Who are we as a Community?

By Hank Pangborn KUUF Board Co-President

Or maybe, I should ask, “Who do you want us to be?” Now I would caution us all, before we respond, to realize that wishes seldom become reality on their own. Rather, it takes work to implement them; much as I said in the “Candle” column of last month on Volunteering. That being said, “Do you like where we are as a Congregation, or should we embrace change?”

Over thirty years ago, I was in my Doctor of Ministry year at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. I was preparing my DMin project based on Elizabeth Kubler Ross’s stages of grief. I cast those stages in my series of classes from a theological perspective, and titled them “Grief: The Process of Loss and New Beginnings.” Out of that study, I came to understand life as a continual process of change with its attendant process of grief (letting go) and the resultant possibility of new beginnings (growth/maturity/renewed opportunity).

We are constantly experiencing the process of change personally as we find strength out of accepting our weakness ,or wholeness by reaching out to offer forgiveness. And change certainly occurs as we discover a freshness in our corporate life with the addition of new members and enable their dreams to become ours.

In the Fall 2009 issue of UUWorld, newly elected president of the Unitarian Universalist Association Peter Morales wrote of corporate UU change. But I believe it also speaks to our personal lives as well. After reflecting on his election, he writes, “I founded my campaign on the conviction that Unitarian Universalism has the potential to become a religious movement that includes far more people and that we can have far more impact in the world.”

I don’t know if the hope in this message has an effect on you, but it does on me. I think he is trying to awaken the “better person” within us; to read more of his column and to capture the spirit of his trumpet call to change. Then, I hear him encouraging us to seize the future and to commit with a focused energy to live it.

“I spoke repeatedly about growth,” president Morales continued, “as a moral imperative akin to feeding the hungry. Our campaign laid out an ambitious vision of embracing a multicultural future. The message of the election is clear: We Unitarian Universalists want our movement to change. We want to embrace the possibilities inherent in these uncertain times. We are not reconciled to being a declining part of American religious life. We have too much to offer. The world needs our prophetic and compassionate voice.”

Wow. What a positive call to action. A call some of us may feel with a lifting of our spirit and an encouragement for us to get involved. It puts us on notice that the world needs the gifts/energy that each of us harbors.

“The challenges before us are daunting,” Morales con- tinues. “The true challenges before us are spiritual. The first great test for us is whether we are willing to let go of those things in the past that no longer serve us. We must learn to ‘do church’ and our associational life in new ways. Change can be hard. The familiar is comfort- able. In the coming months and years we must remind ourselves that we are the spiritual heirs of people who were willing to leave the past behind in order to em- brace the future. We must not let fear paralyze us.”

You may remember a time when you were energized to personally change in some way or to assist positive change in others. And, when thinking of these changes, you may recall the struggle that those changes brought. For real, substantive change always comes at a price: a different job; a new relationship; looking at and seeing oneself differently; looking at life in a new way; the list goes on.

“The second great spiritual test for us is relational. Can we open our hearts, our lives, our doors, and our congregations to the millions of seekers looking for a religious home? Ultimately, the test is whether there is enough love in our hearts. Love reaches out. Love is vulnerable. We must dare to love.”

And so it is with us personally, as we experience potential change in our lives. President Morales concludes, I think, with a word for both the corporate and personal aspects of change in our lives:

“Together, together, we can transform and revitalize our faith. I am filled with joy and anticipation. Give me your hand. Let’s get busy.”

Thanks for all that you do and your commitment to this place we hold so dear.