Caught in the Act of Generosity. Milagros Padilla

Milagros Padilla and her husband of 47 years, Dale Potter, have been Unitarian Universalists for decades. They joined their first UU church in 1991 while living in Boston. She says it was a small church with about 50 members at the time. They’ve been active Unitarian Universalists ever since.
When she joined that first church, she wasted no time becoming involved, joining the Social Justice Council. Milagros and Dale have moved several times since joining that first church, and they’ve always sought out a UU church wherever they settled.
Generosity can take many forms; in Milagros’ case, her focus has always been justice and inclusion related. While in Clearwater, Florida, as well as being active in Social Justice, Milagros facilitated a “beloved community” group and was an active participant in the church’s Black Lives Matter group. When she heard about Mosaic training, a diversity program for religious educators, she decided to attend one of the early Mosaic conferences and took the knowledge she gained back to her church.
Milagros and Dale ultimately moved to Albuquerque and promptly joined First Unitarian after a few visits. She says their timing wasn’t the greatest, as we went into the pandemic shutdown just a couple of weeks later. She attended Zoom services during the shutdown and met a lot of people by staying on for the chat groups after services. She says that worked really well for someone new to our church community.
Despite the restraints of the Covid shutdown, Milagros joined the Social Justice Council and remained active in the group for about 5 years. She also joined the People of Color group and continues to be active in that, advocating for increased diversity throughout our congregation. When discussion began about adopting the 8th Principle, Milagros quickly became a leader within the task force that was formed, and worked diligently towards making adoption of the Principle a reality. Additionally, she’s active in the “Widening the Circle” and “Authentic Selves” study groups.
Milagros says she believes that “to be a true UU, it is our duty to be involved in congregational growth. The only way we can meet our church’s mission is if we participate in it directly,” she says. Words to live by. She does.