The Warmth of Other Chalices

Our Unitarian Universalist congregations vary widely in character and personality.  Some feel warm and welcoming the minute you walk through the door.  Others feel a little stiff and formal.  A few unfortunate communities almost quiver with the tension of unresolved issues and unconsciously “leak” their anxiety, then wonder why visitors never return.

When someone with an identity that is marginalized in our society (a person of color, someone who is transgender etc.) walks through our doors, how they perceive us has much more to do with our own emotional reactions to that person than do the words that come out of our mouths.

I’m just finishing the book The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson.  (I read this after reading Taylor Branch’s compelling trilogy on America in the King Years:  Parting the Waters, Pillar of Fire and At Canaan’s Edge.  These books describe in detail the Civil Rights movement in the South from 1954 to 1968.)

The contrast of the experience of the Jim Crow South to the experience of the African Americans who migrated to the North and California highlights the insidious nature of  institutional racism (and other isms) in our country and the toll that it takes on so many of us.

UUA General Assembly 2009. Photo by Nancy Pierce

We have a core group of congregations whose ministers and lay leaders have been working to recognize, understand and dismantle the ways in which the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) DNA manifests in our congregations so that our values of inclusiveness and diversity can become a reality.  It usually starts with ministers who are committed and make themselves accountable to this work. But it for there to be real change in a congregation, a critical mass of lay leaders also needs to commit to the work.   This means more than just taking a workshop or two.  Instead it is a spiritual engagement with the underlying causes and effects of racism in ourselves as well as in our institutions and society.

There are many stories and examples of congregations who have chosen to do the soul work of building anti-racist, anti-oppressive, multi-cultural (ARAOMC) communities.  This doesn’t necessarily translate into a visibly diverse membership. But it does create a community with a warmth toward difference that is worthy of our chalice flame.  (For more on what a multi-cultural UU community looks like, see this article. )

As our demographics in our country shift further and further away from the WASP identity of our Unitarian Universalist forebears, our congregations will also need to shift to remain relevant.  I consider multicultural sensibility to be core competency of every leader and a key aspect of any leadership development program. I hope that you encourage your leaders to take the time to attend the conferences that we offer and to check out the free resources on the UUA website to help your congregation be ready for the next 50 years!

In faith and service,
Rev. Renee Ruchotzke
Regional Leadership Development Consultant
Central East Region of the UUA

‘Tis a Gift to Be Simple

My shelves full of leadership development books are a lot like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates…”You never know what you’re gonna get.”  This summer I’ve discovered the equivalent of a smooth, rich truffle. 

I picked up the book Simple Church: Returning to God’s Process for Making Disciples by church consultant Thom S. Rainer and Eric Geiger, pastor of a thriving multi-cultural congregation in Florida. Using case studies from 400 congregations, they show how de-cluttering your church’s programming can lead to growth and vitality.  Their main message?

Vibrant churches keep it simple.

This should come as no surprise Today, marketing folk and savvy leaders know that people can only take in about 7 bits of data at a time. 

Look at the Google homepage:  7 links at the top. Lots of white space. Clean.  Simple.

In spite of this knowledge, many leaders still insist on bombarding with information—they have the space, so why not use it?

Look at the Yahoo! homepage.     
        Rotating news stories.     
                          Ads.     
                                        Twenty links to applications.       
                                                            More links to more news stories.      
        Cluttered.

Or the one at MSN. 
        Rotating news stories AND rotating ads. 
                                 Twenty pull-downlinks at the top of the page.  
                                                       Opinion polls. 
                                                                         Links to dozens of news stories.
        Overwhelming.

Google offers similar information to Yahoo! and MSN. But they present it smaller packages and—in the long run—give you more options.

So how does this relate to congregational life?

The members of your congregation have only so much time, so much energy and so many resources. A lot of that time, energy and those resources are spent spinning our wheels: in meetings, in running programs that—while good in some ways—are not connected to a larger vision and in competing for resources of time, space and talent.

Rainer and Geiger suggest we do 4 things:

1. Develop Clarity:  What kind of Unitarian Universalists do you want your congregation to nurture?  Translate that purpose into the process of your membership journey—from first-time visitor to fully-active wholly-formed member. Then decide how each one of your programs contributes to that process.
2. Enable Movement: This means removing the congestion in your congregation. Just like removing chest congestion helps the breath flow and removing traffic congestion helps the morning commute, removing church congestion helps the spirit of life and creativity flow in your faith community.  By only offering programming that contribute to your membership journey process—clearly marking each step of the way—you offer a welcoming, well-marked passage into your congregation.
3. Align and Assess:  It is essential to integrate all parts of your congregation in alignment with your process, and constantly assess how your programs are faithful to your vision.
4. Focus:  This mean not being tempted to add programs that are not in alignment with your mission.  It means saying no to a lot of good programs.  But the good news is that you learn to say yes to the ones where you have the best gifts and where you will have the most impact.

Although the book Simple Church is written from an evangelical Christian perspective, the process is solid for any faith community.  The ministry team at the First Unitarian Church of Rochester, NY—one of our fastest-growing congregations and the creator of the popular Wellspring  faith development program—are using many of these ideas in their own membership journey  process  as described in this workshop at General Assembly.

Let’s get simple. 

In faith and service,
Rev. Renee Ruchotzke
Leadership Development Consultant
Central East Regional Group
rruchotzke@uua.org

To Be “Bona Fide”

There has been a lot of press lately about Generation Y—often referred to as the Millennials—since they started to come of age around the year 2000. It’s a generation that doesn’t fit the old stereotype of rebellious youth that began with the Baby Boomers; articulated in the movie Rebel without a Cause, or by slogans like “don’t trust anyone over 30.”   The early Generation Xers rebelled against the idealism of the Boomers (my favorite example being a line from a Sex Pistol’s song: “never trust a hippie”).

In his book American Grace, sociologist Robert Putman points out that the Millennials are less likely to have been raised in a particular religion than any previous generation, and they are even less likely to believe that any one religion holds exclusive access to the Truth.  Religious affiliation has been has been dropping off since the mid-1960s, due to religious intermarriage—which tends to negate exclusive truth claims—and cultural shifts on social issues—which make church dogma appear quaint and irrelevant. 

As someone who has one foot in the Boomer generation and another in Generation X, I’ve been watching my children’s generation with astonishment. Although they are the first generation that will probably have a lower standard of living than their parents, they are not nihilistic. Instead, I see a combination of cynicism and conservatism.  They are cynical because they have been immersed in a culture of hyper-consumerism that is more promise than substance.  In other words, traditional advertising doesn’t work on them. They are conservative in that they are less willing to jump into debt or marriage unless they feel confident about the reasons for doing so.  They yearn for authenticity and have little patience for hypocrisy…i.e. when someone says one thing and does another. They certainly don’t want to affiliate with a religion that will embarrass them. They are also firmly post-modern: they don’t buy into the grand, triumphal stories that only serve to reinforce existing power structures.

I find it interesting that bona fide, the Latin phrase for genuine, is directly related to bona fides, the Latin phrase for good faith.  A good faith is a genuine faith. It’s saying who we are, and then being who we are.

I believe this is good news for Unitarian Universalism. The promise of our faith is the promise of a living tradition, not the dry bones of old, irrelevant texts.  The promise of our faith is the promise of personal wholeness; from our identity-based ministries to our anti-racism, anti-oppression and multi-cultural work. And the promise of our faith is the promise of being connected to something greater than ourselves—whether we call it the universe, the Spirit of Life or the interconnected web of all existence.  The best gift we can give each generation is to embody that promise, to invite each new generation to join us, to nurture them as they become a part of our communities and grow in their own faith and commitment, and—most importantly—to step back and allow them to transform our living tradition as generations before have done.

May our good faith be this kind of genuine faith, where the way we act in the world reflects our highest aspirations.

In faith and service,

Rev. Renee Ruchotzke
Regional Leadership Development Consultant
Central East Region of the UUA

Open Doors, Open Hearts

Multiculturalism has received a great deal of attention in UU circles over the past several years…and with good reason. Sensitivity to and appreciation of different cultural competencies is a hallmark of Unitarian Universalism and inherent in many, if not all, of our principles.

The concept of Cultural Competence refers to the history, current needs, strengths, and resources of communities and individuals who historically have been under-served and under-represented in our Association. No group fits that description more than those individuals who have disabilities.

According to a July 2010 survey of Americans with disabilities conducted by Kessler Foundation for the National Organization on Disability, people with disabilities are less likely than people without disabilities to attend religious services on a regular basis. In their study, they found that 57% of people without disabilities attended at least once per month as compared to 50% of people with disabilities. Further, they found that percentage difference was almost identical to that in 2004 (the last time the study was done) and all previous years with the exception of 2000 when the gap was even wider.

As our church population ages, congregations would be wise to look at making necessary accommodations if they hope to keep their members and attract new ones who happen to have a disability. Besides creating a welcoming environment that treats people with disabilities as accepted and loving members of the church community, congregations will need to look at instituting changes in physical space. Those changes might include: Cut-outs in pews for wheelchairs, power assisted doors, assisted listening devices, large print hymnals and orders of service,
ramps, lifts or elevators, and accessible bathrooms, just to name a few.

We also need to make sure that we are always using microphones and encouraging speakers, worship associates, and others who speak from the pulpit to speak loudly and clearly. We should be wearing name tags all the time for people who have memory problems. We should have fragrance free sections in our sanctuaries for people with chemical and other environmental sensitivities.

But above all, we need to live our first principle and welcome people with all kinds of disabilities into our church homes and into our communities.

In his book, Year of Our Lord: Faith, Hope and Harmony in the Mississippi Delta, T.R. Pearson tells the story of Lucas McCarty, a young white man born with severe cerebral palsy who uses a wheelchair but also gets around by walking on his knees with the help of knee pads worn over his blue jeans. He shouts and makes vocal sounds, but for the most part communicates through an electronic language device. Lucas became a member of the Trinity House of Prayer, a small, poor African American congregation. He was embraced by the congregation and was in no way considered out of place or disruptive. Lucas even joined the choir. Pearson writes, “Without exception, Trinity’s members treated Lucas with unstudied compassion. At no financial cost to the congregation — no special programs, no architectural alterations— they demonstrated that making people with disabilities, even severe disabilities, feel a part of them is within reach of every house of worship. Sometimes it’s not about building a ramp. Sometimes it really is about opening up your heart.”

May it be so.

With respect,

Mark Bernstein
CERG Growth Development Consultant

A Living Commission

 “Faith without works is dead.” 

It was this quote from the book of James in the Bible that summarized the mission of the late Sister Jordan Haddad, the founder many social service programs in Portage County, Ohio. 

Several years ago Sister Jordan approached the UU Church of Kent about hosting a new program that would provide at least one hot meal a day for folks in the community. I am still in awe of what a strong leader she was, and how she was able get programs off the ground by sharing her vision and inviting people to be a part of that vision through their hard work and financial support. 

That experience was formational for me, and probably was a major factor that led to my call to ministry.  First of all, seeing what strong leadership can accomplish was inspirational. But I also learned that I didn’t yet have the skills to be an effective leader, and I started seeking out leadership training.

When people come together in cooperation and creativity, some amazing things can happen.  But—at the same time—change also elicits anxiety in any group of humans, no matter how lofty the aspirations might be that are leading to the change.

Hosting the hot lunch program required a lot of adaptation on the part of our congregation, and it wasn’t always a smooth experience.  But I began to learn how we could work together to build the beloved community.

There are many different ways that we can do ministry in our communities.  If someone is hungry or ill, we can help tend to their needs.  If someone is in prison, we can visit them and let them know that they are still loved and valued. If we believe a law or action is unjust, we can circulate petitions, attend a demonstration or even commit acts of non-violent resistance.

But many of the problems that we face today do not have simple solutions.  The context in which we live is changing – sometimes at a frightening pace.  We have to learn how to learn as we go. And we have to learn how to learn together as a community.

Our evangelical Christian sisters and brothers operate under a ministry commonly known as The Great Commission.  Their mission work – though it may be embodied in soup kitchens and foreign schools—is to spread the teachings in the Christian scriptures and to baptize new believers into the Christian community.

I like to think of Unitarian Universalism as a living commission. We do not offer a fixed doctrine based on a 2000 year old text.  Instead, our mission is to offer a way of being in the world that encourages wholeness, encourages creativity and celebrates diversity.

Liberal religion has always held up an ideal of shared ministry, that everyone in the pews is called.  Luther called it the priesthood of all believers.  James Luther Adams called it the prophethood of all believers. An empowered laity is part of our birthright. We have congregations full of folks who have both compassion for others and a passion to serve.

We in CERG are called to develop congregations of potential into congregations full of Sister Jordans – effective leaders who have the vision and leadership capacity to channel those passions and do the work to help mend our broken world.

 In faith and service,
Rev. Renee Ruchotzke
Leadership Development Consultant

Wholeness and Holiness

One of the themes of the winter holiday season, and of Christmas in particular, is the desire for meaning. In our short time on this earth, how can we make a difference?

One way is to become part of a faith community that is working for justice and equity in the world. But in order to do that well, each one of us needs to bring our whole selves to the task. For Unitarian Universalists wholeness and holiness are intertwined. And in order to be whole, we need to engage with our edges as well as our strengths.

One of my colleagues, Hannah Kardon, describes how her call to professional ministry enables her to explore her edges in this blog. (I had the pleasure of working with her on a Tapestry of Faith curriculum.)

“But in a world of increasing specialization and atomization, I love that I’m going to keep on being forced to do some things I’m not so good at. Being reminded of our flaws helps us to turn to others for help, to recognize our innate interdependence. It helps us grow character through humility, and remind us always to stretch our comfort zones.”

My belief is that each and every one of us, lay leaders as well as clergy, should have the opportunity to stretch and grow ourselves as we serve our greater causes. Each one of us is in constant formation, and it is within our faith communities that we can help each other discern our gifts and encourage one another to grow into our limitations.

In faith and service,

Rev. Renee Ruchotzke
Regional Leadership Development Consultant
Central East Region of the UUA

Will You Hold My Hand?

The frost is, as they say, on the pumpkin.  The harvest is done, leaves have colored and fallen, and the wheel of life has moved fully into a new season – our so-called “season of giving.”  At this time of year more than any other, we are called upon to “give.” For many this means opening their wallet to help meet the deep needs of our world and our communities.  But isn’t there more we are called to do as Unitarian Universalist?

Acting on our beliefs is an important part of who we are and the heritage we claim.  Our faith calls us to open our hearts and enrich the lives of others through continual acts of love and compassion.  Our faith calls us to use our time and talents to bring justice to those who are oppressed.  Our faith calls us to consider the impact of our actions on every living creature with whom we share this planet.  Pretty heady stuff for adults – consider how overwhelming it must seem to our children.  Being a person of faith is not always an easy road but doing something seems better than just thinking about the problems and the work that remains to be done.

Service projects are often our way of showing our children and youth that we can do something about “it.”  Our children need to believe that collecting coins in little boxes is real and that it really can change the lives of children halfway around the world.  Our youth need to know that walking in a hunger walk will change someone’s life, maybe even someone they know.  We tell our children that acting on our beliefs is an important UU value, but we also need to encourage them to take a further step: recognizing the impact and the value of what they have done and making the “reasons why” a part of their belief system.

As we enter this traditional “season of giving,” I remind you to look at every service project as a teachable moment.  By working alongside our children, and participating not only with our minds and our checkbooks, but with our hearts, we will provide them with an important model for living a life filled with spiritual abundance and the spirit of giving.  In our classrooms each Sunday we do our best to “talk the talk” – but the most powerful lesson is holding the hand of a young person as we “walk the walk.”

Blessings,

Patricia Infante

CERG Faith Development Consultant