A sermon preached on Stewardship Sunday by Reverend Diane Teichert
Paint Branch Unitarian Universalist Church
March 6, 2011
I’m really loving being your minister, I have to say! I’m really loving you!
Just take today, for example. The music has been fantastic so far, as usual. And there’s more to come, plus dance. I love how the arts are such a part of our worship experience!
And take in the visual beauty today – of the interior space with its warm woodwork and gracious design, and the gorgeous fabric art that will adorn the walls for the month. I love this space; it feels like sacred space. And, outside, the lovely woodland setting, where the Spring Beauties and Red Buds are eagerly waiting to pop out, and Red-bellied woodpeckers and deer and red fox, hawks, and even box turtles, my long-time favorite animal, plus more make their homes. I love our setting, and not just on Sundays!
And, today, the adult lay leaders –our Worship Associate and Stewardship Drive co-chairs – have spoken of such appreciation and commitment, with such dignity, so compellingly. As usual, really. And the young people who spoke… they too spoke of such appreciation and commitment, with such dignity, so compellingly … and coming from them, it means even more, doesn’t it?! I was moved, still am.
And, we can’t see them now, but over in the Religious Exploration Building, by now the RE classes are gathered in the Kelley Room. They are marking the end of their three-month study of the Bible with a skit on the story of the Loaves and Fishes by the upper elementary class, with some help from the lower elementary class, and the pre-schoolers will be sharing with the older kids their drawings about the creation story. The middle school class is preparing for their next visit to a neighboring house of worship. And the high school youth group hangs out in Room 1, sharing a sense of community, planning a trip to NYC and possibly a youth-led service. Meanwhile, we have more babies in the nursery than youth in the youth group, and busy bunch of toddlers and pre-schoolers! We have some wonderful kids!
I am really loving being your minister. This is a fine congregation.
The forty or so of you who were here on Friday night proved it. The Stewardship Kick-off was a simple event, very homegrown, even old-fashioned. I loved it. We had pizza and salad. We all played a neat word game, perfectly coordinated with the talks given by me, your Board co-chairs and your Finance Committee chair, interspersed with really good musical performances by our own musicians of several different generations. The songs were aptly chosen for stewardship. Like “Lean on Me” (we lean on each other to fund our religious home), “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” (yes, we did!), and “If I had a Million Dollars” (obvious connection) in which the lyrics were adapted for the occasion, so, for example the line “If I had a million dollars, I’d buy you some art ( A Picasso or a Garfunkel) was changed to “If I had a million dollars, I’d buy you some art (a Jane Trout or a Tina Van Pelt)” They are two of our PBUUC visual artists. Clever!
For my part Friday night, I shared the fruits of my inspiration one day last August, when I stepped back, way back, from the details of my first year as your minister, and imagined: if all goes well and I am the minister here for a full decade, what do I hope we will have accomplished together in that time?
In a moment, I’ll share these intentions again this morning. But first I want to tell you, as I promised last week, a little about the Institute for Excellence in Ministry I attended in early February. I used a week of my annual study leave for this Monday through Friday event, the theme of which was “Be Changed.” The question that our worship leaders and seminar presenters were asked to answer was: “What is required for Unitarian Universalism to live into its promise and become a transformative religion for our people and the world?”
In one of the worships, the question was re-worked to be “What are Unitarian Universalist ministers required to be if Unitarian Universalism is to live into its promise and become a transformative religion for our people and the world?” Seven answers were given. One of the most memorable was “intentional.” We are required to be intentional. Our neighbor, Rev. Liz Lerner Maclay, of the Silver Spring church, spoke to that.
I recall her saying something like, “Our intentions are important. We may not get to where we want to go, but if we don’t have the intention to get there, it’s highly unlikely that we will.” She may have also said, or perhaps I heard something like, “Wanting great music or drama in worship, or wanting to draw young families, or elders, or people somehow unlike your current demographic, or wanting to repave the parking lot, or have a children’s choir isn’t enough. You have to have the intention for it. To set your course and a take a series of small steps that will lead you there. Transformation doesn’t happen via wishful thinking. It happens with intention.”
I want to get back to that and tell you about my intentions for us, but can I first tell you about the most dramatic of the seven answers? One of the other attributes recommended to the more than four hundred UU ministers gathered was “responsibility.” That one started out with someone placing a clerical stole over the speaker’s head and laying it over his shoulders just so, after which he began to describe the typical, familiar discouragements for parish ministers: sorrowful untimely deaths, budget problems, difficult people, office machinery gone amuck, dysfunctional committees, leaky roofs and so on. With each one the weight of his stole gets heavier and heavier so that he is stooped over, bent to the floor, then crouched on the floor, and finally flat on his back, telling us about yet another terrible thing. (His hands were free because he was wearing on his head one of those fancy microphones that you see pop singers wearing and we could all see him lying on the stage at the front of the hall because there was live video coverage projected on a huge screen to each side).
I seem to recall the final straw that put him prone was the economy – it was so bad that he had preached a whole sermon about how people were suffering, including his own members. That’s not funny, of course, but the way he told it was funny, and he looked ridiculous sprawled on the stage. We were all laughing our heads off, and hoping he wasn’t going to stay down forever. But then he says that after the service someone came through the greeting line, handed him a check for $5,000 and said, “Here, I know that you will use this well to help some folks less fortunate than I.” And so, he began to arise from the floor, telling of the hopeful and good things that happen in ministry, all of them familiar to all of us (well, except for that $5,000 check), rising higher with each one, until he was upright and we were all cheering with relief. Yes, your ministers want to be responsible but we don’t want to be depressed!
By now, you’ve realized that our worship at the Institute was not boring. Most of the preaching was fantastic, connected to our reason for being together, and the music was incredible. Our music directors for the week were from the Tulsa OK Unitarian Universalist church. A few years ago an African American congregation with a universalist theology whose minister was resigning asked to join, en masse, the predominantly white UU congregation. They brought with them their music director, David Smith, who played for us at the Institute on keyboard while his colleague Rick Fortner played piano, and some of the time one or both were mic’d to sing while they played. Plus we had a bass and a drum set going for every service. The music rocked! I don’t mean it was rock n’roll. It wasn’t praise music, either. The genres varied. Sometimes it was a familiar hymn done with a gospel sound. But, always, the words were appropriately Unitarian Universalist. And somehow connected with the question on our minds: “What is required for Unitarian Universalism to live into its promise and become a transformative religion for our people and the world?”
We could ask ourselves, here, the same question: “What is required for Paint Branch Unitarian Universalist Church to live into its promise and become a transformative religious community for our people and for others?”
What are our intentions? Here are some of my intentions for us, some already underway, which I believe are intertwined with one another, achievable only in tandem with each other, and not in this or any other particular order:
An energetic, energizing Sunday worship experience – with multicultural music, dance, drama and visual arts – providing deep spiritual nourishment, teaching moral courage, and sparking new light, depth, heights, meaning, and commitment to social justice…in our individual lives and in the collective life of the congregation. Involving well trained and creative lay Worship Associates, with fewer people arriving late on Sundays than did in my first year.
A multicultural, multi-generational, GLBT-friendly congregation – noticeably mixed with white, black and Latino people of all ages, abilities, sexual identities; visibly involving children and youth in worship, community service, social action and congregational life; everyone rejoicing over babies and celebrating the lives of elders; providing ongoing anti-racism and antihomophobia transformation experiences and education.
A strong governance system, with a board covenant and periodically revisited long and short term goals; clear, board-written policies that enable the staff to carry out the vision and mission of the congregation as it is determined through various kinds of interactive, participatory membership gatherings, with visionary leadership provided by board, minister as head of staff, other staff and other lay leaders, to be funded via an energetic annual stewardship drive.
A leadership development program that brings new and capable people in, mentors them, taps their gifts for the good of the congregation and themselves, helping them to grow spiritually, ethically, and intellectually through their involvement as leaders while they help build PBUUC; and provides care and recognition of volunteers including sabbaticals.
A lifespan religious exploration program led by a professional religious educator and four layled teams (one each to lead nursery, children’s, youth and adult programs), staffed by volunteers and (eventually, as the program grows) paid professionals.
A spirit of hospitality throughout the congregation, and a vibrant newcomer welcoming program that gently but purposefully moves attendees from visitor to new member to integrated member status.
A congregation whose members are supportive of each other in times of personal need, both spontaneously and through organized efforts such as We Care and Pastoral Care Associates.
Ongoing, ever-evolving, congregation-wide good works (social service, education, advocacy and action) toward peace and justice with people and institutions in the nearby community such as High Point High School, in the greater Hyattsville/College Park/Adelphi/Beltsville area, and DC.
A well-maintained, increasingly “green” facility, achievement of Green Sanctuary Status, and increased involvement in stewardship of our stream, the Paint Branch, and the Anacostia River Tributary system.
An improved parking lot, finished lower level in the Meeting House and better signage funded via one or more wildly successful capital campaigns.
Excellent communication system with periodically revitalized website, podcasted worship services, e-newsletter, weekly e-messages, list-serve, and other contemporary tools and means as yet unknown.
Transformation of our Religious Exploration Building into a workshop, retreat and conference center for spiritual renewal – housing not just our own religious exploration programming for children, youth and adults but also offering classes open to the public and rentable space for retreats by workplace, non-profit and professional organizations. Maybe we could call it the Spirit of Life Center.
An instrumental role in winning equal marriage. An instrumental role in starting a Unitarian Universalist campus group at the University of Maryland. An instrumental role in starting a College Park/Greater Hyattsville area interfaith organization.
And, lastly, the most recent and possibly most urgent addition to my list of intentions is that we arrange with Riderwood to hire a bus to provide transportation to and from our church on Sundays, because our most reliable drivers Ron and Ellen Cotts are moving out of state soon.
I wouldn’t say that all of these intentions are dependent on money, but I will say that an energetic annual stewardship drive every year is key to their success, and that’s what we are launching this weekend. It’s key not just because it raises more money. It’s key because energy is what we need to move on our intentions.
What can you commit, this year, to making it possible for Paint Branch Unitarian Universalist Church to live into its promise and become a transformative religious community for our people and for others?” As was said Friday night, every pledge of money, no matter how large or small is needed, and valued. Every pledge of energy, large or small, is needed, and valued.
I started, and will end, this sermon by saying I love being your minister. I know that my every intention for us won’t become reality, that opportunities cannot be foreseen, and that life happens when we are busy making plans. I also know you were well into some of these intentions before I arrived and that great things are happening this year. I believe you are seeking, not resisting, growth and vitality. And I believe you love your church. You love each other and this place. You love it for the same reasons I do. The people. The arts. The caring. The setting, the space. The commitment to justice. The welcome. The saving messages of our inherent worth and our interconnection with all people and all that is, was or will be.
Our love is our hope. Love is the reason why Paint Branch Unitarian Universalist Church will live into its promise and become a transformative religious community for us and for others!