Let’s give ‘em something to talk about…
Posted on March 26, 2009
So, I’ve been bad about writing here. Partly that’s because stresses in my personal life have continued and the boundaries between my personal and professional life get tightened up in times like this. But part of it is feeling uninspired. It seems to me that since ChaliceChick got quiet, there hasn’t been much “buzz” in the UU blogosphere. My feed reader has hardly had anything in it some days and mostly it’s been posts of Sunday sermons and a few questions about the UUA presidential election, and of course–discussions of money.
Since sex and religion haven’t been raised, let’s talk a little about money. Times are hard. It’s a little hard to determine how hard. The media is bombarding us with anxiety and fear, but we’ve seen that before. I now officially have two friends who have been laid off. I’m pretty sure no one in my circle had money invested with Bernie Madoff, so though our investments (mostly pretty small pensions among my friends) and endowments have lost value, I don’t know anyone yet who lost everything. I do know a lot of people who are worried. And I bet I know some people who are secretly facing the realities of bankruptcy or foreclosure–I just don’t know who they are. For the most part, the talk I’m hearing about money is happening in generalities.
Here’s the thing. I know the economy is bad. I know we’re all going to have to tighten our belts and be frugal and creative. I know that some of us may face worse than that. But I don’t understand why no one is talking about one very important thing:
This is a great time to be part of a church. And it may be an even better time to be part of a liberal church.
I know, at first that sounds terrible. I mean, I don’t want to take advantage of the real pain that people are feeling. But if churches aren’t supposed to help us get through the hard times, what are they for?! Our presence, our ministry is needed right now. This could be a time that makes our congregations stronger by clarifying how important we are–important in individual lives, in our communities, and in the world.
For instance, at the micro level, if we’re tightening our belts couldn’t our congregations offer lots of inexpensive activities for families? I imagine movie nights, book groups, play circles, game nights, mid-week worship and conversation, potlucks… the list is long. I don’t know about you, but I’d pitch in five bucks if I could bring my whole family to the church to watch movies, eat popcorn, and hang out with friends. It’s sure cheaper than fast food and going to the movie theater. In my congregation we even have a resident critic who could recommend interesting films.
At the community level, this is a chance for our congregations to get involved and invested in social action and justice activities. It sure feels good to see a pile of food for the food bank grow as we all contribute. We could go to the homeless shelter or soup kitchen together and lend a hand. We could have a potluck and invite those in need to join us for a shared meal–a meal that we all contribute to and that feeds more than just ourselves. We can get involved in lobbying or marching for programs that serve the needy, putting our values into action that will make a real difference.
At the macro level, there is an opportunity to be part of an international conversation about values, ethics, and morality. We’ve seen the effects of greed, but what is the Unitarian Universalist response? Where is our voice in the discussion of the government’s role and response to the current crisis? We have deep roots in the areas of justice, education, poverty prevention and assistance, healthcare, and the like. Our voices have rung out on these issues in the past–why aren’t they ringing out now on behalf of compassion, equity, and service? These too are true American values that were forgotten in pursuit of profit. We could lift our voices in support of the kind of nation we want to be.
So, I think it’s a great time to be part of a church, especially a liberal congregation. In so many areas of our lives we have to stop thinking like consumers and start making things happen. It seems to me church is one of them. If we all made a commitment to get more involved, give what we can, and come together to get all of us through this, we might just find that our congregations grow and are revitalized because we dared to respond to the needs of our time.
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4 Responses to “Let’s give ‘em something to talk about…”
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“In my congregation we even have a resident critic who could recommend interesting films.”
I thought *every* congregation had at least two or three resident critics Sean.
Where do I start with this wonderful post?
Yes, Sean, your point is so correct. Ministers with vision should see that now is the time to offer a liberal church as the center of the social lives of their families.
Yes, now UU churches should organize regionally for jamborees and other events so single UU’s can meet those in other churches, and the intra faith bonds can be strengthened.
Yes, my tribesman, now is a great opportunity.
Who will organize it? That is the question. I don’t believe asking parents who are working hard to keep their jobs to do it. It must be done by church staff. They must see that their very jobs depend on more congregants and that those congregants will pay more if they get more value from church. That value being more church activities.
That micro level will expand into others. Regional connections will deepen the pool of volunteers and infuse discussions with greater opinions.
So how do we start this? Simple. All it takes are a few ministers within a region with a committment. They have to be ready to really manage their staff with an institutional mindset. They have to sit down at a map and find all the UU churches within a reasonable driving distance and then contact their opposits there. They have to plan now for once or twice monthly regional picnics in the summer and pot lucks and events through weeks.
There is one plus working for them also, all UU congregations no matter liberal or conservative have one thing in common: gourmet cooks who love to show off. That’s right…food is the common denomonator. Call for a UU potluck and you can bet your last dollar that it will be a spread that would shame Alton Brown, Bobby Flay and be worthy of Bon Appetit, or Gourmet Magazines. We love to cook, we love to talk, common meals are our best recruiting tools.
Just my ideas.
Yeah, Beliefnet died after ChaliceChick left too. I think she must be one of those people called Connectors or something….
Our church tried to do weeknight events and potlucks, and not enough people showed up to keep it going. I guess we’re too much of a commuter community and people are just too tired on weeknights.
I’ve been attending this church for almost 20 years, and there is no one in it I socialize with outside of church. We do have UU friends, but not from this church.
We do a lot of social justice stuff, but people just aren’t that friendly. I guess that’s the opposite of ChaliceChick’s complaint….
Actually sex and religion have been raised by the Denominational Affairs Committee of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashville Tennessee on the FUUN blog of the FUUC of N in the last day or two. It looks like the not inappropriately titled Denominational Affairts Committee decided to give UUA presidential candidates Rev. Dr. Laurel Hallman and Rev. Peter Morales something to talk about, specifically what they will do to responsibly address clergy sexual misconduct if or when they are elected as President of the UUA.