Several people who plan to attend the Stewardship dinner on April 1 have asked me whether we have a keynote speaker lined up. I asked a colleague from another denomination if he’d be interested and he said yes. Vincent Lachina has worked with UU congregations and many others in his role as Pacific Northwest Planned Parenthood chaplain. Here’s what he wrote me as an introduction:

“As Regional Chaplain for Planned Parenthood, I have had two primary responsibilities during my 13 years here. First, to assist with pastor care for our staff of over 400, and when requested, for patients with unusual circumstances. Second, to create and maintain a network of progressive faith communities and clergy across the four states that I serve – Washington, Idaho, Alaska, Hawaii (and when asked, Northwest Oregon). Currently there are more than 800 clergy in that network, among them every Unitarian Universalist minister or congregational leader. It has been my joy to be able to speak in almost every UU congregation in my region (and soon to be Westside!), and to be a monthly speaker and an advisor to the Skagit Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Mt. Vernon for the past 6 years.”

I am delighted that Vincent will be able to be with us at this important gathering and I hope you’ll appreciate his words of wisdom.