Rev. Dr. Curran Reichert, Pastor

The slightly irreverent Reverend Dr. Curran Reichert has been stirring up “good trouble,” and serving up questions that challenge us to grow spiritually for the past ten years at FCC. She believes in the power of Spiritual community to be a force for good in the world. Curran is highly educated and dedicated to making Sonoma Valley a more just and equitable place.

Throughout the Valley, Rev. Reichert lends her perspective as a faith leader to addressing the need for fair housing and worker justice. She has been a leading voice concerning fair treatment of those without permanent shelter. She is committed to doing her part to end racial bias and deconstruct colonialism in the church and in our community.

Rev. Reichert understands that Christianity can be scary for people who have suffered abuse, or oppression due to bigotry and religious intolerance. She creates what she hopes will be a safe entry point for those seeking the support of a radically inclusive community of faith. Her motto is “Purpose, Presence, and Practice,” she embodies all three.

We love our pastor, and we think you will love her to. If you would like to make an appointment to meet with Rev. Reichert, receive prayers, or a visit from our support team, send her a message or call the church office at 707.996.1328.

Rev. Reichert often says, “FCC is the place you would want to go to church if you went to church.” We are a gathering of spirited people who care about earth justice, speaking out about injustice, tending to the vulnerable, and learning to find common ground, these are the relevant earmarks of our congregation. We invite you to join us on Sunday mornings either contemplative at 9:00am or regular in person at 10:30am. Here is the Zoom link for our 8:30 a.m. service.

Thoughts from the Pastor

3/02/2026

Greetings Beloved Community,

It is not uncommon to get a virus during the winter months. What is unusual is how many people are struggling with ongoing upper respiratory issues, coughs that linger for months and flu’s that hang on longer than normal.  I am someone who benefits greatly from acupuncture treatments and I have learned that in Chinese medicine, lung related symptoms are most often related to unprocessed grief.  

A colleague notes, “Grief does not attach itself to only one story. It gathers. A headline here. A conversation there. A policy announcement that lands harder than it should because our nervous systems have already absorbed too much. People pause longer before answering simple questions. We are tired in a way sleep does not fix.”

Given the understanding that God’s grace is not something we earn but something with which we are born, we also must conclude that all beings, graced by God, have value and deserve the dignity of belonging. Our hearts are aching because of the assault on belonging we are experiencing in our nation. It is a pain we feel in our bodies every day.

Fellow UCC pastor and columnist Rev. Cameron Trimble writes, “Belonging is not an idea we agree to; it is a relationship we live inside. When someone is cast out, the whole fabric strains. Like trees joined underground by living roots, harm travels. We feel it in our bodies because we are still connected.

Un-belonging begins as fear, then becomes policy, and eventually becomes identity. A system organizes itself around exclusion and must keep finding new outsiders to sustain its coherence. Remove the enemy and the structure collapses, so the enemy must always be recreated. The cruelty stops being a means and becomes the glue.”

Is it little wonder so many of us are experiencing symptoms of illness, increased stress and sadness? Our bodies know instinctively that something is very, very wrong.

Christian medieval mystic, Julian of Norwich did not declare “all shall be well” because the world had become kind. She wrote those words after plague, violence, and social collapse — and her claim rested on something the chaos could not touch: nothing exists outside the love that holds it. Not even the parts of humanity that terrify us.

Meister Eckhart taught that the soul meets God where it remains open and undefended. The armored self cannot encounter the divine because it refuses relationship. Domination always promises safety. It always delivers isolation.

Trimble writes, “The grief we carry is not weakness. It is evidence of connection. It is belonging refusing to die.”

With a tender heart and much love,
Curran