Dreaming and Experimenting in 2014

by Maggie Lovins, Congregational Life Consultant

As we move in 2014, many of us have new goals, new resolutions or aspirations for a new way of being. We often start off with mass amounts of enthusiasm and gusto only to have this momentum wane in the coming months. Whether this waning is due to daily life ‘getting in the way’, lack of motivation, or the goal not being realistically achievable, I would like to give us all a reminder to be gentle with ourselves. We as Unitarian Universalists hold ourselves, and others in most cases, to a very high standard. With this in mind we must be more comfortable with allowing ourselves to experiment and to stand on our growing edges to imagine what could be.
 

As Kenn Hurto explained in his last blog post on Jan. 3rd, the concept of “experi-fail” is being discussed at many levels of leadership. I like this concept for many reasons, mostly I appreciate it's permission giving. “Experi-fail” gives us ‘permission’ to step out in Faith, to take risks and try new things without the focus on failure, but on the adventure of discovery to come! Utilizing this thought process gives ourselves, and others, permission to unfurl our wings and see exactly how high and far we can fly, it gives us permission to go boldly into the next phase of being Unitarian Universalists. It is this part of permission giving that allows our fear or anxiety to fall away. If we were to rid ourselves of the fear of showing we are truly human and fallible, and the anxiety of possible judgment for not reaching that goal of 100% what could we dream?

Experimentation does not always spell success, but the lessons we learn from what does not work are just as valuable as the lessons of what does work. We learn what is not the right course of action for a particular situation, what variables need to be changed, and as long as we are learning, as long as we have grown from the experience then we have not failed!

If we removed the anxieties of perfection for just this year, what could we really accomplish? How deep could we really go? What good works as a Faith community could we achieve? Maybe one of our resolutions should be to experiment more and worry less about the perfection of the outcome. I invite you to ponder these questions and others that arise in your meditations on how you could use the “experi-fail” concept in your personal and congregational lives. And then, when you’re ready, step out in Faith knowing that success is as great of a probability, (and maybe even more when we stop second guessing ourselves!), as failure when you allow yourself to experiment, be bold, innovative and courageous!

Commentary from your Southern Region Staff

So, a new year unfolds. The annual rite of making of resolutions is in process. This notion has its origins in ancient cultures, notably setting people free from literal or spiritual enslavements.

 

There is something appealing about putting old habits to rest and think of a new year as a “fresh start,” a “new page,” or a “blank slate” upon which to write a new chapter. But we all know that power of the status quo to get in the way. We can anticipate news articles early next month about how few people were able to sustain their resolve for even a month. Ah, yes, the more things change the more they stay the same.

 

Even so, marking time’s passing helps one focus: what have we learned? What does that suggest for our next steps?

 

The last three years have been a period of trying new things for our Region, even as we coped with sustaining what is already in place. Your staff and Boards have embraced the notion of “experi-fail” to indicate the vulnerability we feel as we seek to create something very new to serve our Unitarian Universalist future and our existing congregations.

 

Premised on the idea of encouraging innovation, we’ve sought to risk new approaches to the larger ministry across four unique Districts and to collaborate in forming a unified Southern Region.

 

Two joint meetings since 2010 (see the website uuasouthernregion.org for The Orlando Platform and the Mountain View documents) have led to these outcomes:

 

Routine and frequent collaboration between the four boards;

The launch of a twice-monthly regional newsletter and consolidation of four websites into one;

The addition of (SUULE) the Southern Unitarian Universalist Leadership Experience to (DBLE) the Dwight Brown Leadership Experience as annual events;

The establishment of Convocations of Congregational Presidents each spring, in addition to local and District-based trainings such as Fall Harvest, the Congregational Toolbox, and Spring Training;

The transformation of 6 ½ District-based staff to 7 Regional positions called Congregational Life Staff. Each has a direct 1st-call relationship with roughly 30 to 35 congregations in addition to being available to the entire region;

The merger of four administrative offices into two;

The creation of a unified budget for the whole region;

 

All of this, however, is mere re-arranging of the chairs unless we use the efficiencies and combined talents better to serve our congregations and their leaders, as well as create new inter-congregational connections and partner with like-hearted groups beyond the congregation.

 

The new pages turning as we enter this new year include:

 

Rolling out the new approach to Regional funding, called (GIFT) Generously Investing for Tomorrow — a unified, single Ask for both our UUA’s Annual Program Fund and“dues” to support the Districts. See details at: http://www.uuasouthernregion.org/stewardshipgiftprogram/giftprogram.html.

Redefining the role of our Boards as at-large advisors or “Elders” to our congregations;

Holding our first simultaneous District Assemblies/Annual Meetings April 25-27, with UUA Moderator Jim Keyproviding a live-stream keynote to all four gatherings;

Fully integrating the four District finances while establishing protocols for the management of District-specific assets (e.g., endowments, Chalice Lighter funds);

Developing strategies for strengthening existing and creating new cluster arrangements, including the establishment of new “affinity” clusters (such as, adding to the current three state-wide legislative ministries or linking congregations with campus ministries, etc.).

 

It is that last item that generates great excitement. The philosophic idea that we are better together than apart — including the notion of shared nurture, support, and accountability — challenges our congregations no longer to view themselves as separate, do it yourself communities. We need each other to succeed. The challenges of our time call us to reclaim the second half of our polity, that the “autonomous” congregation is also a “connected” congregation. Clusters, geographic or affinity, are one way to do that. Congregational coaching by one congregation with one or two others is another.

 

As we move into this new year, we look back eager to retain what is solid and of value in our Districts. We also look forward to what a larger, collaborative ministry across the Southern Region might yet make possible — all to ensure the voices of the Free Church, our liberal religious outlook, and our commitment to love and justice are heard more clearly, more often.

 

Let’s resolve to make this a year of great and shared ministry.

 

Kenn

 

The Reverend Kenneth Gordon Hurto

Congregational Life Staff member

and Lead Executive for the Southern Region

khurto@uua.org or 239.560.5628

 

The Smart Church: The Season of Light

By Connie Goodbread, Congregational Life Staff

It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. - Peter Benenson

The reason for the season is the human fear that the sun will leave and never return. In the northern hemisphere the sun, the giver of life, light, warmth and sustenance spends less and less time with us as we approach the Winter Solstice. In the Northern hemisphere the dwindling days reach their climax between Dec 20 and 22. In the southern hemisphere it happens between June 20 - 22. The days grow shorter and shorter and colder and colder. Darkness is scary! All humans are afraid of the dark. If  the sun does not return to the sky our children starve. Can you even begin to imagine how it must have seemed to our ancestors, the dwindling days, the long nights and the cold. There are more holidays that happen around solstice than any other time of year. Our ancestors built monuments to count the days and watched the sun, I am sure with great fear, hope and anticipation. Some of these monuments were built in hopes of  trapping the sun - tethering it to the Earth. Some were built as temples but all seem to watch and mark the days. All seem to try to help us to control the uncontrollable. 

The discovery of how to make fire must have seemed like a great human triumph. With this discovery we could at least fight off the encroaching cold and darkness. Gas lamps lit our homes and villages - that also must have been a great leap out of the darkness.

The very first town in the United States to be lit by electric lights was Wabash, Indiana on March 31, 1880. People came from miles around to watch. What must that experience have been like? To have moved from the dark into the light in one moment.  It must have been miraculous. I am sure people prayed and cried and were moved to tears.

More than a century later as we move into the time of the Winter Solstice we should take some time to pray, meditate and think about just how lucky we are. Yes, things move too fast and it is hard to keep up with all the changes. Yes, there is great struggle in the world and so there is a great temptation to think that ours is the only generation to struggle. We are still not feeding all the children. We are still mongering hate and cursing one another. We are still at war. But we join the ranks of our ancestors – there has always been great struggle in the world.

If we were watching from a distance - would we see the struggle that is going on now all that differently from what humans have always struggled with forever? Susan Smith and I often say that we appreciate the struggle. We say this about the struggle that happens for Unitarian Universalists as we struggle with our individual faith development. But human struggle, of all kinds, is important. The struggle to be born. The struggle to become as fully human and as alive and aware as possible. Then finally the struggle to let go of this life and move on. Struggle is what life is all about.

We may fool ourselves once in a while, like our ancestors - thinking we can tether the sun and control the universe but it is just us fooling ourselves so that we won’t be afraid of the dark. The only thing we have control over is our own behavior. Luckily we have companions in the struggle - we are all in this together and that is what should give us great comfort.

In this season of love and light - be a light unto the world. Happy Holidays.

We need to be more generous with Unitarian Universalism.

by Kathy McGowan, Congregational Life Staff

I am in love with Unitarian Universalism. It makes me very sad to think that we are such a small denomination. I believe that the world needs us.  If there were more UUs living out our faith in our lives every day, the world would be a better place.  I truly believe this.

What do you say?  Are you ready to get generous with UUism?  I mean really generous.  It might mean giving up something that is dear to you personally.  It might mean giving up something that is important to your friends. You might become uncomfortable during worship on Sunday mornings because it has changed. You might have to get to know people that you are not sure you want to know.

What if we cared more about changing the world than we did about having “our wonderful church” for ourselves each week?  What if we started to be known as that church that uses American Sign Language interpreters all the time, or the one that pipes in the service to the local homeless shelter.  But perhaps that is not thinking big enough.

What if our Unitarian Universalist congregations were the ones called when the local community needed to hold a real dialogue on difficult issues.  We might be the ones called because deep listening is one of the values that we hold so dear that we have trained compassionate communicators, mediators and facilitators to help our communities.

We might value hope so much that our congregations become the think tanks for alternate ways of living.  If we lived out the value of joy, we could be the congregations where people drop by in the evenings because “it seems like there is always something fun happening at that place”. Maybe our commitment to compassion has been so strong that we have become the place where lower, middle and upper classes now gather to strategize on how to work together to battle the common enemies of poverty and racism.

I am probably not thinking big enough yet.  I am not being generous enough with Unitarian Universalism.  I need you in order to think bigger. How generous can we be with our faith to truly make the world a better place?

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!