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Courage in Leadership
As both a businessman and more recently as a volunteer in the community, I have worked with and sat on many boards and I can assure you, some are most definitely better than others! In the past I have worked with Boards that have abdicated their responsibility and failed to take action when needed – the “firemen syndrome” as it is sometimes known and one where in an emergency or time sensitive situation the board is expected to act decisively even if outside normal procedures. Others have overstepped their authority and acted in a manner inconsistent with the principal of democracy and without regard to the values of the organization. Still others have been a pleasure to work with or as a part of.
This past Monday night the TJMC-UU Board met to review its work over the past six months and define the work still to be completed over the remaining half of the year. Much has been accomplished, and much remains to be done, as you can read for yourself in the minutes posted on our website and on the bulletin board. Of equal importance to the work getting done is the way that work is being organized and managed. At TJMC-UU the Board is elected and given its authority to act by the congregation. It has the responsibility to conduct business in accordance with our bylaws and through the council structure, various committees and special task forces. In theory this is a simple system and quite democratic. In practice it can be more difficult. One question we try to answer whenever an issue comes up has to do with congregational input. When appropriate, are we encouraging Broad participation in the process and gathering feedback prior to final recommendations and decisions being made? Is the Board supporting the open and democratic process demanded by our principles? I do believe we are. This is most certainly true of our Music Task Force and that of the Facilities Planning Task Force. However, on occasion it may not be appropriate or even possible to follow this simple and, frankly, safe approach.
That same night we needed to address an issue that could not wait for full participation by the congregation. It had to do with deciding whether or not to take advantage of a sizeable, but time constrained grant and install a bank of solar panels that would generate 25% or more of our energy needs for the main building. The issue was complex and not without financial challenge, but due to the timeline associated with the grant, required the Board to act swiftly and decisively. The Board could have chosen the easy option and passed on the opportunity. Instead, they debated openly and with great thoughtfulness, and demonstrated leadership and courage in making their decision without the benefit of consultation with the full congregation. As one of my boyhood (and adult) hero’s Sir Winston Churchill once said, “Democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried and on occasions leaders need to lead.”
Not all will agree with the decision made, and some may question the process, but all should be as proud as I am to be associated with a Board that had the courage to act in a way they believed to be true to our mission, and in the long term interests of our community. In the past too many decisions have taken too long, and some have not come at all. If you don’t believe me just ask those who served on previous facilities teams! As we move forward this year and beyond it will be important to find the right balance in our leadership styles (and we are all leaders here) to achieve the vision and goals we hope lie ahead.
In faith
Ian Sole
Board President
The theme for the month of February is “Justice.” I once heard someone pronounce the word with more “uh” than “ih” in the second syllable and that led to an epiphany. Just us.
There’s an old saying the preachers really only have one or two sermons that we keep recycling over and over. This is definitely one of mine – there is no “us and them” there is only “us.” I’ve taken to summing up Unitarian Universalist theology with the words: We are one human family, on one fragile planet, in one miraculous universe, bound by love. I believe this to be True (with a capital “T”). I believe that it is fundamental. Essential.
From this, then, the idea that injustice occurs when someone – or a group of someones – sees other someones as separate. Distinct. Different. Injustice occurs when the inherent worth and dignity of a person or group of people is denied, when the inherent relatedness of each of us to all of us is overlooked or disregarded.
Sexism, heterosexism, racism, ableism, classism – each of these and all of these are, at their core, a denial of “Just Us.” This is part of what makes them so perniciously intertwined. They each exclude someone from the “us” and set systems in place to perpetuate that exclusion. Individual acts of individual people are, of course, important, but the systems… that’s the real dragon to be slain.
And I believe that fundamentally – in the essence of it – the “solution” (if you will) to all of the myriad forms of injustice – both specific and systemic – is to reassert the awareness of “just us.” Justice occurs when our interrelatedness is recognized and acknowledged. (And it should go without saying that this interrelatedness extends beyond mere human to human interconnections but human to animal, and plant, and planet, and beyond.)
As the Rev. Dr. King so famously said, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” It might be worth remembering that the inverse is also true – every time justice is reaffirmed anywhere, injustice everywhere loses some of its hold.
In Gassho,
Rev. Erik
We’re approaching the six-month anniversary of our coming together as OCP (ordained clergy person) and Congregation (filled with ministers!). The rhythms are coming a little easier, the steps are beginning to make sense. And as those of you who’ve been to my office can attest, I’m pretty much settled in!
Sam Jackson,who until recently was part of our cleaning crew, once looked around the space and dubbed it “The Batcave.” (And if you haven’t yet, come visit and you’ll soon see why.) I like it. I’m thinking of renaming this column, “Notes from the Batcave.”
With this in mind, I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that “my” office is really “your” office. I may be its current resident – and may be so for a long, long time – but the space really belongs to all of you and I make use of it in service to our community. (I’m usually in the office Mondays through Thursdays 9 AM – 2 PM, some later afternoons, and many evenings, too.)
So please remember: this space is available to you for pastoral counseling and spiritual direction. It’s available for consultation on the work of your committee or task force. It’s available to collaborate on rites of passage such as weddings, memorial services, house blessings, job transitions, and anything else that might use a jolt of good old fashioned religious energy. It’s available for times of shared prayer and meditation.
And it’s available as a lending library. This office has one of the largest sets of bookshelves that I’ve ever seen in a clergy person’s office, and they’re pretty much all filled. There are books on Taoism, Buddhism, Buddhist/Christian dialogue, progressive Christianity (including about Jesus, God, and the Bible), spiritual practices (especially prayer), Unitarian Universalist history, a large number of different scriptures from various religions, and even some books on physics!
It is my hope that we will use the resources of this space to further and deepen all of our ministries.
In Gassho, Rev. Erik
Walking the Spiral Path
Parents often share with me the desire to have their children actively engaged in the life of our church. They want their children to have a solid understanding of what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist, to have a place to identify, explore and express our UU values. They want their children to feel connected to people of all ages in our congregation. They want their children to know what it means to be part of a church community and to understand the privileges as well as the responsibilities this entails. They want their children to have practice naming, experiencing, and honoring a connection to something larger than ourselves – what some of us call God or Spirit (or a 1000 other names). I too want all these things and more for the children and youth of our church.
The good news is that what we dream of for our children is possible! It is possible when, as parents, we make commitments and follow through on them. When we commit to coming to church regularly, we teach our children and youth that church (and all that church means and is) is important. It is a priority. When we commit to coming to church regularly, we create the opportunity for our children to make connections and build friendships not only in their religious education classes but also with others they encounter on Sunday morning. When we commit to coming to church regularly, we model for our children the importance of attending worship service as a spiritual practice, a way to feed our souls. When we commit to coming to church regularly, it helps us discover other ways to become involved in the life of the congregation, perhaps with IMPACT or PACEM, all church game nights, community dinners or covenant groups. Our children see us involved and engaged and know that things of value, importance and meaning happen here.
As we enter the new year, I warmly invite you to consider making the commitment (or recommitment) to have your family attend church regularly. And, if there is anything I can do to help make your family’s participation in church more fulfilling, satisfying or meaningful, please do not hesitate to be in touch with me.
For the women of our congregation, I want to extend a special invitation to you to our second annual Women’s Dream Quest. The Planning Circle for this year’s Quest chose January for the very reasons I mention above, the slowing of pace and restorative grace. We want you to come sing, dance, pray, breathe, cry or just “be” with us, your sisters, on our congregation’s beautiful canvass labyrinth. The Dream Quest also includes opportunities to work with expressive arts as well as small group sharing. Experience with “dream work” is not necessary. Some participants do think about, work on or share from their dream life but the focus is not on dreams per se.
The whole Dream Quest experience is like being in a wakeful dream! The Quest includes an overnight in the church building with participants sleeping (or not) based on each woman’s personal needs. The labyrinth is available for walking all night long and there is something exquisite about sitting in our Sanctuary in the silence of midnight and candlelight. The registration fee is $75 with financial assistance/work scholarship available. Space in our Dream Quest is limited to forty women and many of these spaces are already taken. Please contact me immediately if you would like to register. I would very much like you to be able to attend.
As we greet the morning sun and the lengthening of the day’s light, each one of us has much to look forward to in this New Year. My wishes for all of us are peace, happiness and health.
With appreciation,
Leia Durland-Jones
Director of Religious Education
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This free email update is full of the latest information about children and youth RE classes and events as well as announcements and information particularly of interest to parents. If you would like to subscribe please contact leiadj@embarqmail.com.
A Conversation about Justice
Rev. Erik Walker Wikstrom and Leia Durland-Jones, DRE, invite you to explore the idea of justice, our worship and faith development theme during the month of February. What does justice mean or look like to and for us as Unitarian Universalists? How can this theme enrich our spiritual lives? How might we bring the work of justice-making more deeply into our own lives? Come take advantage of this opportunity to deepen your knowledge and understanding on Wednesday, January 18, from 7-9 PM in the Parlor.
RE Wish List
w Help with repairing a broken rolling dry erase board
w Rolls of blue “painters” tape
w Fun sticky note pads
Save the dates:
Jan. 1 NO RE
Jan. 4 Youth Programs Committee
Jan. 8 UU Stars Story Sunday
Jan. 15 Lifespan Faith Development Council meeting
Jan. 18 A Conversation about Justice
Jan. 25 Children’s RE Committee
Jan. 29 Congregation fundraiser luncheon 11:30 AM
Religious Education Contacts:
Leia Durland-Jones, DRE: 293-8179 x 3#
leiadj@embarqmail.com. Usually available Sundays through Thursdays, and by appointment.
Robyn Fogler, RE Assistant: 293-8179 x 6# robynf@embarqmail.com
Looking Back On Our Future!
The headline may read a little strange but, in part at least, that is exactly what I have been doing. The Facilities Planning Task Force, of which I am a member, has been hard at work completing its findings in preparation for sharing them with the entire congregation during January and February. This is the next step in the process where we will be seeking feedback from each of you on what you think is needed to improve our physical community and how best to fund those improvements. Our report will not contain any final recommendations. That is for the congregation to decide, but neither will it be presented in a vacuum, divorced from the mission or purpose of the church.
As you will hear from our presentation, we firmly believe that our facilities are but one part of the whole that must fit together to support the mission of the church, its ministry, its programming needs and the needs of our staff and governing body. It is therefore, part of a comprehensive long range plan and this is where the headline for this article comes into play. In addition to reviewing prior facilities plans, I came across a comprehensive long range plan started back in 2000 and presented in 2003 covering all aspects of the church. Reading the report, I was amazed at the accuracy of its projections for how we would look in 2011-12 in terms of membership size, staffing, programming and funding needs and of course, the facilities needed to support these findings. It was, in fact, a look back into our future. While some things have changed, it was comforting to read how much has remained the same. While this time around we have broken it up into smaller pieces, we are still effectively in the process of updating our Long Range Plan (LRP). If you look at our Goals for 2011-12 you will see that we have been working on many of the components that together make for a new LRP.
In addition to the facilities team, another group has been tasked with reviewing our organization and staffing needs. Others have been reviewing our governance structure and still more have been working on aspects of our programming and ministry needs. This work will be shared with you during the course of the New Year, beginning with a brief update at the next Congregational Meeting on Sunday, January 29.
A relatively new, but equally important feature of this LRP process has been the work of our Green Sanctuary Task Force. On Sunday, January 29, they will move to have their report and application for Green Sanctuary designation approved by the congregation. All these various initiatives are about our future, some of which I believe I have seen (or at least read about) and it is exciting. I ask that you join in the making of that future.
In Faith,
Ian Sole
President, Board of Trustees
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