[printprofilepic]There are many paths people walk in their journeys as Unitarian Universalists: personal (tending to individual needs and growth), communal (the smaller groups we identify with in the congregation—humanists, pagans, knitters, gardeners, etc.), congregational (the work of the congregations’ mission and vision), and associational (the work of Unitarian Universalism on a wider scale). Sometimes we walk these paths one at a time, choosing our focus. Sometimes these paths intersect, and we walk several of them concurrently.
As we approach the end of another church year, it’s a good time to assess our pathways. What paths have you traveled in your UU journey this year? What paths do you want to travel next? What paths do you need to travel?
The congregation has its own pathway to travel now, of course, with a new mission and vision in place, and new end goals to guide a strategic plan. What part will you play in keeping our minds, hearts, and doors open in the coming year? How will you seek unity in our actions while celebrating our diversity in belief?
The staff and lay leadership are looking ahead with anticipation to the next steps. We need you to help us along the path. Classes need teachers, committees need chairs and members, the congregation needs ideas for action in the community, and the community needs our presence. I encourage everyone to take the month of April as a time of discernment. Take time to consider your role in the congregation. Take time to come and talk with me or any of our lay leaders about getting involved and feeding your soul through service. Discover where it is that your path in the congregation is taking you.
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If you’re interested in looking at the associational path, then now is the time to consider attending General Assembly. This year’s GA takes place in Minneapolis, MN from June 23-27. The General Assembly is where the business of the Association is done. Each year we send delegates to represent our congregation’s interests in the national work of Unitarian Universalism. In addition to governance, many workshops and forums are presented for our enlightenment and education, providing much inspiration to take back home and put to work in our congregation.
This year’s program features the annual Ware Lecture featuring Native American activist Winona LaDuke, new UUA president the Rev. Peter Morales preaching for the Sunday worship service, and a service project in which UUs from around the country will participate in—helping to build the Hope Community in inner-city Minneapolis, transforming an all-but-abandoned area of the city into a sustainable neighborhood for affordable housing and commerce.
I attended my first GA in 2005. Although I’d been a Unitarian Universalist for several years and had completed two years of seminary, this was my first real exposure to what our movement meant and was capable of on a national, even global, scale. I can honestly say I didn’t get Unitarian Universalism until I went to GA. There is nothing quite like being surrounded by several thousand of your fellow UUs to get you energized and excited about our possibilities.
If you’re interested in attending, please visit uua.org/ga for more information and on-line registration. If you’re interested in serving as one of our appointed delegates (and note, you don’t need to be a delegate to attend and participate in workshops), please speak with our chair of denominational affairs, Mike McNaughton, or myself.
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The spring cleaning season is upon us!! Part of my cleaning regimen this time of year is directed towards my computer files, most of which are either cluttered on my Mac’s desktop, or lumped into a folder that says “Church.” I rely on my computer’s search function quite a bit, and hope that a messy desktop truly is a sign of genius. One can always hope.
So now, it’s spring cleaning time. Let me throw some random items your way as I get organized.
I get a lot of questions about books I read throughout the year. Every once in awhile, I remember to send Danise a few to put in a sidebar in this column. Usually, I remember to do this when it’s too late. Here are a few items that have been sitting in the bibliography file that you might find interesting:
Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? by Michael Sandel—Sandel is a professor of political philosophy at Harvard, and this book is a good condensed version of the introductory course in moral philosophy he’s taught there for two decades. You may have caught the videos of his lectures on public television recently.
IOU: Why Everyone Owes Everyone and No One Can Pay by John Lanchester—My current read. Lanchester is not an economist but a novelist. His research for a novel led him down a path of discovery about the global scale of the recent economic crisis. He does a great job of making a complex issue understandable to the non-economists like myself. You’ll probably hear about this one from me later this month.
As well, I get many requests for printed sermons, and I never seem to catch up with that work. I’m organizing and editing sermon files, getting some ready for printing. By the time you read this, we should have some back on the racks in the foyer. Looking back over three years of preaching, I’m realizing I’ve got enough written now, to fill a book or two. Do you have a favorite that you’d like to see on the pamphlet rack, or maybe even in a paperback? Let me know, and we’ll work on printing the “greatest hits.”
While we’re on the topic of sermons, you’ll have noticed by now that I’ve been preaching more and more from outlines rather than full texts. I hope you’ve been enjoying the change of pace. It’s been a wonderful challenge for me, and I hope that it’s been paying off in what you hear on Sunday. The trouble with this style, however, is that there is no text to print later on. If we have any budding transcriptionists out there who’d be willing to take the sermon podcasts and turn them into Word files, I’d be forever indebted. Give the office a call and let us know if you can help out.
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We’ll be holding our annual child dedications during the services on Mother’s Day, May 9th. If you’re interested in having your children dedicated in the church, please get in touch with me before the end of April. We can discuss what’s involved and help you prepare for the service.
See you in church,
Rev. John Cullinan
