Meetings, meetings

I love August in our church lives…

It’s the time people shop for churches, something I know offends some, as a bit too consumerist; but which I find totally natural and appropriate.

Now I agree with the concern that church be approached for services offered and how “what’s in it for me” has a pernicious quality to it. But, you know, that’s where people start. For the most part, anyway.

If we who have bought into the church thing, particularly the liberal church thing, want to share our good news of a way of free inquiry and authentic intimacy, of healing for ourselves and the world; well, we need points of contact. We need ways for people to find their way in…

Others have this down pat. I understand people sometimes join mega churches and are up to their eyeballs in the life before they discover they’ve become fundamentalists… I’m not into that. I’m not into soft sell, bait and switch religion.

But, people need ways in…

For many it is the Sunday service and in our tradition the preached word. But, even with that service as a central point, how close is anyone going to be with the three hundred or so who you’re sharing that Sunday with? Or five hundred or a thousand? Or even fifty or a hundred? How is that more than a door into the outer room? How does one get inside, into the living room?

The question turns on our need for smaller more human scale opportunities to become involved.

In that regard I’ve just come from a lovely meeting with two members of the church’s small group ministry. This is a program I just love. I consider it our homegrown Unitarian Universalist spiritual practice. It takes our propensity to talk and makes it a spiritual discipline. Using short curricula for people to follow in the conversation, its all structured so no one can dominate, and that everyone (usually between eight and eleven) gets to speak on the subject at hand. The sneaky part is that one then has to listen one part out of eight or eleven – and as I’ve long noticed, even I can’t be spending that much time planning what I’m going to say next. It becomes a practice of listening. And for some it becomes a practice of deep listening…

Great stuff.

And at no extra charge people find friends and the beginnings of community…

I also had a meeting working out thoughts for the first worship committee meeting of the year. As minister I have primary responsibility for this, but it very much, as the word “liturgy” suggests, is the work of the people. And for it to be worth while, both as a way in (in all senses of that word) and as a way to connect, there has to be a lot of reflection and shared insight…

Also, great stuff.

And as soon as I finish this note and my lunch sandwich, I’m off to a meeting of the search committee for our new membership/volunteer coordinator.

Which takes me back full circle. We need to attend to being genuinely welcoming if we want to make a place for those who might find our community healing, and a way into depth, and a place to express what we find within that depth.

Good stuff…

Even makes meetings worth attending…

Did I mention I love August?