We UUs identify our denomination as a covenantal faith. UUs are not required to espouse a particular creed or set of beliefs, yet we share common values. As the saying goes, We don’t have to think alike to love alike. When we join this congregation, we commit — we covenant and affirm — to support one another in our individual and collective journeys and to practice honesty, courage, and integrity in our actions. These commitments are the inter-woven threads that unite our church community and connect us with the larger society where we strive also to be-have in a similar manner.
I have a vivid memory of a comment made during a church workshop years ago as our congregation worked to develop our current mission statement. A member said that the UU faith seemed to him to serve as “a mirror reflecting an image of my best self.” I have carried those words and that visual with me, and they have been meaningful to me on my own spiritual path ever since. I suppose that is where the faith part comes in for UUs. Being our best selves is no easy thing — not for us and not for others. Faith is what keeps us hoping for and believing that a better world is possible.
The Governing Board lately has been discussing the necessary work of promoting and maintaining Right Relations in our congregation. During a period when we are not spending face-to-face time together and when so many tumultuous events are occurring, anxieties are running high. We may feel confused or upset or on edge, and we may not experience the connection and loving embrace of our church community as strongly as we did when we were gathering in person. We may wish we had a clearer direction about the next steps ahead for our church and for society in general, even though we all recognize that, in many ways, we are playing by ear much of the time because of the evolving unknowns that we face.
Our church covenants provide vital guidelines for us in how to relate with one another and with the world at large during even the most trying times. Our Sunday Service covenant focuses on love, service, peace, and truth-seeking. Our Congregational Covenant expands these concepts and operationalizes them. The Congregational Covenant consists of the promises we make to one another when we enter into UUCP membership, which is also when existing members affirm our membership and join our lives with those of our new members. In the words of the Congrega-tional Covenant, we agree to “hold one another accountable to our very best intentions.”
The Board developed tips for Right Relations derived from the words of our Congregational Covenant. The tip sheet appears in this issue of The Light newsletter. The tips remind us to speak with honesty, courtesy, and courage and to bring comments or concerns directly to the folks who have the ability to address them. Lines of communica-tion must be open and clean, not tangled or overly complicated. The Board, our UUCP lay leaders, and our church members and friends all share the responsibility for ensuring that communication is open and direct. For instance, leadership positions and names of team leaders or key team members are posted in The Light and on our website. The online Simple Church directory (as well as the printed directory for those with limited internet capability) dis-plays these positions and people along with their contact information.
Our minister, our leaders, and our Board members are ready and willing to listen to your input and to deploy your abilities and talents. If you or someone you know raises a question or voices a concern, remember that there is a channel for expressing it to the appropriate person(s). Sometimes those conversations are tough and may take some practice. The Board hopes to offer one or two workshops with role plays on Right Relations and healthy communi-cation.
We are UUCP. Without a diocese or presbytery or other body directing our steps, our congregation has the ultimate authority over what UUCP is and will be. In the words of our Congregational Covenant, “May we be true to ourselves, true to each other, and true to the vision of the beloved community we are ever becoming.”
Until next time,
Lauren Anzaldo
Board President