OL+Letter

== //Inspired by the wisdom of diverse religious traditions and our own history of ethical engagement, ﻿we strive to nurture spiritual growth, support and care for each other, and effect change through our love for the world.// // - Mission statement of the Community Church Unitarian Universalist //==

== These are bold times at the Community Church Unitarian Universalist. Even in the midst of a multi-year economic downturn we have been steadily moving forward. We have clarified our mission and are asking ourselves: How might we best live out that mission in each of its three intersecting, overlapping, planes: Spiritual growth, care of each other, and in service to the world. ==

== This past year the classes, and small group ministries, which offer adults and children the opportunity to grow spiritually have proliferated. We are deepening our Caring Ministry, with plans for further expansion as more volunteers are recruited to join that ministry. We are involved, with other congregations, in Justice United in Community Effort (I have recently joined its ...committee); many of our members serve the larger community in numerous other ways and in social justice and community groups. On top of that, we are in a steady process of discernment regarding how we might, as a congregation, be a voice in the larger community again. ==

== At the same time we are moving into a trial year with our new governance system. We are experimenting with organizing ourselves in ways that are, already, freeing up our energies to serve our mission. At first it might seem, to those observing this process, that we are only creating more bureaucracy for staff and our already busy leaders, more “institutional maintenance” work. But what these new responsibilities have allowed me to see is this: How much more fun and satisfying my own work is when I rely on enlisting the talents and deep calling of the members. Together we are solving problems, and entertaining new collaborative strategies. Under the new governance model our work is becoming increasingly a matter of creative interchange. This is a blessing. ==

== The Board has decided to spend the first part of the next fiscal year in careful planning and discernment, with the congregation, to set a new vision for the next five to ten years including a strategic plan to carry that vision out. My vision for ministry in the near future, as that longer range vision comes into being is this: Bring as many members as possible into the ministry of the church, in other words, the work of living out our mission. ==

== We have always talked about “Shared Ministry” in the UU churches I have been a part of, but now I am, viscerally, beginning to know what shared ministry feels like at the “growing edge.” What a source of transformative power it can be! ==

== So this is what I hope will happen in the upcoming program year 2011-2012. It’s a subtle change but I think it would have far reaching effects. I would like to work with the staff to focus on tracking membership involvement. We would then work to move more members into their own ministries. This would mean creating leadership and volunteer trainings, as well as opportunities for members to discern their own level of involvement in the ministries of the church. Ron Phillips a now deceased UU minister once put it this way: “Abolish the laity!” Think about it. Shouldn’t a church be the place where our inborn compassion finds its natural path into service? To minister means to serve. ==