I am a Trustee-at-Large which means that I do not have any specific role on the Board.  I also am not a member of any of the official committees: Financial, Worship, Maintenance etc..

Therefore I am going to write about why my wife Marquita and I came to and got involved with Tapestry. We joined for community. We have a wonderful community in Laguna Woods that we have built up over 17 years. However, we do not have children, and felt a need  more.

I have noticed that when some folks show up at Tapestry for the first or second time  they immediately feel that they have found a home.  For other, it takes a lot more time. We used to belong to the second group. We now feel that we are part of the Tapestry community.  What happened? One word…Participation! To think that we could just stand out on the patio and folks would come over and say something like ”please be our friend,” was so unrealistic. It just does not happen that way. 

There are two ways to participate, active and passive. By active I mean joining one of Tapestry’s official committees. Some folks like to roll up their sleeves and jump right in, but that was not us.

We chose the passive route. Basically you just show up. There is a women's lunch group that Marquita goes to (and sometimes hosts) and has made a number of friends there. There is also the Women’s Wisdom Circle. There, Marquita has gotten to know a different group off women.

I joined the Tapestry Mens’ group that meets twice a  month, once at a local informal restaurant for some light hearted conversation and once at Tapestry where we can open up and really learn about what is going on in each others lives.

We also belong to the Tapestry Non-fiction Book Group.  We meet monthly at members homes.  We not only discuss the book of the month but also do a lot of chit chat.

I am now on the Board.  Although I already knew and respected everyone on the Board, my appreciation of their dedication and talents has grown.

These activities plus auction dinners and Trivia nights have all helped me to get to know congregants. I now look forward to going out to the patio, after Sunday services, where I always find someone to talk to. I also watch out for folks who look like they are searching for someone to talk to. After introducing myself and asking some friendly questions, I tell them the same thing …. Participate.

by Jay Miller, Trustee at Large