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For the last month, I have had the privilege of meeting weekly with a group of couples for the Principled Commitment class that I am offering. This wonderful curriculum offers couples the opportunity to reevaluate their relationships, to strengthen what works and to introduce new ways of approaching things that could work better. The key concept of the class is that relationships depend on strong covenants that set out the boundaries of the relationship - who is responsible for what, and who they will be for themselves and each other. Every covenant has implicit and explicit parts to it – some are clearly written or spoken, others are just understood.
Here at Emerson, we are into the second year of renewing our covenant with each other. We realized that so much of our covenant was implicit and unspoken that it was hard for us to express who we were and what that meant. The Kindling the Flame team took us through a wonderful process and now we have a mission and vision statement. You can find it on our orders of service and on the website. It’s everywhere. We know who we are and what we want to do about it.
Now we’re onto the second stage of the process, building a plan to make sure that we are living our mission and fulfilling our vision. We are looking at the four elements of congregational life – worship, religious education, fellowship, and social action – and asking ourselves how we can do these things to the best of our ability using our resources. We have property, we facilities, we have staff, we have programming, and we have a community presence. What are we going to do with what we have so that we can live faithfully and grow Unitarian Universalism?
We have a dedicated group of people who have agreed to serve the congregation in building this plan. They call themselves “Focusing the Beacon”. Each of these individuals is passionate about Unitarian Universalism and takes seriously the trust the congregation has placed in them. And they know that they can’t do what we have asked them to do without the continued support of the congregation. They need you, your voice, your ideas, your vision and your trust. The plan they develop will come from what you have offered them.
Last year, we held a series of conversations and invited everyone to attend. That was the foundation for the mission and vision statements that the congregation approved in September. We are going to hold another important series of conversations that will continue the work we began last year. I welcome you to attend as many of the focus groups as you can. Make this a priority for yourself and this congregation. All are welcome regardless of how long you have been part of this community. We need everyone’s voice. This is a spiritual journey. Not only will we be building our covenant, we’ll be living it.
Let us undertake this journey with joy, hope, and trust.
In faith, Rev. Krista.
We invite you to read sermons delivered by Rev. Taves at Emerson, in particular, you may wish to learn more about Unitarian Universlist Theology through a series of sermons Rev. Taves delivered at Emerson Chapel during early 2009.
For more about Unitarian Universalism, check out this link: Visitors to UUism and if you like what you've seen here, and on our website, we hope that you will come be our guest this next Sunday morning.
For a concise summary of the Seven Principles of Unitarian Universalism, click here.