Spiritually Speaking: A Generous People

We are a generous people.  I know this from the people who are in our congregation, people who inspire me.

There is the man who believes that giving time to weed and craft each corner into an outdoor shrine is a spiritual act.  He spends hours at our congregation so that someone will walk through our doors and be inspired, touched, perhaps even healed by our natural environment.

There is the woman who gives generously of her resources.  After taxes, bills, food, and life essentials are paid for, she shares with us each month over half of what is left.  It is $20, and I am humbled by this act, placed in the basket each month.  This money helps us continue to care for each other and our community, to truly make the world we live in a better place for our children.

There is the person who works all week, sometimes with 12-hour days, in finance.  They come in after this work week to help us with financials, to give us skills that we likely couldn’t afford; they ensure the checks are cut to the charities, the staff, and the power company to keep the church lit.

There are many more I couldn’t name.  Some greet before each church service, being the face of welcome to everyone who comes through our doors.  Some sit on teams or committees and search for the right words to tell the world who we are.  Some clean-up the kitchen and make coffee.  Some come into the office and make copies, send emails, and welcome visitors.

We are a generous people.

This month with the theme of service, we will celebrate the generosity within our community as well as the gifts many of us offer outside of our community.  It is said that many progressive people actually tithe, the old practice of giving 10% of one’s income to the church.  We tithe by giving both to our congregation and the rest out in the world!  Charitable organizations, non-profits, and advocacy groups are the recipients of countless Unitarian Universalist supporters.

We are often quiet in our generosity, private about our giving.  Nonetheless, we are a generous people who believe in the act of service.

So why do we believe in generosity?  Why do we hold up service as one of the basic elements of our faith?

It’s true that some of us were raised with the values of generosity and service, but many of us were also raised in the consumer culture of more and more.  Yet we’ve made bold, different decisions.  Why?

Come join us in exploring the deep roots of service in Unitarian Universalism, something that is even crafted into our symbol the chalice.  We’ll consider how to sustain service for our children and their children, and celebrate service in our very midst!

With gratitude for the journey and companions on the path,

Rev. Robin

Spiritually Speaking: The Case for Hope

According to Emily Dickinson, it’s a thing with feathers. Nietzsche thought it “the worst of all evils,” while Martin Luther King believed it formed the foundation for a just world. 

Hope has a mixed history.  The story of the world can easily be told from a pessimistic or optimistic viewpoint.  Frankly, the evidence of history is in the eye of the beholder.  The details don’t tell the same story as the “moral arc of the universe” to quote Unitarian Theodore Parker (later quoted by Martin Luther King Jr.). 

In seminary it was a popular question, “Is the world getting better?” or put another way, “what is the case for hope?”  The problem of course is that the case for hope is not an evidential case.  No defense attorney could line up the alibi for the times when clearly the world has not moved toward the common good or hopeful vision.  Yet, no prosecutor could deny the fuel behind some of the world’s greatest visionaries.  Hope does not rest upon the world eventually being righted but rather in a vision for the world that compels action.

When Martin Luther King placed his life in the hands of hope, he did not wait for his dream to unfold.  Rather, hope was the vision before him that called him through the troubling nights and hot, fearful days.  If hope is a gift apart from our action, then it is magical thinking and impossible opiate.  But if hope is the substance that propels our lives toward the next and the next day and in so doing makes our lives count in ways we could never see in the daily details, then hope has a case.

This month we’ll consider the case for hope.  Is it an attitude?  Is it an act of will?  Are you born with hope, or do you learn to be hopeful?

Come join us for the first theme of the year as we begin our spiritual journeys together.  We hope (wink, wink) you will join us!

In faith and appreciation for the journey we share,

Rev. Robin

Welcoming Congregation Renewal

What is a Welcoming Congregation?

The Welcoming Congregation Program is a volunteer program for Unitarian Universalist congregations that want to take intentional steps to become more welcoming and inclusive of people with marginalized sexual orientations and gender identities.

First launched in 1990, the program grew out of an understanding that widespread prejudices and ignorance about LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) people existed within Unitarian Universalism, which resulted in the exclusion of LGBTQ people from our congregations.

Today, 66% of U.S. UU (Unitarian Universalist) congregations and 94% of Canadian UU congregations are recognized as Welcoming Congregations. The program is supported by LGBTQ Ministries.

For Piedmont UUC (Piedmont Unitarian Universalist Church) this began in the Fall of 2004, when the Piedmont UU middle school youth protested that the ages 4-18 Social Justice Sunday programs were boring. The senior high echoed their complaints. Subsequent meetings with each group led to a combined brainstorming session where both groups (between 15 and 20 youth) decided they wanted to work together on social justice efforts with more meaning. Notes from those meetings document that they wanted to work on something that they knew could make a difference, that required more than an hour on Sunday, and that introduced them firsthand to the people affected by the injustice. They decided to focus their efforts on justice for people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender.

Their subsequent efforts, under the leadership of Hugh Hammond, Susan Seithel, and Su Cummings, included discussions with local activists, a week-end long youth conference on LGBT issues, appearances before the Charlotte City Council, and active cooperation with LGBT organizations such as Time Out Youth, Charlotte Pride, and the Charlotte LGBT Community Alliance.

In January of 2006 the youth and the adults of the Social Justice Committee combined to kick off the series of 10 workshops which ended in May. Approximately 60 members joined the program in whole or in part. In November, 2006, the Piedmont UU congregation voted unanimously to become a Welcoming Congregation and the recognition was granted by the UUA (Unitarian Universalist Association) in early 2007.

Welcoming Congregation Renewal Program

Being recognized as a Welcoming Congregation was just the beginning, and was a commitment to the ever-ongoing work of being welcoming. LGBTQ Ministries recommends that congregations go through a Welcoming Congregation Program or a renewal program every five to ten years. A lot of turnover and changes to congregational life can happen over the years, and the wider culture also changes quickly with respect to sexual orientation and gender identity.

Our renewal program will consist of 7 workshops, adapted from the UUA’s program. They will be held on the 4^th Sunday of each month beginning in September (skipping December). There are a variety of workshops designed to help open us to other members and the greater community in a safe and loving way. There will be much self-discovery involved; over time much growth is expected.

We hope many of you will join us in this renewal of our journey of understanding. If you would like more information, or wish to help, please contact any of the following:

Barbara Hollingsworth barbdh@aol.com 704-455-5495

Susie Benner sbenner974@aol.com 704-882-2059

Alan Perkinson alan.perkinson@yahoo.com 704-489-6309

Claudia Perkinson perkyc48@gmail.com 704-489-6309

Joan Thieda jthieda@carolina.rr.com 704-502-1340