COMMUNITY, COMMITMENT, AND CASH

What it takes to have a Vital Vibrant Congregation!

I grew up in a liberal Methodist church where I was baptized when I was about a month old. Most of my closest friends went there. I sang in the children’s choir back when I could sing a little higher. My Cub Scout Pack and Boy Scout Troop were sponsored by my church back when you just had to be male to be a scout. I remember going along to church work days with my dad and to meetings with my mom when I was in elementary school. I tested my leadership skills and discovered my values in the church youth groups. I made my first charitable contributions in the Sunday School, and did my first fundraising for UNICEF with other children from the church. Through Scouts, Sunday School, and the Youth Groups, I participated in and helped to lead several church services. When I began considering going into the ministry, I was encouraged by my home church. I preached my first sermon there when I was still in high school. From the earliest I can remember, I felt included, accepted, and loved. I was challenged to seek justice and practice compassion. I was taught that Jesus’ message was love and I knew that I was loved. As I grew older and continued asking too many questions, I realized that my theology was too liberal for lots of Methodists, but at that time the pluralism of the Methodists extended a little further than it does now. The loving acceptance of that congregation meant everything to me for a lot of years, and I still have many friends that I met there.

The Unitarian Universalist Church of Little Rock is offering that same kind of loving acceptance to all of us today, and it is even better because the acceptance we offer includes an even wider range of beliefs and non-beliefs than the Methodists have ever been able to accept. We are a community which is loving, accepting, and inclusive. These days in a world that is too often divided between us and them, real community is hard to find. If we lived in a world of true justice and real compassion, it would be enough to gather in the kind of community we offer. It would take an ongoing commitment to maintain the community, and it would take financial support to pay the bills of the staff and the facility, but it would not be as important as it now is to both support and grow the community.

Unfortunately, we live in a world that knows little compassion and less justice. We live in a world of big and little lies, greed, corporate monopolies, overuse and abuse of resources, people, and the planet by the wealthy of the world. We live in a nation where the chasm between rich and poor is ever-widening. We live in a world currently fighting over oil and soon destined to fight over water if we continue on our current course.

I don’t need to list the problems in the world, for we know them all too well. What I want to do is to remind us how effectively our movement can provide antidotes to the problems in the world locally and globally.

At a personal level this congregation provides us a refuge from the narrow-mindedness, fundamentalisms, and war-mongering around us, though we at times could be even more accepting of those with somewhat more conservative views. We offer lots of opportunities for dialogue and exploring ideas beliefs and philosophies. At our best, we offer an opportunity for anyone within these walls to be honest about what they think and believe without judging, so long as those beliefs do not result in practices harmful to people or the earth.

In some places, Unitarian Universalists do not seem to need their churches as much, for in more progressive parts of the country, especially on the coasts, it seems that UUs often take their congregations for granted. In the Bible Belt, we especially need what Unitarian Universalism offers: intellectual and religious freedom, the opportunity for spiritual exploration, and an honest community where we can speak our truth openly and respectfully with other like-minded people. We also need a base from which we can build a better world. Among our members are many people working for peace, justice, and a healthy planet.

One of the ways we have been seeking to build our community by living our principles is in our efforts to become a Welcoming Congregation to Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender persons. In a State that forbids the marriage of gays and lesbians, this is an important issue of justice and commitment. Another way we have sought to live out our principles has been in efforts to support a healthier world by encouraging study and advocacy around ecological issues. Our Give Earth a Dance celebration and information display on Friday was very well attended and encouraging. Workshops on Eco-Spirituality have also been well received.

To be a strong and effective congregation, we need to support the commitment to civil and human rights and to the health of our planet. We also need the support of our members and friends volunteering by serving on the board, committees, task forces, folding the newsletter and participating in work parties. Understandably, some people’s lives are so busy that they may only be able to come to Sunday Services many years, but for all those who are able, a service commitment helps to build and strengthen the community. Participation in studies, groups and events also helps to build commitment and community.

Even beyond the personal needs of our members and friends, and the institutional needs of the congregation, we have something to offer the world that is much needed in these turbulent times. Our witness for justice and truth and our commitment to compassion and acceptance are tremendously important in a world where clean water and adequate food often are unavailable for a billion people. Our commitment to human rights and resource justice can help to change the wasteful polices of US corporations and encourage government actions that will reward manufacturers and buyers of hybrid cars and of technologies that are sustainable, clean, and healthy.

The commitment to seeking peace in the world by diplomacy and economic means rather than war is another effort shared by many members and friends of UUCLR and other Unitarian Universalist congregations. The Pray for Peace Project and its Perfectly Peaceful Pot-Luck Planning event represent strong commitments by members of this congregation to bring about significant changes.

There are so many things that we can do by joining our efforts together. Such programs as I have mentioned may only make a little bit of difference, just a ripple, but together with the efforts of other individuals and congregations around the country they may help build pressure for the changes that will move us toward a healthier world. If we believe that we can make a difference, even those little individual ripples can build into a wave of change.

We are a community that invites people in by offering acceptance and a place to rest from the onslaught by religious fundamentalism. We are a community which encourages members and friends to explore a variety of spiritual practices and discover their own pathways. We are a community seeking to live out the principles which can shape a sustainable, just, and compassionate world. We are a community that accepts and believes in individuals and we are a community at work to build a better world.

Currently, we are also a community that receives no government funding, though I am planning to attend an upcoming meeting sponsored by Senator Lincoln’s office on governmental funding for Faith Based programs. In any case, we are a self-sustaining community. We rely completely on the generosity of our members and friends to support our annual budget and to provide gifts for special projects, wish list items, and for the endowment, which also provides some funding for special programs each year.

Each year, we ask members and friends to pledge to generously support the work of this congregation. Your pledge at this time allows the Board and Finance committee to build a budget that will support the ministry and religious education efforts of the congregation, pay for staff, utilities, needed repairs, the work of committees, and the various costs of running a church. In short, your financial commitments make this church possible. But it is the whole package that makes this church great. It takes intentional efforts to be a community, it takes strong commitments from members and friends, and it takes generous financial support to make this church what it is now and what it can be in the future.

I will be encouraging the board to schedule a congregational gathering some time this spring or early next fall for us to talk about the future for UUCLR. How big do we want to be? Can we help start other congregations in Arkansas? What changes may we need in facilities to better meet short and longer term needs and move our mission forward? What are the outreach projects that most demand our attention?

Now that we have shared a solid year in ministry together, where do we want to put our mutual energies? These are questions we ought to be thinking about. We can see from the number of visitors that join us during the year that there is more interest than we are currently able to handle. If part of our mission is to make the acceptance of Unitarian Universalism available to more people, we have a challenge ahead!

This has been such a busy year that I am beginning to look forward to summer as a time to take a break and refresh and think about the new challenges ahead next year. With the weather as beautiful as it has been the last few days, I expect that many of you will be taking an occasional Sunday off to enjoy this beautiful state in the next few months. If you are traveling and are near another UU congregation, I hope you will visit and convey our greetings and see how they may do things differently. I hope several of you will attend at least part of General Assembly in Fort Worth June 24-27^th. Our Annual Unitarian Universalist General Assembly provides a wonderful opportunity to learn what is going on in the rest of Unitarian Universalism, and this year it is only a few hours away!

The Unitarian Universalist Church of Little Rock has a lot to offer for all of us, for the community beyond these walls, and to our planet! In Unitarian Universalism, we are part of a movement that can really make a difference in the world. As you think about your pledge of financial support and as you consider the time commitment you will make in the coming church year, I hope that you are excited about UUCLR as it is and will be. I also hope that you will be generous with your financial support to help make our shared vision a reality!

Shalom, Salam, Amen, and Blessed Be!