Summer is Prime Ministry Time by Rev. Susan Smith

Some of our congregations are still shutting down more or less for the summer, even though this is a great time to provide fun and educational ministries for your congregants and your neighbors. The mystery of why we reduce our activities in the summer goes back to our Bostonian roots where it was necessary to leave the city and move out to the Cape or the Catskills to avoid epidemics of disease in the muggy, unsanitary urban environments. As far as I know, most of us have no such need for the practice now.

When I served as a parish ministry, I looked forward to the summer because those long daylight hours provided a luxurious amount of time for those who don’t drive at night to attend evening activities and because our busy families with no school obligations have time to participate in multigenerational programs. There is ample time to have a coffee gathering or small group ministry before the workday begins for the larks and mild nights to gather around a campfire with instruments and poetry for the night owls.

Before we had our very popular Hogwarts Camps, we used to provide Peace Camps or Science Camps in the summer and invite the community to attend. At the SWUUC Fall Leadership Training, we are providing an Evolution Camp to fill possible gaps in the education of our children, and I would hope to see these duplicated. While we often schedule these programs for a week during the day, it accommodates the desire of families to spend time together to offer them in the sunlit hours of the evening or as a weekend retreat. One of the best I’ve ever attended was a Saturday in which folks of all ages prepared for and held a Parliament of All Beings. These are great programs for a cluster of congregations to offer together.

Summer is a nice time to bring people together to share their hobbies with others. Fishing? Birding? Crafting? Gardening? Reading? There is something about summer that rests our minds just enough to make us open to new experience and gives us the patience to persist in learning. It is this openness that I do not like to squander.

The mind sufficiently rested to be open is fertile ground for faith development. Not only are the newcomers who have moved into your community seeking in the summer, but all of us are to some extent available to be amazed, engaged and fascinated. Worship can be less formal and at the same time more impactful. We can provide a safe space for worship services that are a bit more right-brained or more body than mind. We can approach the same transcendent value like peacemaking or agape love or Mother Earth in a dozen different ways. It’s summer, and we have the time.

Thank you all so much for the opportunity to take my wonderful sabbatical. If you want to see what I was doing check out my sabbatical website at www.fixintolearn.com.

Chalice Lighter News! May 2013

New Chalice Lighter Call:

The Unitarian Universalist Church of Bartlesville, Oklahoma has requested the grant from SWUUC Chalice Lighters for the purpose of renovating a building. About five years ago, they purchased the land adjoining their existing property, which came with a house and smaller building. They would like to refurbish the house to be used as a parsonage for the current minister, but as the congregation grows it may be used as a Religious Education building or other space as needed in the future. SWUUC members: please give generously.

Please click here to see the call letter, or click here to contribute.

Chalice Lighter Award:

The Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Glen Allen, Virginia plans to implement a dynamic Music and Arts program under the leadership of a newly hired part-time music director, and they have plans to bring that position to full-time by 2014-15. UUCC experienced declining membership for the past four years until several members presented a proposal to the Board to create a vibrant music and arts program. As the Rev. Jeff Briere, Interim Minister, wrote, “Worship is the public face of the church. It is the activity around which all other activities fulfill the mission of the church. I believe, and the music director believes, that we must do worship well if we are to grow this church. I am more than pleased with the initial program and I see nothing but better experiences for the congregation.”

Please click here to see the call letter, or here to contribute.

The Smart Church by Connie Goodbread: CONFLICT

Peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of creative alternatives for responding to conflict -- alternatives to passive or aggressive responses, alternatives to violence. -  Dorothy Thompson

Don't handicap your children by making their lives easy. -  Robert A. Heinlein

Human beings need to be challenged in order the thrive.  There is an old Star Trek episode where a nonhuman entity has been keeping a man alive and safe for a long time and can’t understand why he is not thriving and happy.  In the movie Star Man the alien says, “You (humans) are at your best when things are at their worst.”

Carl Jung - in his idea of the collective unconscious - thought that human beings go through periods of collective change or evolution when something extraordinary is possible.   He thought that over and over again we choose the path we will take.  In 1913 he thought that we were at one of these liminal moments and we chose destruction. 

Are we always on the verge of something extraordinary happening?  Maybe so, but for some time now I have felt like there is something extraordinary happening.  I am sure that it is partially where I am in my own faith development.  But that can’t be all of it because something - and I use the word “magical “ - happens when a group of people get into a room and agree to work together in trust on something deep.  Where I call it magic, Jung might call it the collective unconscious.  We are so much more together than we are apart.

This spring I have spoken to leaders in 20 different congregations in our region who are sad because of the struggles that their congregation is going through.  Please know that this is not an overly large number.  Spring often brings forth new life and congregational struggles, life, after all, is a struggle and making it easy renders it meaningless.  Spring is often the time we begin work, in earnest, on staff transitions.  Spring is when we report our pledge figures and reestablish our covenant with our Association.  Spring is a renewing of energy and a time for looking forward.  Spring is a time of change and so we find ourselves often in conflict.  What is the foundational, fundamental value that keeps us in a state of creative, rather than destructive, conflict?  What is it that we must foster in our culture in order to have an alternative to violence?

I have mentioned Patrick Leniconi’s book The Advantage before - he says the value that is often missing is trust.  He says that when relationships break down over and over it is because the team has not taken the time to build trust. When we find ourselves in times of trouble, if we hold trust close and continue to lead from a place of vulnerability and strength, we will better help our community find its way.  Please understand that I do not mean that we ever allow ourselves to be bullied or abused.  The genuine response to abuse, in any form, is to confront it for what it is and use established processes to take it out of the system.  To be honest is to be vulnerable.  To be in covenant, we must trust and be honest with ourselves and each other.  We are not in genuine relationship if we are not behaving in a genuine manner.  Therefore, when we are feeling bullied we name that and find the correct action that will make it stop.  When trust is established on any team or fostered in any congregation as a cultural norm then we can be in creative rather than destructive conflict.  We will want to stay at the table, in the struggle, being our genuine selves until the path becomes clear.  Once the path is clear we take action, lovingly.  We commit our genuine selves to the task.  We hold ourselves first, and then others, accountable as we blissfully struggle toward our collective goal.

If your congregation is in the middle of a struggle, ask yourself if you trust everyone.  Ask if
trust is alive and well in your congregation.  Ask if you are leading from a place of vulnerability.  Ask if you are being genuine.   Ask if there is abuse of any kind happening.  Ask for help from the Association if you need it.  Call one of your Regional Staff people.  Let us help you to lead through the times of trouble, into a vibrant and dynamic future.  

The ingredient that we need to add to our Unitarian Universalist collective unconscious or to our magic potion, is trust - a pinch of trust.  I trust that we will find our way.  I trust that we are more together than we are apart.  I trust that we will make glorious mistakes and experience grand successes.  I trust that you will forgive me when I fail.  I trust that this is the time for us to become.

Summer is here! by Natalie Briscoe

Summer is quickly approaching, and that is the perfect time for Unitarian Universalists of all ages to gather in intentional community. We have several opportunities throughout the Southern Region to practice living in covenant, deepen our shared Faith, worship and learn together, and don't forget relax and have some fun! Please check out one of these great camps and conferences during the summer:

Multigenerational Summer Institutes:

There are two summer institutes in the South, both held the third week in July.

SUUSI, or the Southeast UU Summer Institute, meets July 21 – 27 near Roanoke, VA on the Radford University Campus. SUUSI is a week of conversation, reflection, activity, nourishment, fun, and family. The gathering offers an opportunity to explore our interconnectedness, learn new ways f seeing our world and each other, and delight in the joys of meeting old friends and making new ones. For more information and registration, please visit SUUSI.org.

SWUUSI, or the Southwest UU Summer Institute, meets July 21 – 26 at Western Hills Guest Ranch in Northeastern Oklahoma. Each year SWUUSI offers opportunities for faith development, education, entertainment, and recreational activities for all ages. Whether it be relaxing in the sun, discussing
in the classroom, or singing in the choir, SWUUSI offers something for everyone! For more information and registration, please visit events.uuasouthernregion.org.

Camps at UbarU:

Located in the beautiful west Texas Hill Country outside of Kerrville, UbarU is our UU Camp and Conference Center. Each year, UbarU is host to three week long camps for UU children and youth. The camps focus on learning about Unitarian Universalism, building and renewing covenant, and having fun in the great out doors. Primary camp for children ages 8 to 11 years old is held June 30 to July 6. Junior camp for children ages 12 to 14 years old is held July 7 to July 13. Senior camp for youth ages 14 to 18 (or 19 if recently graduated from high school) is held July 14 to July 20. For more information and registration, please visit ubaru.org.

Camps at The Mountain:

Founded in 1979, The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center is a non-profit program center, summer youth camp, and a retreat for individuals and groups where people can grow and renew themselves. The Mountain is a beautiful facility located in North Carolina that offers opportunities to connect with each other, nature, and ourselves. It hosts several camps for all ages. For detailed descriptions and registration, please visit mountaincenters.org. The schedule of camps for this summer is:

Elementary Camp I: (Ages 9 – 11 years): June 16 – 28
Elementary Camp II (Ages 9 – 11 years):  June 16 – 21
Beginning Mountain Camp (Ages 6 – 8 years): June 23 – 28
Service and Adventure Mountain Camp (Ages 15 – 17 years) : June 30 – July 12
Immediate Mountain Camp  (Ages 12 – 14 years): June 30 – July 12
Explorers Mountain Camp (Ages 12 – 14 years): July 14 – 26
Senior High Mountain Camp (Ages 15 – 17 years): July 14 – 26
ASCENDER Mountain Camp (Ages 16 – 17 years): June 30 – July 26
Multigenerationl Family Camp: August 2 – 8

For your family vacation or summer camp needs this year, spend some time in a welcoming UU community, making friends and memories that last a life time!


Natalie Briscoe, Congregational Life Consultant

Reaching Beyond Our Walls by Rev. Sue Sinnamon

The SE District Annual Meeting acknowledged two new ways we are reaching beyond our walls. One is the newest Emerging Congregation, Mutual Aid Carrboro, UU and the second is the Life On Fire gathering in the fall.

Beyond Congregations ( from The SED President’s Annual Report)
There is an exciting amount of work going on throughout our District to examine and build gatherings beyond the traditional church model. There are two (of several) premier examples of this exploration and the Board strongly endorses both of these initiatives.

Mutual Aid of Carrboro: Inspired by a group of committed young adults, Mutual Aid of Carrboro realizes that the tradition of Unitarian Universalism demands that we explore other forms of religious community through which to bring our saving message to the world. Their vision includes

• As a covenantal people, we have a vision of a covenantal society. Relationalism—to each other, to the earth, to that which is larger than us—forms the core of our faith. This is what James Luther Adams called “becoming more fully human.” Enlarging and honoring the covenantal in life is our vision.
• Our vision is that of religious community merged with mutual aid society. Our imperative is to manifest our values in the world, not just in one sphere of life, but in all. In addition, our members are mostly poor and working class people in need, and intentionally creating these sorts of mutual aid structures is vital.
• We are a congregation in which we attempt to build our collective ability to catalyze change. In our UU congregations we focus on different types of growth, from numerical, to spiritual depth, to organizational maturity. The type of growth that our missional congregation is focusing on most can be called incarnational growth, that is growing our capacity to incarnate our values in the world.
• The last part of our vision is that we become a model of a different society, of the world we dream about. Our vision is to experiment with different models of living and of relationship that can serve as models for positive change in society.

They are SED’s newest Emerging Congregation! See the online UUA directory for contact information.

Life on Fire: The purpose of "life on fire" is to gather people who want to live missional lives and provide the inspiration and support for them to take the next steps. The Life on Fire conference will run Friday, September 13 to Sunday September 15 at Oak Ridge UU Church in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The format will be that of the "un-conference"-- As well as these ad hoc, need-based conversations and experiences, the weekend will include a stream of spiritual direction running through it, allowing attendees to explore their own journeys. In addition, with the support of musician Matt Meyer, "Life on Fire" will include several chances for inspiring large-group worship. Join the Facebook page, Life on Fire 2013.

These are exciting , growing , adventures in Unitarian Universalism. I encourage, implore you to support these ventures by attending, making contributions so others may attend and spreading the good news!

Sue

On Being a Bold Unitarian Universalist by Kathy McGowan

I have often been heard saying “I want us to be bold Unitarian Universalists!” I say this because I believe that the world needs us and we should be out there letting the world know who we are and what we value.

It is one thing to be in our congregations and feeling like we have found “our people” but it is entirely another to be living our faith every day in the world and letting people know that what helps us to face the often harsh environment around us is our Unitarian Universalist faith.

Let’s not be afraid to wrestle with our values like “the inherent worth and dignity of all.”  The more we try to live our values, the more they will be challenged, and that is OK.  I think we are up for the challenge, and that the struggle is what helps us to be better.  We can fail 1,000 times and can come back again.  As the 13th century poet, Rumi said,

“Come, come whoever you are
Wonderer, worshipper, lover of leaving.
It doesn't matter.
Ours is not a caravan of despair.
Come, even if you have broken your vow a thousand times
Come, yet again, come, come.”

We come to church to be comforted and to be challenged.  We must do both within our walls so that we can go back out into the world ready to do battle with injustice, cruelty and hate.  We can do battle because we have struggled ourselves.  We have known what it is like to be challenged and confused.  We have also known the power of coming together in a circle of love, where differences can be acknowledged but not used to define who we are. 

We can have the courage to be bold Unitarian Universalists in the world once we have faced our fears in our congregations.  We can let love be our guide to help us confront our challenges.  We can learn how to stay at the table when differences appear insurmountable.  We can keep hope alive for ourselves and others as we walk together on this one fantastic journey.

I think it is fitting to end this posting about bold Unitarian Universalists with this from Universalist minister Olympia Brown.

“Stand by this faith. Work for it and sacrifice for it. There is nothing in all the world so important as to be loyal to this faith which has placed before us the loftiest ideals, which has comforted us in sorrow, strengthened us for noble duty and made the world beautiful. Do not demand immediate results but rejoice that we are worthy to be entrusted with this great message, that you are strong enough to work for a great true principle without counting the cost. Go on finding ever new applications of these truths and new enjoyments in their contemplation, always trusting in the one God which ever lives and loves.”

In faith and love,

Kathy Alden McGowan

The Art of Promising by Rev. Kenn Hurto

"From Promise to Commitment"
2013 UUA General Assembly Theme

Many Unitarian Universalist congregations are crafting so-called “Covenants of Right Relations” that attempt to articulate how — at our best — we most want to be with one another. This arises because in today’s multi-cultural world, it is often unclear what constitutes good behavior in groups. For instance:

• Among some people, looking another in the eye as you speak shows respect and trustworthiness; in other groups, to do so is impolite, even aggressively hostile.
• I come from the Midwest where raising your hand to speak at a group meeting is the “right” thing to do; elsewhere, that is seen as a silly encumbrance to the free exchange of ideas — interrupting, talking over one another is just fine; to me, that’s rude.

Those are comparatively easy illustrations. But what do we do when someone in our congregation behaves in ways that leave many emotionally unsafe — such as:

• Belligerently interrupting a sermon?
• Threatening members of the congregation with violence (yes, it happens)?
• Hugging that is, well, more than hugging?
• Gossiping maliciously or sending e-mail “flames?”

How do we stay in community honoring the dignity of each person when some inadvertently or even willfully cross a line into rudeness or a bullying posture? Are there no limits to our tolerance of “odd ducks,” as one member said to me?

A carefully crafted Covenant can help guide us during such times. My dear colleague, Eunice Benton, former Mid-South District Executive, calls these efforts an attempt to describe “good manners.” An effective covenant not only names what we can expect of each other, it also gives us permission and guidance when one person’s or group’s demands endanger the community.

The word covenant appears in English in the 14th century, derived from the Latin convenire, meaning to agree to come together. Thus, a covenant is simply an agreement, or promise to be together. It’s about our intentions and promises of how to be together. More nuanced meaning suggests that it is an unenforceable, but binding commitment to do or not do certain things together. The marriage vow, I promise my faithfulness, is the most familiar covenant. The bond of friendship is another. A covenant makes explicit what is normally implicit in a relationship.

Historically, this notion is central to the Free Church. We solemnly bind ourselves — not to agree and enforce a creed — but to be on a journey, seeking an ever better understanding of life’s truths while working for love and justice. A favorite covenant of mine comes from our congregation in Salem, MA (still using a modernized variant of this 1629 phrasing) which promises “to walke together in all God’s waies, according as he is pleased to reveale himself to us in his Bless word of truth.”

Next summer in Louisville, our UUA General Assembly will focus on From Promise to Commitment: “Promises call us into relationship. The experience of making, breaking and remaking promises is the reality of our lived faith. We will gather in Louisville to examine and renew our covenant to our faith, one another, our congregations and the larger world.”

Covenanting or promise making is easy to say but hard to live. We have yet much to learn. This is good work for us to do, for, as Dr. King said, “Our goal is to create a beloved community and this will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives.”

Come to GA (details here: http://www.uua.org/ga/) . Let’s get clear about the promises we make to one another in a beloved community. We will transform ourselves, our congregations, and possibly our world.

I’ll see you there. Kenn

The Smart Church by Connie Goodbread

Be bold and mighty things will come to your aid. 
Anthony Hopkins

Dwight Brown Leadership Experience is in Dallas August 4th - 9th.  The information will be on the website very soon.

We had a wonderful Southern Unitarian Universalist Leadership Experience (SUULE) at the Penn Center in South Carolina.  It was cold and the hot water didn’t always work but the place was charming and filled with meaningful history.  We had a great group of congregational elders that came from three of our four Districts.  We had a fabulous staff,  some of whom came from other regions to work with us and give us feedback.  While our philosophy remains the same and we always teach Unitarian Universalist Theology and Systems Thinking, how we teach evolves.  The evolution happens in concert with the needs of the group and in relationship with the elders present.  The three learning styles; visual, auditory and kinetic are taken into consideration.  We practice small group ministry with three different types of small group experiences.   We have deep experiential worship and share a variety of spiritual practices.   At this SUULE we had a great dance.  Everyone worked hard.  Everyone learned something.  Everyone is changed.

It was easy while we were all together to be emboldened about our faith.  It was easy to dream big and see how what we have is important, deep, meaningful and life changing.  It was easy to see that we need to be more outspoken.  We need to affect more of the world around us.  It was easy to share openly and freely.  It was easy to learn.  Then we left the company of those willing to be in loving relationship with us as we struggle with our learnings, doubts, fears and longings.  We went back out into the world where we are too often assaulted by all the injustice and weirdness that abounds.  How do we sustain our boldness?  How do we move forward in love to do the work of our 3rd smooth stone, which calls us to build the just and loving world?  How do we love all of creation, even the parts that we do not even like?  This is not easy.

I think it might be helpful if we remember what our joy is when we are together. 

This year at SUULE:

• We were humbled beyond words because we were learning, sharing and struggling in the same space where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and John Lewis had met, planned and worked for justice.
• We were overjoyed at having found one another.
• We were grateful and felt blessed by the leadership, wisdom, energy and truth that was present and alive in great abundance.
• We felt we had widened our circle of kin.
• We were moved by the deep sharing we experienced.
• We were grateful for the changes we saw in ourselves.
• We were awestruck by beauty and wonder in us and all around us.
• We were moved by knowing that we are part of something larger than ourselves and grateful that we are not alone.
• We were grateful for open minded, not like minded, Unitarian Universalists.
• We found insight and pieces of the puzzle.
• We discovered the importance of trust.
• We were grateful for the challenges.
• We cherished sharing our faith.
• We were re-energized.

These are only a few of the joys written on the small slips of paper and lovingly placed in the joy basket.  It was surprising and delightful that many of us were joyful about the same things.  I think that these joys are often the same joys we have when we find our first Unitarian Universalist congregation.  They are the joys that we feel about any beloved community.  They are the truths that sustain us. 

What mighty things might come to our aid if we were bold enough to be honored to be where we are, and grateful to be with the people we are with, and open to all possibilities and always learning?  How would we walk, how would we talk, how would we act if we thought that the whole world needs a bold, strong and vibrant Unitarian Universalism, they just don’t know it yet?

HallelUUjah, Indeed! By Natalie Briscoe

I am so honored to be serving as one of the new Congregational Life Consultants for the Southern Region. I served as a Director of Religious Education and a Healthy Congregations Consultant for several years, and I truly see it as a calling and a privilege to serve Unitarian Universalism. Although I currently live in Seattle, Washington, I cannot wait to move home to Austin, Texas, where my heart is warmed (both literally and figuratively). I am especially delighted to be one of the first members of the HallelUUjah staff team, along with my cohort Kathy McGowan, to be hired specifically as a regional consultant.   Regionalization is an effort to be better stewards of our time, money, and resources.  As we move ever forward with these goals in mind, the way our staff groups are organized is changing to better meet the needs of congregations and clusters.

The Unitarian Universalist Association is not a denomination, but rather a collection of independent congregations who choose to be in deep relationship with one another. According to two of our organizing documents, the Cambridge Platform and the Orlando Platform, congregations have an obligation to help one another embody the Faith of Unitarian Universalism. In order to live this ideal out in our Association, we gather together for the good of the Faith at conferences, annual meetings, and General Assemblies. We send our Elders – meaning those people in our congregations who are able to teach Unitarian Universalism and keep our covenants – to neighboring churches to aid in their growth and development.  We share with one another the ways in which we choose to live our covenants and participate in joint efforts of social justice and meaning-making.

As I see it, my job is not to provide congregations with added services or to put on regional programming, although this perception is common through the former district model and is certainly not out of the sphere of what I will spend at least a portion of my time doing. My main job, however,  is to bring the Cambridge Platform and the Orlando Platform to life by connecting congregations and Elders of our Faith with other congregations and Elders. We are not a hierarchical faith; we need to rely on each other. I am here to help those connections happen.

In the upcoming months, Kathy McGowan and I will be contacting the congregations in the Southwest Conference to assist in the many transitions that are occurring right now and ensure that the congregations in the west of our region are fully served.  After these transitions are complete, the entire HalelUUjah Staff Group will be working as a team across the entire region to strengthen connections, congregations, and clusters as we build Beloved Community together.

I look forward to many years of serving the Southern Region and getting to know each of the Southern Congregations in the process. It is a pleasure and a great honor to be in covenental relationship with you, and I look forward to growing our Faith together! HallelUUjah indeed!

Let’s Show CIW some UU Love on Sunday, March 17

by Rev. Kathy Schmitz, minister, First UU Church of Orlando

Unitarian Universalists are organizing to support the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) on their upcoming March for Rights, Respect and Fair Food. First Unitarian Church of Orlando is encouraging UU congregations statewide to send delegations to Lakeland, FL on March 17. Logistical information on how to participate is evolving and the most up-to-date information will be posted here.

Background:

The CIW and allies will march 150 miles to Lakeland, FL in a two-week March for Rights, Respect, and Fair Food! The march, which begins in Ft Myers, FL on Sunday, March 3, will end at the Publix headquarters in Lakeland on Sunday, March 17.

Recently, UUs from several central Florida congregations gathered with community partners to learn more about the CIW’s Fair Food program.  The day culminated with a picket at the Publix in downtown Orlando where they were joined by farm workers and their families. A delegation from the group met with store managers to encourage Publix to sign on to the program which increases wages and improves working conditions for tomato pickers. To read about the day, click here. (Scroll down to find links to news stories at the bottom of the report.)

Participants committed to helping to swell the ranks of the upcoming march as it approaches the Publix headquarters on March 17. Volunteers from First Unitarian Church of Orlando are working closely with the CIW and Interfaith Action to be able to provide UUs statewide with logistical information for involvement for that day.