An Attitude of Gratitude

By Natalie Briscoe, Congregational Life Staff of the Southern Region

 

Fall is my favorite time of year! The holidays are just starting to get into swing. The weather turns colder and colder. Our thoughts turn to memories of autumns long past.

 

While it seems that time would slow down, that our home and church lives would draw inward and enter a time of hibernation, we know that the opposite is true. Holiday parties, fundraisers, family obligations, and the possibility of guests and travel can be, while exciting, exceedingly stressful as well.

 

Thank Goodness for Thanksgiving! One of my favorite holidays, Thanksgiving – and the entire season of November, if you are observing the 30 Days of Gratitude on Social Media this month – is more than an opportunity to gather loved ones, eat a big meal, watch some football, and fall asleep on the couch. It is a chance to contemplate and cultivate an attitude of gratitude in our daily lives and our work in congregations. It is an opportunity to turn our thoughts to the abundance around us and be grateful for the work of others, for how far we have already come, and for the wonderful resources, both human and divine, that sustain us.

 

How would we go about cultivating an attitude of gratitude in our lives? We could start by focusing on the positive, by giving voice to what we have instead of what we are always lacking. We could find ways to express gratitude to those around us and whom we often take for granted. We could write thank you notes to those closest to us, or tell them each evening one thing that they did that we appreciate.

 

In our congregational lives, it is particularly important to foster an attitude of gratitude. As we deal with what appears to be limited resources, we often forget how abundant our joys really are. We can begin by voicing our gratitude about our community to one another, having time to do so in the worship service, making gratitude the focus of check-ins in small groups or religious education classes, and making it the subject of our newsletters.

 

The benefits of intentionally practicing gratitude are endless. Taking on gratitude as a spiritual practice has been linked to longer life, a greater sense of well-being, longer-lasting happiness, and a greater sense of optimism in general. As a community, a focus on gratitude can increase connections to that community and a greater sense of belonging. And of course, an attitude of gratitude increases instances of altruism and generosity.

 

To kick off the season, some of your Southern Region Staff would like to express our own gratitude:

 

Maggie Lovins says she is particularly grateful for the way in which the Southern Region Staff has come together as a tight knit Team! The level of support the Staff is now able to give to congregations is directly informed by this kind of teamwork. She is also grateful for the evolution of our Faith and Association, the future looks healthy and bright and she feels blessed to be a part of it.

 

Glenn Johnson says, among the many things he has to be grateful for, that he is particularly thankful for his sweet and loving wife of 30 years, and his good health.

 

Susan Smith is grateful for leaders who show up on Sunday to be nurtured and inspired rather than hold impromptu business meetings or skip worship altogether.

 

And I am thankful for a career that lets me serve my Faith alongside so many other amazing leaders and for a family who is infinitely supportive in my calling to this career.

 

Thank you all for your leadership and all you do for Unitarian Universalism. You inspire me!

Together into the Unknown by Maggie Lovins

Sitting down to write this blog a few things came to mind like - Introduce yourself, you are only known to a small percentage of the Southern Region! And Tell your story, after all it is through our stories that we practice our Faith. I then thought, those things are important to convey, but why you are serving the Southern Region's members, and why this is the shape your ministry has taken at this time...?

I serve North Florida and the state of Georgia as first contact staff representative, along with anyone in the Southern Region (SR) who calls and needs assistance. My partner Chad and I live in Pensacola, FL with my beloved service animal, Daisy Dog. I attend Starr King School of Ministry and plan to continue my call to ministry working with lay leaders, congregations and helping to build collaborative bridges wherever they are needed. Speaking of collaboration, I want to share one of my favorite quotes with you,

"What I do you cannot do; but what you do, I cannot do. The needs are great, and none of us, including me, ever do great things. But we can all do small things, with great love, and together we can do something wonderful."  Mother Teresa

With that quote in mind I offer you four words of peace; you are not alone. Short, sweet and to the point - you are not alone!  In your committee, on your Board, in your congregation, in our Region and in our Association, we are never alone! How fantastic to know you are knee deep in joys and struggles with people of all colors, identities and spiritual beliefs. Unitarian Universalists are such independent thinkers and doers, all having special projects that set their hearts ablaze, making their eyes that particular shade of shiny, so that together our actions are working towards realizing the dream of Beloved Community. Yes, the struggle still stinks, but it's better when we have partners with us, and truth be told, the only real growth is in the struggle.

With all this talk of Regional Collaboration, the four District Boards moving towards a new leadership model and all of the changes at the UUA, I can understand how someone could say, "Hey pull this bus over- I'm not sure where it's going- or if I want to go!" To this I reply, "You are not alone!" Change is inevitable, it can be scary and anxiety triggering to some, but to others it is an adventure, an expedition into unknown territory where wondrous things can and do happen! I will openly admit being in that second category, but I fully understand the other as well. I guess most of my 'worries' are soothed knowing I am doing this work with SO many others aspiring for a better tomorrow. More allies mean a greater chance of success when doing the hard work, plus many hands make light work, right?

So, why am I serving the Southern Region members? Because I believe - I believe in the work, I believe in the people! Why has my ministry taken this form at this time? Because collaboration, teamwork and cooperation are needed right now and I am a firm instigator of them all! We don't just have 4 District Executives and a few other UUA staff members to support our congregations; we now have a whole team to assist your congregation serve its members! We have 7 Congregational Life Staff, 2 full time administrators, a part time event coordinator and a part time IT person! Wow! Our district lines are now more like the dotted lines on the highway, allowing us to move in and out of whatever area needs us and it allows the SR Staff to operate as a fully functional collaborative team. This is the adventure I was talking about; it is the same adventure Connie Goodbread wrote about not too long ago, to boldly go where the Southern Region has not gone before!

"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together..." African Proverb.

I wish to go far and the need is great. This is your personal invitation for us to go together; are you ready?

Being Unitarian Universalist in the South

Until a few months ago, I had only been a Unitarian Universalist in parts of the country where there were several UU congregations within an hour's drive. Whether in Metro New York, the suburbs of D.C., the San Francisco Bay Area or Boston and environs, I knew there were faith communities nearby where people embraced liberal religious values.

Then, after being gone from living in the South all my adult life, I joined the UUA Southern Region staff and returned to live in my hometown -- Holly Springs, Mississippi. Now I'm part of an inspired team that travels to congregations and meets with ministers and lay leaders, all in service of our Unitarian Universalist values. I am the 'first UUA contact' for all the congregations in Mississippi and Alabama, for most of the congregations in Louisiana and Tennessee, and for Pensacola, Florida. However, I am available as needed on behalf of the UUA across our region and beyond, especially in matters regarding our shared social justice work and building UU communities beyond congregations.

I am inspired by the ways you have sustained liberal religious community in this religiously conservative part of the country. I share your commitment to vibrant, meaningful relationships within congregations, and to powerful witness for our faith in the public realm.

The Unitarian Universalist journey in the South is different from other places I've lived. Its deep racism gave rise to courageous nonviolent action during the Civil Rights Era. In the 21st century, as in generations past, Unitarian Universalists are answering the call to engagement regarding the issues of our day, including immigrant advocacy, LGBTQ justice and economic disparity.

Thank you for your partnership. I'm looking forward to working with you in the days that lie ahead!

In faith,
Carlton

Rev. Carlton Elliott Smith
csmith@uua.org

Raising the Orlando Platform on The Mountain

by The Reverend Kenneth Gordon Hurto

Congregational Life Consultant, Southern Region UUA

 

Most congregation members have modest interest in how our larger Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations or the Southern Region or Districts work. That's quite understandable; ministry begins at home.

 

Yet, you might be interested to know that later this month, the Board members of all four Southern Region UUA Districts (Florida, Mid-South, Southeast & Southwest) and the Congregational Life field staff will meet for a "next step" meeting at which we build on the remarkable break-through of a similar meeting that took place 2 1/2 years ago in Orlando. That meeting, echoing our history, promulgated a Platform (found here: http://www.uuasouthernregion.org/resources/orlandoplatform.html) that called for a broadening of collaboration among congregations and the Districts.

 

Your Boards and Congregational Life field staff took a leap of faith that, by working collaboratively, these four Districts would create something genuinely new to better serve our people, our congregations, our times. Since then, we've been working diligently, learning as we go, to implement a cross-district ministry. We've consolidated budgets and office operations for greater efficiency; we've added staff and established a roster of field staff "1st go-to" assignments (look for this on the Regional website very soon). With a common communications network, we are more agile in our responed to urgent needs (the Regional appeal for last spring's tornado relief in Oklahoma raised more than $70,000!) as well as more accessible for any given congregation. Nonetheless, it's time to take stock.

 

The core idea of the Orlando Platform draws on our founding document, the 1648 Cambridge Platform of congregational governance and discipline. That document gave us our understanding  that congregations were where ministry takes place and that each congregation is free to do its work autonomously. The self-determining congregation is readily understood. However, the Cambridge Platform also called for congregations to provide moral support, even succor, and at times admonishment. The Orlando Platform picked up on this "2nd half" of polity. It challenged our leaders to re-vitalize that notion of congregational inter-dependence.

 

For instance, at a workshop on Stewardship, I asked whether any there knew of a neighboring congregation that was having financial difficulties. Nearly all said they did. Then, I asked: "Did you reach out to offer any help?" No one did. One participant remarked, "It never occurred to me that we could, let alone should." This is the promise of Regional collaboration: Not only that we can but that we ought to be deeply connected, celebrating success and helping out in times of sorrow. It calls us to go from "my congregation" to "our ministry."

 

Without prejudging what will come of what I've come to call "Orlando Redux" next month, your Boards and staff are committed to administrative and program structures that will provide more support to our congregations. At The Mountain, we'll look at what's been learned. We'll develop further our understanding of volunteer "Elders" who will network among congregations. We are eager to build new networks of affinity-based clusters (e.g., consider 5 like-sized congregations committing to a peer-review relationship for a two year period) while strengthening the existing geographical ones. And we'll explore how else we may yet work together for our shared, common good.

 

"The world is too much with us, late and soon," penned Unitarian poet Wordsworth. Every day we are reminded how urgently the world needs our ministry of love, compassion, and justice. This, too, drives our meeting at The Mountain: We have no time to waste, let's get good at, let's get better at ministering together, growing souls and saving some part of our world. 

 

All blessings on your and our ministries, 

 

Rev. Kenn

The Smart Church: Love of Creation

by Connie Goodbread

The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Dwight Brown Leadership Experience (DBLE) was the best ever. No, really!  I know we say that every time, and for every class it is true.  I know that because the information is deep and in some ways challenging because it dredges up feelings.  It dredges up feelings in all of us.  For me, and I am not sure why, this particular DBLE was very moving.  Maybe the effect it had on me comes from this being my 12th Leadership Experience as staff.  Maybe it was because they have not all been so wonderful.  Maybe I see it differently now.  Maybe it is because I won’t be there next year.  I don’t know why I was so moved.  But I was moved.  I was moved to tears more times than I can count.  I don’t cry easily so I found myself pretty amazed. I was moved by stories I have heard, and even told, many times before.  I was moved by the willingness of the people to come into community.  I was moved by the struggles of others.  I was moved by my own struggle. 

So I am on the plane headed home.  The sun is setting.  The clouds begin to become that sky-blue/pink that only happens sometimes if we are lucky at sunrise and sunset.  The rays from the sun become more and more slanted, and, in no time at all, the clouds are on fire below the wings of the plane.  There were no flames or smoke like there would be with a forest fire, only billowing branches of cumulonimbus clouds mimicking tree tops, orange treetops.  It looked as though we were flying over a forest of peach, coral and orange trees.  Then in the top branches of one of the tallest cloud trees, a rain circle appears like a god’s eye hanging on a Christmas tree.  It forms and becomes solid.  I hold my breath and then slowly it fades as the sun sinks lower and the plane moves out of its exactly correct position.  Wow, I say out loud.  Tears begin to form in my eyes.  Then I think - What a pretty little planet.  What a miracle of creation.  How lucky am I to have witnessed this?  I am so in love.  I am in love with creation.  Faces of beloved people appeared in my mind - my family first and then the faces of the people I had just been with.  New faces.  Faces of dear friends.  Their eyes.  Their shining eyes.

People cannot spend their whole lives on the mountain top.  People must come down into the valleys and get their hands dirty in the soil and deal with the things of life - but for every moment that I spend on the mountain top, for every moment that is filled with possibility, for every time I get a small look at the magic all around us, I am profoundly grateful.

I would like to thank the staff of DBLE.  Thank you - we all worked really hard.  We work hard every time, that is not new.  But I think that all of the work we have put into the last 12 experiences are beginning make a difference.  I think next year’s DBLE and SUULE will be even better.  I would like to thank the participants who taught me more than they will ever know.  I am grateful to each of you for the time, thoughts and heart you poured into the experience.  I am grateful for the deep sharing we did.  The theme for this year seemed to be, “Why am I telling you this?”  We shared in a deep way and made ourselves vulnerable.  We were open to all the possibilities and each other and that was why we shared so much of ourselves.  Most of all I am grateful for the struggles.  Most came out okay, some are still up in the air and some will most likely go on for a long time.  I am so very grateful for having had shared struggles with you all.  Thank you for staying at the table.  BEST DBLE EVER!

It's EvolUUtion, Baby!

By Natalie Briscoe, Congregational Life Consultant for the Southern Region.

Growth. It is on most church leaders' minds. The mention of the word can either elicit excitement or groans depending on your particular perspective.

Usually when we are talking about growth, we are speaking about growing our numbers, usually by way of converting visitors into members. This type of growth, called Numeric Growth, is just one of four main kinds of development that we are aware of in the congregation. And while many congregations focus on this one type as an indicator of health and vitality, Numeric Growth is merely the result of the other three kinds.

Organic Growth refers to the infrastructure that we build in our congregations to support a growing membership. Organic Growth can take the form of a change in governance structure, adding staff, re-writing the by-laws, or adding physical space to the building. It is about developing practices and putting systems into place which support the acceptance of new members into the life of the congregation.

Maturational Growth refers to the depth of understanding of our shared Faith within the congregation. Opportunities for Maturational Growth may include small groups, listening circles, religious education classes for all ages, or a sermon series on aspects of Unitarian Universalism. It is about developing an inviting and engaging lifespan faith development program that is able to reach new and long-time members alike.

Incarnational Growth refers to the congregation's willingness and ability to live out their shared values. Incarnational Growth may take the form of a strong social justice program, being recognized as a Green Sanctuary or a Welcoming Congregation, partnering with the Red Cross to become a disaster relief shelter, offering addiction ministries, or providing an LGBT Prom for the community. It is about incarnating Unitarian Universalism in the world.

Focusing on Organic, Maturational, and Incarnational Growth leads to Numeric Growth. When we put structures in place that support membership and give every person an opportunity to deepen his or her faith and live that faith out in the world, membership grows. In reality, however, we can focus on all of these kinds of growth in all of the ways listed above, but the results will only be short-term unless the congregation that is gaining membership can also embrace change.

When membership in a congregation grows, the relationships between the members and their relationships to the called and hired staff changes dramatically. There will inevitably come a time when the membership is very economically, culturally, and theologically diverse.  A time will come when it is impossible to have a relationship with everyone in the church, as well. If a congregation is not prepared for these changes, it will continue to grow to a certain size and then lose membership again, as if it is hitting a glass ceiling.

These issues in a congregation can be complicated, and it may take a variety of different solutions and options before a congregation is ready to break through their plateau and create long-lasting, meaningful, and effective changes that leads to stable growth. Luckily, there is an opportunity to explore growth and change in your congregation in November in the Southern Region!

Please join us at Fall Harvest Training this year in Glen Rose, Texas from November 8th to November 10th where we will explore growth and change in the congregation through our theme of EvolUUtion! We will have seven tracks that delve deeply into all aspects of growth and change in church life.

For the third year, we will be offering the EvolUUtion Camp for children ages 5 to 13 where we will explore the Unitarian Universalist Creation Story, which is nothing short of the creation of the universe and evolution itself. Youth ages 14 to 18 are invited to participate in any track which will be beneficial to their ministry as youth leaders, including, but not limited to, the Youth Chaplaincy training. A full track listing with detailed descriptions and registration information can be found at http://www.uuasouthernregion.org/falltrain2013.html.

We recommend sending teams from congregations to get the full benefit of the program! Special housing rates are available for Youth and Advisors of Youth. We hope to see you there!

Aiming High by Kathy McGowan

Leaders Need to Aim High

I believe that we expect too little of our congregants and congregations.  People want to make a difference in this world and they want to work along side people who are “movers and shakers” -people who are putting their values into action.  

I see many congregations that collectively have a low sense of self worth.  It is no wonder that they are not thriving.  I do not think the answer is giving them small tasks so that they can achieve small goals in order to feel better about themselves.  I think that we need to have a big vision of the future; a vision big enough to rock the world with our Unitarian Universalist values.

We can create this vision by embracing leaders who challenge us to become our best selves and whom we challenge to ask the big questions.  It is through asking the important questions and challenging our assumptions that we can make the impossible, possible.  Our liberal religion demands of us nothing less for this hurting world.

Think about a time in your life when you felt good about something that you achieved. Was it easy?  Probably not.  Did you feel more capable once on the other side of that challenge?  Probably.  People actually get smarter by being challenged.

In their book, Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smart, Liz Wiseman and Greg McKeown wrote of a certain kind of leaders, “multipliers”.  They write, “Multipliers understand that people grow through challenge.  They  understand that intelligence grows by being stretched and tested.  So even if the leader has a clear vision of the direction, he or she doesn’t just give it to people.  Multipliers don’t just give answers.  They provide just enough information to provoke thinking and to help people discover and see the opportunity for themselves.  They begin a process of discovery.”

I believe that in our congregations we do not set the bar high enough.  There will always be solid reasons for not doing things in congregations.  Always.  But if the purpose is clear (mission), the good questions are asked, the assumptions shaken off, there is no telling where we might go.  

So I say raise the bar high.  Let’s create congregations where people are challenged, smarter, confident and making a difference.  Let’s rock the world with our wonderful UUness. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhTRhAX_QBA

Kenn Hurto's blog for 7/1/13 Southern Region newsletter

Promises, Promises …

“Does your congregation, does our shared faith, have a claim on you? Does belonging to a Unitarian Universalist congregation require anything of you?”

I began a workshop with those questions. The room went silent. After some fidgeting, one person offered, “Couldn’t we say ‘recommends?’ ‘Claim’ is … well so demanding.”

This was a room full of committed Unitarian Universalists. Yet, they squirmed at the notion belonging to a free church meant they had obligations — even though they were there committing a whole day to reflect on how to strengthen their ministries.

My answer: “If your congregation, if our faith does not make a claim on your time, talent, and treasure, then why bother? If we are to make a difference in people’s lives, we need to be upfront that ministry requires an investment of heart, soul, and resources.”

Summer is often a time for congregational leaders to take stock of things. This is a good thing, essential before you begin planning your next program year. The question brings us back to our promises. Did we fulfill our expectations? Did we deliver what the budget said we would? Have we made any difference beyond our doors? Are we growing as a people? As a congregation?

Too often, the question of performance review is put only to paid staff. However, it should be put to all members. Have you been faithful and are we more full of faith than previously?

The Free Church expects people to grow spiritually. Yet, too many get stuck in the “I don’t believe…” phase of spiritual deconstruction. They remain focused on rejecting and not tolerating anything with which they disagree. This leads to a creeping creedalism that breaks the promise that there shall be no test of right belief in our congregations.

We are here to grow souls. This is a demand, a claim: “Thou shall not hold endlessly to a negative attitude.”

At the center of our ministry assessments, we should ask: What are we for? To what are we committed? What do we promise? Are we growing souls and bringing more love and justice into being, among ourselves and in the larger society? 

That’s what we say we want to do. It is a promise that makes a claim ourselves, on each other, on our leadership. So, how are you doing?

Rev. Kenneth G. Hurto, Lead Congregational Life Consultant for the Southern Region

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.

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.