What Is Our WHY?
Many organizations can explain WHAT they do. Many organizations can describe HOW they do it. Few organizations can articulate WHY they do what they do. So goes the logic of the author and thinker Simon Sinek and the concept of Starting with Why. This fall, we at UUCP will be considering our WHY. Members of the Board and Rev. Alice will facilitate several sessions to help us identify why UUCP exists. Why do we keep coming back and being together? Why does it matter? Why should anyone care?
Our WHY is our cause or belief. Our WHY is what inspires us and what appeals to others who join with us. The WHYs among us may be as numerous as our members, friends, and guests. Examples of our individual WHYs may include:
-a desire for ongoing spiritual growth
-a devotion to social justice and collaboration with likeminded others
-the contentment of being a part of a supportive and loving community
-an interest in intellectual pursuits and exposure to various worldviews.
Aside from the personal reasons we congregate at UUCP, we have elucidated some collective WHYs. The Unitarian Universalist Principles communicate our values and our vision of the world that we are working together to create as a denomination. The principles, sources, and purposes can be found here: https://www.uuworld.org/articles/the-uuas-principles-purposes-1985. Black Lives of UU is advocating for UUs to adopt an 8th Principle committed to the dismantling of oppression. More on that here: https://www.8thprincipleuu.org.
At a local level, our congregation’s Mission Statement is one expression of our WHY. Our mission is Celebrate Diversity, Strive for Justice, and Inspire Love. Our Mission helps us formulate an answer to the question “Why does UUCP exist?”: To embrace the causes of diversity, justice, and love.
Our WHY also may be heard in our covenant. We recite the covenant weekly in Sunday Service.
Love is the spirit of this church
and service its law.
This is our covenant:
to dwell together in peace,
to seek the truth in love
and to help one another.
Our covenant indicates that UUCP exists to embody love and helpfulness and to provide a space for lifelong learning and truth seeking in a community setting.
When we see our WHY clearly, our WHAT and our HOW then grow more obvious.
The Pensacola-area Interfaith Justice Initiative that UUCP recently joined employs a process that follows the WHY > WHAT > HOW continuum. The organization has defined its WHY as social justice. The group will launch a listening process in October to gather input from congregations including ours on the WHAT as far as a community problem. The group then will build consensus for HOW to address the issue.
Besides the Second Hour sessions on Starting with Why this fall, UUCP also has an opportunity to move through the WHY > WHAT > HOW process with a webinar series called Small Numbers, Infinite Possibilities. The series offered by UUA will allow us to think about functioning at our best as a small congregation. The webinar topics and dates are as follows. All interested may participate with us at 6pm each Wednesday in the sanctuary.
Smalls Making a Big Difference, Oct. 16, 2019
Right Sizing Your Congregation’s Operations, Nov. 13, 2019
Stewardship and Sustainability for the Long Haul, Jan. 15, 2020
Being Beloved Community, Feb. 12, 2020
I hope you will take part in our journey to clarify our WHY, explore the WHAT, and illuminate the HOW that exemplifies all the richness of UUCP.
Until next time,
Lauren Anzaldo, Board President