the dedication of the UU’s she’s interacted with.
“Sometimes when I’ve been in a room full of committed UUs, — and this is true both In physical rooms and on Zoom rooms — I just get moved,” she says. “By the care and commitment of the people who love their congregations and are willing to give part of themselves to those congregations and their missions. That’s really inspiring to see. These are volunteers who are working hard to make the world better. And that really keeps me going a lot of the time.”
“Many of you will be asking – what’s next?” For Linda – a lot of enjoyable camping and spending time with her beloved family. For the CUC – we will be advertising and hiring a Congregational Life position later in the spring, with a planned overlap with Linda before she leaves.”
The technological advances that have occurred over the past two decades have significantly impacted Linda’s work. Recalling a time when group meetings had to be held by phone and many congregations only had print editions of their newsletters, she’s grateful that videoconferencing and email have made it easier to connect.
“That’s a practical change, but it’s made really cool things possible,” she says. “We are able to network and collaborate in ways that we couldn’t before.”
In a time of rising secularism and anti-religiosity, Linda believes UUism is handling the challenges this poses better than many other faith traditions. But she’s nonetheless concerned by the sense, particularly among the younger generations, that church is “old-fashioned” or irrelevant, a misconception she hopes can be addressed.
“That is probably where my place of concern lies,” she says. How do we make ourselves known and how do we disavow people of the notion that we are not relevant to their lives because people have a need to reflect on the meaning of life and the big questions and to be in community with one another and to be challenged. And there are other ways to do it, but we’re a really great way to do it, and I want people to know that.”
While technology has made connection across congregations easier, Linda emphasizes that relationships remain the foundation of the work, and anyone doing similar work to start with relationships. The connections she’s built in her role are something she anticipates she’ll miss in retirement.
“I’ll miss the people,” she says. “I’ve made lots of dear relationships and I won’t be in regular contact with those folks as much anymore. That feels like a bit of a looming hole.”
In retirement, Linda is looking forward to once again singing in her church choir, doing some traveling, and perhaps some contract work.
“I’m open to what opportunities arise,” she says. “I want to give myself space.”
Executive Director Vyda Ng says Linda holds large swaths of CUC history. “Linda has been a steady, wise and experienced presence throughout all the changes at the CUC since 2002. I have depended on her knowledge and memory and will sorely miss Linda.”
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