October 19, 2008
A Shared Ministry
by Rev. Colin Bossen and Rachel Webb
Rev. Colin Bossen
A strong and health Unitarian Universalist congregation is one that is dedicated to the spirits of life, love and liberation. The spirit of life is what brings us together. We gather as a religious community because we need a place to mark our life's passages, to celebrate joy, to seek succor in times of sorrow and wrestle with mystery of existence.
The spirit of love is what binds us together. It is result of our human need for connection and relationship. It is found in all of the acts, small and great, that make this a caring community united in honor of the spirit of life, rather than just a loose collection of individuals. The spirit of liberation challenges us to remember that for the sprit of life to flourish and for the spirit of love to be present we must have freedom.
It is the mission of any Unitarian Universalist congregation to incarnate these spirits in the lives of its members. Realizing this mission, our collective act of ministry, is a larger task than any one person can accomplish. It can only be accomplished if each member of the community does his or her part. In this sense the ministry of the congregation belongs to all of its members. Without each person's participation and dedication the congregation will fail to reach its full potential.
The 19th century liberal theologian Theodore Munger was interested in the question of what made a religious community great. He wrote:
We cluster about great preachers, and call great audiences strong churches. But when the power of a church is measured by the mental caliber of a preacher, or the pleasurableness of his tones, where and what is the church?
The answer to Munger's rhetorical question is shared ministry. The strength of a congregation lies not in its minister but in its members. The more the members take responsibility for the congregation's ministry, its vision and activities, the stronger the congregation will become. A congregation whose ministry is truly embraced by its members is a community that will have a powerful impact upon the world and its members lives.
Unitarian Universalist theologian James Luther Adams used to talk about the priesthood and prophethood of all believers. By this he meant that the power of religious life--those spirits of life, love and liberation--were available to, and indeed inherent in, all members of the religious community.
Adams argued that in a free religious community all members have a responsibility "to express and to elicit a sense of sacredness, the holiness, the preciousness, of all gifts of creation" in their lives. The clergy hold no special priestly role. All people are empowered to lead worship if they so choose and develop the skills to do so.
I love this story. I think it illustrates a congregation at its best. Hal and Elwood were able to accomplish things together that they could not have done alone. Their faith in their community sustained them over many long years of struggle. It strengthened their voices for social change and gave them comfort in dark times. I knew Hal and his wife Cynthia for many years. I know that it was his community that allowed him to stand going to jail over and over again.
Adams also felt that members of the congregation should be "concerned with interpersonal fellowship," in the family, in friendship, in work and play, and particularly in affectional relatedness to those especially in need." That is a fancy way of saying that the members of a community are charged with taking care of each. It is not the sole responsibility of the minister to provide spiritual and emotional care, it is an act and a responsibility of the whole community.
Adams linked the idea of the priesthood of all believers with the concept of the prophethood of all believers. He wrote "The prophethood of believers entails the obligation to share in the analysis, criticism, and transformation of institutions, including the analysis and transformation of the church." In our free religious tradition the pulpit, the primary place from which such analysis is performed, belongs to both the minister and the congregation. It is the responsibility of all members to speak truth about our world and religious lives. No one person has a monopoly on the truth.
The Pastoral and Worship Associate programs that we are celebrating today are programs that recognized the shared nature of the ministry of this congregation. We are honoring those who have agreed to take on special roles within our community. They are reflections of Adam's ideas of the priesthood and the prophethood of all believers and they give this congregation great service.
That may be the way some folks think about congregational polity, but it certainly is not what our Pilgrim and Puritan ancestors meant when they formed the foundation of congregationalism back in 1648.
Rachel Webb
My grandmother passed away about eight years ago. She had a heart attack that caused irreversible damage to her brain. I was lucky enough to be in Wooster visiting my parents for the weekend, and was able to be with my family through the entire experience. As a family this was a sudden experience that took us in 48 hours from the emergency room, to intensive care unit to hospice where she remained until her passing five days later. During this short time my family came in from all directions to say goodbye, which turned my grandmother's hospice room into more of a family reunion than a hospice room. I have a big family; my father is one of six children, and my grandmother one of twelve, not to mention all children of children. Outside of grief and goodbyes with grandma there were the "hellos", and "haven't seen you since Christmas".
What helped bring us together was our community of friends. In particular, three family friends that I have known since before I was born. Patty and Butch and Geri came together every night for five days following my grandmother's heart attack to provide us dinner as a family. Dinner for 20 to 25 people every night was not easy and I am sure they had many helpers, but they were the friends I saw and remember. We have never really discussed their kindness, but to say thank you. But I know that they understand, that what they gave, us went beyond food. It was a simple act of community that has stayed with me.
I came to Unitarian Universalism after graduate school for many reasons, but one that stands out her today is this desire and need to be a part of a community like my family has. What is community? How do we interact within it. Community is the people; they define it based on how they want to interact with others. Community is not simply living in the same area or belonging to the same organization. Community requires participation.
I have been relying on Colin as our Minister to do most of the work. Making this a one-sided relationship that does not allow me to grow, and become a true member of our community. In Unitarian Universalism we emphasize the importance of the individual, but there is strength and unity together. I come together with you every Sunday as an individual, to meditate and reflect, but I leave unified with you ready to start my week anew. It is the example of the bundle of sticks versus the single stick. Alone a single stick can easily be broken in half, but together as a bundle they are strong. Alone I am strong, yet an individual, with this community, standing by me, I am stronger.
Rev. Colin Bossen
This congregation has impressed me with its handling of memorial services. They are truly a community affair. Each time a member dies other members of the congregation take an active role in ensuring that the dead person is honored appropriately.
Walter Schmidt, who died in June, was a Cleveland painter and commercial artist. He suffered from Alzheimer's and lived out the last years of his life in a nursing home. Walt had no close family and by the time he died his effects, including his paintings, had been scattered. I only met Walt once before I conducted his memorial service and when I met him he was essentially incapable of communication.
Through conservations with longtime members I was able to construct a eulogy and memorial service for Walt. More importantly, members and friends of the congregation were able to assist me in assembling a memorial art show of Walt's work. This was a tribute that captured Walt's spirit far more than my words ever could. It reflected who he was and allowed his community to remember him in a way that no minister could facilitate on his own.
When Joan Sullivan died Jeri Rask, Anna Fritz and others worked with her husband Ryan to help organize a lively party after Joan's service. It was an appropriate tribute to a life lived with joy and love. It captured, far more than words, the spirit of someone who loved life and loved people.
On such occasions and at such times the spirit of love is among us. That spirit of love is within each of us. It is amplified by the care we show each other at such times as when are most in need. It is amid us any time we are together.
The Pastoral Associates program is a way to formalize and recognize the ministry of caring that the members of this congregation practice. It is an effort to help the light of love shine a little bit more strongly among us.
The Pastoral Associates program is a formal way of recognizing the priesthood of all believers. The new Pastoral Associates are people who have agreed to take on a special role within the congregation. Under my supervision they will visit, care for and nurture other members of the community during their time of need. When someone in this congregation is hurt, sick or in need of aid they will recruit other members to visit and assist. They might ask you to give someone a ride, help with grocery shopping or cooking or simply visit to provide companionship.
I will still be involved with pastoral care. By installing the Pastoral Associates we are spreading the responsibility around. We are creating more opportunities for service and more resources for the congregation. We are sharing the ministry.
Rachel Webb
There is a saying at my Alma mater Wittenberg University, "having the light we pass it on to other." I have always found myself repeating those words when I am faced with the challenge of participating in a community. We pass this light of our chalice between us, among us to ensure it remain lit, and will not go out. Before I became a member at this fellowship and before Colin arrived, this group was doing all of these things already. The Pastoral Associates program will continue with this tradition and provide for the community.
I am both excited and scared about the task ahead of me. I am excited to be a part of this community and help out where needed. One of the things I have learned about myself over the years, is that I love to help, to be of assistance. I enjoy being the go to person over the leader. I know how to get things done. So this opportunity to be of assistance to those in this community is an exciting challenge, but I am also scared. I am still relatively new to this community. I mean I have been around for the last year, but I have still not yet meet all of you. I am nervous about getting to know all of you and in general nervous about the work ahead.
But I am not alone; the Pastoral Associates program is a team effort. Jeri, Marie, and I will be working with Colin to provide comprehensive pastoral care to the members and friends of this Society. It is our goal to not necessarily carry out all the tasks that might be required, but rather help to organize member efforts throughout the congregation to provide support where necessary. In short, we will help Colin and strengthen our covenant and community with each other, bring the bundle of sticks together.
Rev. Colin Bossen
Today we are not just installing the first group of Pastoral Associates, we are also installing Worship Associates. The Worship Associates program is replacing the old worship committee. The Worship Associates will work with Amy and I to create the Sunday morning worship experience.
Like the Pastoral Associates, Worship Associates are leaders in this congregation. In a healthy congregation everyone can be a leader because everyone has special gifts to give. Some might lead by giving of their administrative or financial skills through service on the Board or finance committee. Others lead with the gift of music and ability to lead the congregation in song--think of how much Amy, Barbara, Karin and the choir give each week. Still others provide leadership by volunteering as religious education teachers, helping maintain the facilities, organizing food for potlucks and community events and taking groups on nature hikes. The list of leadership roles in this congregation's life would take me a long time complete. The important point is that everyone can provide leadership and nurture our shared ministry in their own way.
We are all leaders. When we realize we are able to take full advantage of the opportunities that congregational life offers us. If we seize upon these opportunities, chose to serve, we can deepen our own spiritual lives, strengthen our community and even develop new skills and abilities.
Rachel Webb
Unitarian Universalist clergy are not priests. They have no special relationship with the divine. They do not stand outside of the community. They are members who have been trained as professionals and called by the congregation. They are guides that help us along our spiritual paths, providing us with the tools to experience spiritual growth. The minister is not the Society, we the members are the Society. We define our congregation, how it works, who were are as community, and how we interact with each other. The minister assists us in doing this.
When I think of the Unitarian Universalist clergy, I think of the parable of the starving man. Give a man a fish and he eats for day, teach him to fish and he eats for a lifetime. The clergy are the teachers around the pot of stew in heaven. They help us find a way to feed each other.
It is not an easy task. It cannot be done alone. The Unitarian Universalist clergy also must lean on their community for support to move us along our path. As the relationship within our community is not one-sided, the relationship between clergy and the Society is not one-sided. We have a long tradition of layperson participation in Unitarian Universalism. We are witness to this layperson tradition every Sunday within our own Society, with the participation of our Worship Associates in the service. And the participation and commitment of Jeri, Marie and myself in the Pastoral Associates program is part of it as well.
Rev. Colin Bossen
The power of community is most fully realized when everyone takes responsibility for the community's ministry. It is then that the spirits of life, love and liberation are felt among us. Let us close with these words of prayer:
May we each find within ourselves,
a spark,
a flame,
a light,
that we wish to share.
May we be willing to share what we have,
offering the other what comes from deep
within side each of us,
the spirit of love that connects us,
the spirit of life that animates us,
the spirit of liberation that challenges us
to reach out to others.
May we be conscience of the gifts of each
and grateful for our life's companions.
May we always remember that we are here,
on this planet,
in this city,
in this room,
together
and that all are called to do their part,
to serve,
to lead,
to follow,
to co-create a stronger and more vibrant community,
a more just and peaceful Earth.
That it may be so, I say Blessed Be and Amen.