On Wednesday of this week I attended a gathering of colleagues at the Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church in Bethesda, Maryland.
Near the end of our morning meeting we were each asked to come up with one word to describe our past year in ministry.
Some of the words that were offered up were "exhausting", "exhilarating", "frustrating", "busy", "discerning" (always a good ministerial word) and from one first year colleague, "terrifying!"
Well, I was glad that I was near the end of the circle of respondents because I was having a difficult time coming with my word. I finally settled on "discombobulated."
To my surprise, discombobulated was met with many knowing glances.
And as I have thought about it some more, I think that discombobulated is an excellent word for how I feel.
I don't know whether it is the result of aging, I'll turn 63 in September, or something that has been a part of my personality for a long that I have chosen to overlook, but I realize that I am a creature of habit.
I like my life to be predictable and fairly routine.
And in some ways, for me this year has been anything but predictable and routine.
Just after kicking off the new church year last September, I traveled to India on my mini-sabbatical.
When I returned, all of you were moving ahead at full speed and I felt like I was playing catch-up in order to get back into the rhythms of preaching and pastoral care.
Then, slam, came the great holidays of Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and New Years and I found myself feeling pretty tired and the church year wasn't half over.
I'm not sure I've completely caught up with how fast this year has gone by and now it's practically June and here I am trying to make sense of another church year.
So, yes, I'd say that things have been pretty much discombobulated.
So as I began to think about this sermon I decided to ask the many committee chairs of the congregation, what two or three issues they perceived as being the most urgent facing our congregation and I want to thank all of you who responded.
I think, if I understand correctly the responses that I received, the church is doing rather well; but there are definite areas about which some of us have a definite sense of urgency.
While we continue to have strong attendance at the 11:00 service, still the average is down a tad this year and we need to explore this issue to see if we can find out why.
Is it because when attendance reaches around 125-130 adults it begins to feel a little crowded and this turns some folks off?
Is it because there are so many competing activities on Sunday mornings?
Has everyone had enough of what I have to say?
And there may be reasons we haven't even thought of yet.
Attendance at the 9:00 service has diminished this year and this is also an area of concern simply because I wonder if the service as it is currently designed—as a service of spoken word and meditation—is suited to attract a viable number of attendees.
At the time we implemented a second service, I had hoped it might attract those who taught RE at 11:00; those who had early Tee times; and those who desired as quieter more reflective time for worship. But while attendance has been very regular, it has been well below what I had originally envisioned.
So, should we add instrumental music? Should we find a different time for this service? What other elements could be changed to make it more appealing to more people?
Again, there are many answers to these questions that the Sunday Services Committee and I will need to talk about in the coming months.
One powerful testimonial to the strength of this congregation is that in a year of difficult economic times, our annual stewardship campaign generated a five percent increase in giving.
I don't think it can be repeated too often how appreciative the leaders of this congregation for the time talents and treasures given by so many.
Church membership is one of those areas that is always in flux. While we have gained seven new members this year, and several folks are currently participating in the current New UU class, some dear friends of this congregation have moved on to new chapters in their lives.
But I think there is a greater concern here than just membership numbers.
I think we should have a sense of urgency about the significant number of folks who come and visit one or several times and then we never hear from them again.
Our back door seems to be as wide open as our front door and this distresses me.
I realize that we must grow one Sunday at a time, one relationship at a time, one commitment at a time.
This is how growing churches have always done it.
They grow because they are welcoming, because they have a sense of mission, because they insist upon quality, and because they are passionate about worship, social justice, and caring for one another.
I appreciate that growth per se is not the goal; but it is the measure by which we determine whether we are meeting the fundamental needs for a liberal religious community.
If we are to continue the growth we have experienced over the past several years we must continue to do an excellent job of welcoming the seeker, retaining our youth, and engaging our existing members in activities that meet their social, spiritual and activist souls.
I believe that we have the potential to touch the lives of hundreds of our neighbors who are looking for a religious home.
To do this, I believe we must be a more powerful voice for compassion, justice, peace and environmental stewardship.
Under the excellent guidance of our Director of Religious Education, Brenda Berry, and the hard work and dedication of the Religious Education Committee our RE program continues to serve the needs of our children—especially in the younger grades.
As with almost every Unitarian Universalist church I know, we struggle at times to find the right mixture of freedom and structure to attract our high school youth and to keep them engaged in the life of the congregation.
Keeping our youth engaged will continue to be a growing edge for this congregation.
This year social action and social justice outreach activities have increased to include congregational participation at the Blue Ridge Food Bank, the Volunteer Farm, the Virginia Organizing Project, the Coalition for Racial Unity, the Valley Interfaith Council, and some of us traveled afar to Richmond and Washington, D.C. to engage our elected officials in conversations around subjects of concern to the members and friends of this congregation.
Through these kinds of outreach efforts the people of Winchester, Frederick, Shenandoah, and Warren counties as well as nearby West Virginia, will begin to see the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Shenandoah Valley as a force for good in our region.
We will gain an identity and a reputation for looking out for those in need and for striving to make our elected representatives responsible for all who live in their districts and states.
On a personal note, I will shortly be bringing news of opportunities for us to participate in the Habitat For Humanity Interfaith Build that is taking place on a site right here in Stephens City.
I hope that members of this congregation will be willing to give an occasional Saturday to work side by side with representatives from the Islamic, Jewish, Hindu, and Baha'i communities as well as several Christian denominations, to build a home for a local family.
Under the exemplary direction of Ms. Mariana Mihai-Zoeter, our choir has continued to grow and to bring us a rich variety of music. I invite you to be present next week when they will be the centerpiece of our service prior to the annual meeting.
Another area of incredible energy has been our lifespan faith development offerings.
This year we have had opportunities to participate in Bible studies, women's spirituality, Perspectives on Muslim Women, a men's group, book discussions on such varied books as Animal, Vegetable and Mineral; Three Cups of Tea and Can't Wait to get To Heaven.
And of course, every time we drive down the church driveway are eyes feast upon the beautiful landscaping that has started to mature and really frames our buildings in a green sanctuary of our own.
Our lovely landscaping is the result of the dedicated efforts of many green thumbs.
But all was not hard work around here.
We enjoyed four wonderful and varied concerts sponsored by the Music Committee, we dined in regal splendor at the Chili cook-off and love bloomed at the Heart-to Heart Café.
So, I think we can all be proud of what we have accomplished over the past twelve months.
But where are our growing edges? What do we need to do better if we are to continue to be a vibrant congregation? Where is our sense of urgency?
I think the most important area we need to address can be distilled into one word—communication.
More than once this year I have heard folks complain that they missed this opportunity or that event because they never knew about it.
As one respondent to my request for in-put replied, "If I had to single out just one area that should be the focus of attention, it would be communication....There have been many attempts, I know to address this problem, including the recent resurrection of the church newsletter, the weekly church bulletins, the appointment of board liaisons to standing committees, the all-committee meetings and so on. Each of these has helped, but they haven't come close to solving the problem."
I think it was George Bernard Shaw who quipped, "The problem with communication ... is the illusion that it has been accomplished."
So how do we do a better job of getting the word out?
We have a web page but are there steps to be taken to enhance its value as both a way to get information out to our members while still having it be a primary point of contact for folks searching for a new religious home?
In spite of the terrific efforts by Pat Lorenzo to bring us a polished and professional looking newsletter, we know that not everyone reads the newsletter or the weekly announcements, so how can we encourage more people to take advantage of these offerings?
Do we need more communications with less stuff in each effort? Do we need to revisit how announcements are made on Sunday mornings?
Obviously there is no magic solution to this problem, but it would be sure great if some people wanted to examine this area and make some recommendation—I promise you that your suggestions won't fall on deaf ears—about how to address this problem.
Another issue around which there is a sense of urgency is one that is as perennial as the daffodils in our gardens.
We continue to have too few volunteers doing too much work.
More than once this year I've walked into a committee meeting and there sit the same people who were are at a meeting of a different committee the week before.
As I see it there are two ways to deal with this issue. One, the more beneficial one, is to have additional folks step up to do committee work.
The second is to increase our staff and staff hours to take on some of the jobs that seem to get neglected. But could we afford that? I don't think so.
I feel as sense of urgency over the ways we look after the seniors in our congregation and the support, or more specifically the lack of support offered to our young adults and parents of young children.
What would it take to offer a parents' night out or a Saturday morning play group that would give young parents some time to do errands or just have a quiet cup of coffee?
Our congregation is full of experts on all kinds of social, emotional, and psychological support.
How can we support our members and friends ho are in pain and need of companionship and transportation.
How could we reach out to our members who live in assisted living facilities and occasionally bring church to them?
I have a sense of urgency over this congregation's lack of participation in denominational affairs.
This year I was the only one to attend the annual meeting of the Joseph Priestly District and Nancy and I will be the only delegates from this congregation attending General Assembly in Salt Lake City where we will have the opportunity to vote for either Laurel Hallman or Peter Morales to be the new president of the UUA.
Our congregation is not an isolated entity and both the UUA and the JPD offer workshops and conferences throughout the year that assist congregations in the daily management of church business.
We should be participating in these offerings.
And lastly, I knew it was bound to happen some year and this year it did.
This year there was no mention of the anniversary of our move into this wonderful new space of ours. I think this means that we now consider it home.
And like home, we have grown comfortable with our space; we have made it our own; and we have begun to overlook some of the little dinks and dents that come with time.
It may not be as appealing to work on the building as it is to work on the grounds—the results might not be so immediate and so flashy, but our wonderful building is beginning to look a little tired.
Some places on the inside could use a fresh coat of paint; there's some drywall that could be patched; maybe the windows could be washed and so on.
Again, we can do some of the work ourselves, or we can pay to have it done.
We have a building committee chaired by Carol Stroebel and I know she would love some help taking on some of these issues.
I believe that the primary task of a religious congregation is to build community.
We do this on Sunday and we do this at our social events, and we do this in our small group gatherings, and we can do this by coming together on a Saturday morning and working for a few hours on some of the projects that need to be done inside and out.
And finally, I feel a sense of urgency over finding our identity as a congregation. What are our gifts and strengths? When others talk of us what is it we want them to say about our congregation?
Only when we are sure of who we are will people really know if this is the church for them.
What is it that we do best here at UUCSV. What draws and attracts visitors to our worship services?
How do we help people with their hurts and hopes and assist them to build on their present strengths?
We need to discover these strengths and then we need to continuously improve upon them.
50 to 60 per cent of the population is unchurched.
We, the members and friends of this congregation, need to be ready so that that when the time comes in their lives that they want to be in community with others, to delve into life's big questions and to explore what it means to be human, that our doors are open and welcoming.
We need to be a community that is inviting, challenging and filled with love and grace.
We need to be a congregation where new people and long time members can be at home with one another.
May this congregation be the kind of community where we are each called to our better selves, where our fragments can be united, our pains healed, our spines stiffened, and our commitments deepened.
I hope that each of you share some of my sense of urgency and that you will be motivated to act on those areas which most concern you and stimulate your energy that we may become the church we are hoping to be.