Many members and friends have expressed appreciation and gratitude for this congregation, what we do and what we are all about. Some have confided having a hard time calling us a church or using words like ministry. Today I am going to take us deeper into these words so that we can decide what meaning they have for us.
For at least twenty years, UUS have been talking about our “shared ministry.” Mostly we have discussed relationships between ministers and the congregations that they serve. When I speak of ministry today, I will be referring to the work of the church. I define ministry as tending to the wellbeing of the congregation, and the spiritual needs of those engaged or interested in our religious program, our hopeful healing ways of life.
I want to offer an invitation and encouragement of enjoyment of and participation in our shared ministry. It’s my hope and my faith that those who participate in our shared ministry find fulfillment. It is very much like what our choir sings for the offertory “From you I receive. To you, I give. Together we share and by this we live.”
Both the minister and the congregation provide leadership, labor and enjoyment of the life of the church. Our ministry is bigger than any of us. We see only some of the ways this church serves. We see some of the ways that lives are strengthened by what we do together. We hope that the ministry of this church will live on long after we are gone.
One way to understand us is that we are a learning community. We are all teachers and students. Unitarian Universalism is what we are teaching and learning. Faith Development is what we do. Church life is our curriculum.
Participation in the religious life of the community inspires and challenges us to grow spiritually. The church gives us an invitation to further our leadership skills and insights. It equips us to live out our shared values more fully. Covenants encourage us to ask for and accept accountability. Respect is earned and trust grows. Trust is akin to faith.
Faith grows when agreements are made and honored. We reject authority that gains power by promoting and exploiting fear through threat and coercion. Our congregations grant authority when someone demonstrates that they have skills, information, wisdom, or a desire to contribute to our mission. We are learning and practicing ministry cooperatively.
Our tradition teaches us that faith cannot be achieved by force. When our collective effort is imbued with a shared sense of purpose, cooperation, and trust building, it creates a portal by which a liberating force enters this world. This force heals and transforms us. It inspires us to challenge limits imposed by fear and violence. It elevates our souls and causes us to set our minds upon freedom, liberation for all of humanity. Since its inception our movement has had reverence for this liberatory force. We have referred to it and conceived of it in many ways.
Most of our congregations began one or two hundred years or more ago either as a Unitarian church or a Universalist Church. The Unitarians saw themselves as followers of a divinely appointed teacher named Jesus. Universalists also liberal Christians asserted that all humans were destined to arrive in God’s boundless love.
Both of these liberal Christian groups were adherents of the social gospel. We believed that following Jesus meant developing concern for social justice, advocating and giving care to individuals and groups marginalized by society. Unitarians and Universalist believed it our responsibility to work in partnership with divine or transformative power to establish a society where human dignity could be realized. Both groups promoted the idea that love of God would cause us to bring justice and mercy into this world.
In 1961 our denominations merged to form the Unitarian Universalist Association. Freedom of belief continued as did an emphasis on social gospel. Unitarian and Universalist congregations continued Jesus ministry without requiring belief in anything supernatural. They continued his advocacy for poor and marginalized people. The new denomination continued to emphasize an Earthly application of Jesus’ kingdom of heaven. More recently we began using the term beloved community.
In the last sixty-two years, rich religious education programs, worship and fellowship have grown out of praxis; reflection, action and more reflection aimed at providing answers to the question “how to make the Beloved Community a lived reality?”
Toward this end we rely on 3 Ministerial roles; the priestly, the prophetic and the pastoral. The priest practices and performs the worship arts. Our worship services are creative attempts to express and promote our values, principles and purposes.
The pastor tends to the spiritual needs of the congregation. She offers a calm presence in times of adversity, loss, and strife. In the face of death, she carries our life affirming tradition inside her. She remembers human dignity and creates space for expression of whatever stirs in our minds and hearts.
The prophetic role of ministry calls us to confront principalities when integrity and our values require action. The prophetic ministry disturbs us and interferes with our ability to conform to the machinations of social injustice.
In UU tradition none of these three are the property of the professional minister. Living a UU way of life means understanding that we each have the power of the priesthood to create or shape rituals and worship for ourselves, our friends and family. UU Ministry challenges us to heed calls for justice and mercy. It asks us to throw our lot with forces advancing progressive social change.
The practice of UUism requires us to contribute to a caring community. Members are the ones who make care a reality. We accompany our fellows through times of ease and hardship. Each of us has the power to affirm the dignity of life in times of celebration and mourning. Each of us has the power to bear witness to the Holy, to bring or invite awe, reverence for the Great Mystery, incarnation of the transformative power of divine love.
Ministry is leadership and humble service in the practice of our spirituality. UU spirituality and religious community life relies upon covenants, promises and agreements we make with each other. Covenants give us direction for our shared journey. We promise that in our congregations we will practice acceptance of one another and encouragement of spiritual growth. It’s hard work that requires us to be willing to learn and change.
In the participation and exercise of shared ministry, we have great freedom and artistic license as we practice our craft.
Former District Executive Rev. Susan Smith taught us of three different preferences and orientations for UU life. Fellowship, pursuit of spiritual growth and outreach to the wider community are three basic ways that people participate in UU congregations.
Perhaps the greatest reason why we identify as UUs is that we experience a sense of belonging here. Participating in UU life meets our needs for companionship, friendship and fellowship. Socializing brings vitality into our religious community.
Spirituality and pursuit of spiritual growth is the second way that people enjoy practice our UU faith tradition. I define spirituality as the awareness or experience of being in relation with something profoundly greater than us. Many people express this as being in relationship with God. Others of us speak and experience as being a part of an interdependent web of existence. We find that the two are not mutually exclusive.
The third reason people affiliate with UU congregations is a desire to be part of a force for good in the world. This is where the prophetic voice of our faith tradition lives. This is where social justice, campaigns for human rights and human dignity come into play. (I like to use that word play whenever I can).
Not all who dwell in this realm are quick to jump into the ring of public controversy. Many UUs fulfill this need by engaging in less controversial acts of community service. Unitarian and Universalist history supplies many examples. Universalism continues to inspire us to exert influence, not from a position of higher status or imagined superiority, but as brothers and sisters called to promote human worth and dignity by living and working as peers alongside those organizing for their own fulfillment.
Sometimes when we experience fulfillment primarily in one of these areas of church life, we see it as the way for all church members to find fulfillment. Or we see it as what the church needs to thrive.
In most congregations, many people participate only or primarily in their preferred interest. Some, not all, are going to turn out for the protest or in solidarity with whatever group is under attack this year. Some, not all are going to participate in church classes and programs. Not everyone is going to give themselves in ernest to the work of spiritual growth; faith development, enlightment, skillfullness in the worship, peacemaking or healing arts. Some, not all, will turn out for every social event.
What happens when a person is on fire for all three aspects? Well in my case, very soon after I began attending a UU congregation, I received a call, and decided that I wanted to become a UU minister.
My intention in this sermon and in my job is to offer an invitation to participate in the ministry of this church. I see myself as a recruiter for lay participation in ministry. I aim to attract by demonstrating the joy of ministry. (Please try to understand that I sometimes like to complain as much as the next guy.) I want everyone to have access to the transformative power that works on us when we do the work of ministry.
I ask of you; please, do not allow prejudice against religious terms keep you from discovering the power and fulfillment that can be yours through participation in our shared sense of purpose. At some point all of us have conflict with religious language. That’s part of our program! Some of us have relatively few words or phrases that trip us up. Others can barely get a religious word to come out of our mouth. Both and all those in between contribute to our efforts.
Why do we call this a church? Why do you have to use the word “ministry?” “Faith, grace, sin, evil, salvation, G*d… Really?! Can’t we just ban these words?… Um NO!
Central to the work of this church is the ability to translate celebrate or at least tolerate the diverse ways we each express what is meaningful and sacred. When language becomes a barrier, we have the right to remain silent. When the time is right we can express our misgivings and language concerns in a respectful manner. At some point we will encounter language that challenges us. My request of us is that at least sometimes we accept the challenges and be willing to grow in our practices of empathy, generosity of spirit, courage and integrity! I pray that more often than not, we will be able to open our hearts.
Participating in the ministry of this church means celebrating diversity and practicing inclusivity. Sometimes it’s hard work! There will be language, programs, worship and activities that resonate and sooth or inspire you. There will also be times we provide you with irritation, challenge, opportunities to stretch and grow spiritually.
Part of our journey together requires conversations and acknowledgment that there are different ways to encourage spirituality in ourselves and each other. BTW I remember when the words spirituality went unspoken in a number of UU congregations. (True, Chuck?)
Perhaps you once imagined you would never set foot in a church again. Maybe it challenges you to use the word ministry referring to the work of this congregation. Even if religious nomenclature challenges you, I invite you to bring your whole self into the fantastic journey we call UU life.
If for now, an occasional Sunday service is all you can handle, know that we are grateful for your participation. If you have taken your first steps in leadership and service, congratulations and thank you! (thank you, thank you!) Please do let me or someone know what kind of support might help you to continue. And if you have been here forever, let’s reflect on what encourages your growth and fulfillment of the values that call us together.
May all of us find in this congregation, inspiration of great liberatory force, whether we perceive it as human or something greater. Together and in our own ways, we shall advance peace and human dignity. Lastly, I pray that together we can discover and create beauty and joy beyond our beliefs!
Amen? (Amen, Blessed be) Ashe!
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