"A minister is a professional human being."
Ministry is a shared act, a balancing act. For me, the purpose of ministry is to create a space for transformation and growth, and the goal of ministry is to be able to recognize when the space has been created, and then to step back and allow it to fill organically.
We become the church in the world by learning to be the church at home. A minister calls people to explore and develop their own theologies, and to celebrate those theological underpinnings in living worship, so that they can be empowered and compelled to live their values in the wider world. Ministry gives birth to action, and action to justice.
The minister must partner with Worship Arts, and Music, and RE, to allow the congregation to come alive and thrive. All those who serve the church are ministers in one way or another, and it is a function of the settled minister to create a framework in which that ministry can happen. We call one another to fuller life.
As the minister, Worship Arts, lay leadership, music programs, social justice partnerships, and RE all learn to work together, it becomes more and more possible for the children and youth to find a safe and stable space for their own beginning journeys. My goal is to coordinate programs across disciplines and age groups, so that children, youth, and adults can go home at night, and share their experiences in meaningful ways. In order to welcome all, in order to enable all to be the church, the church has to speak across the lifespan.
In 1919, W.B. Yeats famously wrote “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold…”. UU ministry excites me because it is the living construct which makes a lie of Yeats assertion.
Ministry is a center. And it is holding with all of its might.
I am excited, and called, and held, by the idea of life as a “professional human being.” UU ministry is the point of change; the point at which the search for peace and justice, truth, equality, and democracy is met with a personal sense of higher purpose and deep humanity. It is where “the falling angel meets the rising ape”- the moment at which good intentions become the source of action.
I am thrilled to be called, not to a theoretical ideal, but to a course of behaviors. I am being given a chance to be a prophetic voice, a dreamer of dreams, a liturgist, a servant, a leader, a follower, an activist, and a creator. A dweller in borderlands. A conductor on a railroad headed for points I cannot see and did not chose.
As a nurse, college professor, and nursing home administrator, I could always help others. I could see a better world, teach others my ideas, and lead others toward my vision. My vision, not their own. This was not enough for me. As a minister, I can help them to see their own vision of that better world, perhaps through a clearer lens. I can help them to find their own path, not watch them try to succeed on mine. I can assist them to be; to be happy, to be fulfilled, to be heard, to be seen, to be experienced.
For me the greatest joy comes in living life in a way which helps to bring this “being”, this healing and wholeness, to myself, others, our communities, and our world. Ministry is not about rarefied language spoken in hallowed rooms, though it may include it. It is not about Sundays, though it involves them. It is a dancing and vibrant involvement with humanity in all its forms; a dedication to co-experiencing life with others, even at the cost of lost personal privilege, and gained struggle.
How incredible to be involved in such struggle. What a gift to be a part of a profession which says not “Look at me!” but “Look beyond me- see where I can help you to go ahead of me.” I want to be a part of that vision of change. I want to make it possible for others to reach places I never could have imagined, and would not understand.
I am excited by the center which holds, and by the untold number of branching, forking, and exploding paths with lead away from it in unexplainable shapes which move toward a better universe. While Yeats waits in vain for his “rough beast” to slouch past, I look forward to seeing it, not Bethlehem bound, but headed for points unknown, riding a motorbike.
We become the church in the world by learning to be the church at home. A minister calls people to explore and develop their own theologies, and to celebrate those theological underpinnings in living worship, so that they can be empowered and compelled to live their values in the wider world. Ministry gives birth to action, and action to justice.
The minister must partner with Worship Arts, and Music, and RE, to allow the congregation to come alive and thrive. All those who serve the church are ministers in one way or another, and it is a function of the settled minister to create a framework in which that ministry can happen. We call one another to fuller life.
As the minister, Worship Arts, lay leadership, music programs, social justice partnerships, and RE all learn to work together, it becomes more and more possible for the children and youth to find a safe and stable space for their own beginning journeys. My goal is to coordinate programs across disciplines and age groups, so that children, youth, and adults can go home at night, and share their experiences in meaningful ways. In order to welcome all, in order to enable all to be the church, the church has to speak across the lifespan.
In 1919, W.B. Yeats famously wrote “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold…”. UU ministry excites me because it is the living construct which makes a lie of Yeats assertion.
Ministry is a center. And it is holding with all of its might.
I am excited, and called, and held, by the idea of life as a “professional human being.” UU ministry is the point of change; the point at which the search for peace and justice, truth, equality, and democracy is met with a personal sense of higher purpose and deep humanity. It is where “the falling angel meets the rising ape”- the moment at which good intentions become the source of action.
I am thrilled to be called, not to a theoretical ideal, but to a course of behaviors. I am being given a chance to be a prophetic voice, a dreamer of dreams, a liturgist, a servant, a leader, a follower, an activist, and a creator. A dweller in borderlands. A conductor on a railroad headed for points I cannot see and did not chose.
As a nurse, college professor, and nursing home administrator, I could always help others. I could see a better world, teach others my ideas, and lead others toward my vision. My vision, not their own. This was not enough for me. As a minister, I can help them to see their own vision of that better world, perhaps through a clearer lens. I can help them to find their own path, not watch them try to succeed on mine. I can assist them to be; to be happy, to be fulfilled, to be heard, to be seen, to be experienced.
For me the greatest joy comes in living life in a way which helps to bring this “being”, this healing and wholeness, to myself, others, our communities, and our world. Ministry is not about rarefied language spoken in hallowed rooms, though it may include it. It is not about Sundays, though it involves them. It is a dancing and vibrant involvement with humanity in all its forms; a dedication to co-experiencing life with others, even at the cost of lost personal privilege, and gained struggle.
How incredible to be involved in such struggle. What a gift to be a part of a profession which says not “Look at me!” but “Look beyond me- see where I can help you to go ahead of me.” I want to be a part of that vision of change. I want to make it possible for others to reach places I never could have imagined, and would not understand.
I am excited by the center which holds, and by the untold number of branching, forking, and exploding paths with lead away from it in unexplainable shapes which move toward a better universe. While Yeats waits in vain for his “rough beast” to slouch past, I look forward to seeing it, not Bethlehem bound, but headed for points unknown, riding a motorbike.