Casual Comments February 1, 2012
The theme for the month of February revolves around Unitarian Universalists who have made an impact on the society and culture of their times. Some are famous, some are not, and some may be completely unknown to the general public, but all have made creative contributions to the society of their time and place. This Sunday we will focus on Linda Barnes, who has been a champion of food diversity and sustainable agriculture. More about her may be found here.
My sermon title on February 5th is “Linda Barnes: Champion of Change.” Also, this Sunday, we will all share in a communion ritual similar to a Flower Communion. Please bring a packet of seeds, or a locally grown or organic fruit, vegetable or herb to share at the Earth’s Bounty Communion.
Additionally, at February 5th’s service, we will be raising awareness and seeking the support of every person in the congregation to joining the 42-42-42 Food Ethics Action program. What is the 42-42-42 Food Ethics Action program? It is a call for 42 men, women and children of OCUUC, beginning March 11th and culminating on Earth Day, April 22, to be committed for a period of 42 days leading up to the 42 nd Earth Day, to taking action of their choice with respect to food ethics. Please see the 42-42-42 web page for more details.
Casual Comments January 3, 2012
January is traditionally a month when people think about change – perhaps in the form of New Year’s resolutions or perhaps because a year has “ended” and a new year has “begun.” Additionally, OCUUC, as a church and an institution, is in a time of huge transition: a long and successful ministry has ended and not so long from now a new settled ministry will begin. The time in between – the time of an interim ministry – is a time of experimentation and exploration. So it is fitting that January’s “theme of the month” be about change. I will explore this theme from a variety of perspectives in a series of three sermons this month January 15, 22 and 29. Before that, however, this Sunday, January 8, we are delighted that our speaker will be the Rev. Bets Wienecke. Rev. Bets Wienecke is the Pacific Southwest District Ministerial Settlement Representative who advises and consults with this district’s UU congregations in the southern half of California, Nevada and Arizona about the ministerial search process.
In keeping with the January theme of change, Rev. Wienecke will speak on the subject of “Holding Tight and Letting Go.” Rev. Wienecke comments: “Transitions in life offer challenges and choices: Do we cling to what we know or do we venture forth into uncharted territory?” Also, of great importance to the congregation, Rev. Wienecke, as part of her remarks, will outline the search process recommended by the UUA for securing the best minister for the next chapter in the life of Orange Coast UU Church. She will also be available to answer questions after the service.
More about Rev. Bets Wienecke: she was honored as Minister Emerita of the Live Oak UU Congregation in Goleta after serving there for eighteen years. She has served on the UU Ministers Association Executive Committee, on the Board of Trustees of Meadville/Lombard Theological School, President of the PSWD UU Ministers Association chapter, and President of the Santa Barbara Clergy Association. She was awarded the Pacific Southwest District’s Distinguished Service Award in 1988. Bets’ spouse is Peter Haslund, who taught political science at Santa Barbara City College for 41 years and is now serving as President of their Board of Trustees. They proudly share four adult children and five “above average” (of course) grandchildren.
Casual Comments for December 1, 2011
For the month of December we will start to examine a new theme of the month by exploring some of the world religions. The statement of the Unitarian Universalism seven principles includes the quote that Unitarian Universalists “draw from many sources” such as “Wisdom from the world’s religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life. “ So in the month of December we will explore this theme by looking at three major world religions: the Judeo-Christian tradition, the Buddhist tradition and the Pagan tradition. I look forward to engaging in this exploration with you.
Someone asked me “What is the difference between an Interim Minister and a Settled Minister?” In the following remarks, I will try to answer this question.
A settled minister has a long term relationship with a congregation. Their role includes preaching, pastoral care, administrative leadership, and teaching. An interim minister acts as a “settled minister” to a certain extent, in that the interim minister performs the ordinary tasks of a settled minister, such as preaching, pastoral care, administrative leadership, and teaching. But the more significant and important role of the interim minister is to prepare a congregation for its next settled minister. One might define this as a “consulting” role vis-à-vis their “ministerial” role.
One way of describing this “consulting” role is that the interim minister looks at several dimensions of church life to get a sense of its readiness to move on toward its next stage – the introduction of its next settled minister into the life of the congregation. In a broader sense, this “consulting” role of the interim minister engages the congregation in the opportunity to look at the long term goals and needs of the congregation and the community.
An interim minister seeks to engage church leaders about the long term goals and aspirations of the church. This is often a substantial change from the habit of a congregation’s leaders being immersed in the details of day to day management of the church and not looking beyond that. Some, but not all of the “dimensions” of church life examined by the interim minister are the following:
1. Does the congregation have a mission statement that is in alignment with where the congregation actually wants to go and is able to go? Does the congregation have a mission statement that is exciting to a majority of the congregation? This is a very important issue for a number of reasons. In the process of trying to match the congregation with a settled minster the people of the congregation need to carefully define what it wants and therefore what it needs in a settled minister. Prospective ministers will want to “hear” that a congregation has a clear sense of direction. Ministers will want to match themselves with congregations with compatible goals. Furthermore, a clear, compelling mission statement provides all church leaders – minister, DRE, staff, and lay leaders- with a clear sense of direction. Without this, everyone makes up their own “mission.” In a very fundamental sense, for UU congregations, a mission statement provides the “authority” and legitimacy for all that ministers, staff, and lay leaders do; without it, a congregation is rudderless.
2. Do the policies, procedures, by-laws, and other governing documents reflect where the church wants to go institutionally? Are these documents outdated? Do they reflect prevailing wisdom in UU congregations regarding best practices? Do they reflect where the congregation wishes to go, and specifically, what the congregation’s mission requires? In healthy congregations, the policies support the mission. This too, is very important because it is imperative that the Board, Minister, staff, committee chairs, and anyone else involved in leadership in a church are reading from the same playbook. If there is not a common set of rules, then everyone makes up their own. That is not a situation the church will want to be in as it seeks a new settled minister.
3. Are a congregation’s finances healthy? More specifically, a congregation needs to analyze if they will be able to absorb the costs of a new settled minister, while maintaining the financial obligations they are already committed to. A point will come in which the church will commit itself to a specific salary package for the new settled minister. This figure is very likely to be higher than what it has been in the past. It is important that a congregation be certain they can sustain the level of financial commitment it will be making. Some of the areas to look at are: the annual canvass, special fund raisers, and whether or not there is an effective endowment development program in place. There is another issue at play. Prospective ministers will be looking at OCUUC and asking the question “What is the church’s level of commitment as reflected in its level of giving?” and what the answer is will be important to ministers making a decision about where to engage in ministry.
4. Are there programs to support the mission of the church? The most important aspect of this issue is does the church have a covenant group or small group ministry in place to support the growth and development of the church. In a broader sense, a church’s mission determines what programming goals will be most important for the church.
5. Are there programs for leadership training adequate to the needs of the church? Being a leader in a UU church is very challenging and deserves and requires adequate training. One of the roles of an interim minister is to engage in leadership training, and to bring in persons from the district or national level who can provide needed leadership training. Most importantly, it is imperative to make sure the church leadership will have training in the future adequate to its needs.
It is important to address the tasks described above while a congregation is in its interim ministry period because a congregation will want its settled minister to focus on the basic tasks of ministry, i.e., preaching, worship, pastoral care, teaching, etc. and be less associated with administrative and organizational changes. Change and experimentation are natural aspects of the processes mentioned above, and change can be stressful. A congregation does not want its settled minister to be entangled in the discomfort that change evokes; however, an interim minister, who will be with a congregation for a specifically defined period of time, can be more easily associated with the opprobrium of change without creating problems for the church.
I hope these comments are helpful. If you have any questions about my comments please do not hesitate to contact me.
Casual Comments November 2, 2011
In the month of November I will explore the theme of gratitude, appreciation and thankfulness. Rather than just talk about gratitude, I would like to invite every member and friend of the church to experiment with the practice of appreciation- by engaging in an effort to express gratitude in their daily lives. This could take the form of expressing gratitude to family and friends. I will be talking further about this in my sermons this month.
Beginning the first Sunday in November, the first religious service will begin at 9:45 a.m., rather than 9:30.
And, don’t forget to set your clocks back on Saturday night November 5th for Daylight Savings.
I look forward to seeing you in church.
Casual Comments October 19, 2011
Now that I am settling into the role as your Interim Minister, I am very eager to address the pastoral care needs of the congregation. Several people in the congregation, especially Adair Small, have been enormous help in getting me up to speed in this area. If you, your family members or close friends, have pastoral needs that I could possibly be helpful with, please let me know. Though I am “only” your interim minister and not your settled minister, I regard pastoral work as an important part of what I do. Please let me know however I can be of help.
This week-end I will be at my home in Washington State celebrating my oldest daughter’s tenth birthday. In my absence, Rev. David Owen-O’Quill will give the sermon. The title of his sermon is “Change and Other Dangerous Church Activities.” David has been pastoring UU churches for over 10 years from Texas to Chicago, and has recently moved to Orange County. His ministry includes developing new churches as well as consulting congregations about mission development, worship, and outreach. He moved here with his better half, the Rev. Jennifer Owen-O’Quill, who serves at the Tapestry UU congregation. Together, David and Jennifer have a too-cute-to -believe son named Daniel.
As you know, the focus of this month is the concept and practice of a covenant of healthy relations. At the end of this month, on the last Sunday of the month, the congregation will engage in a vote to affirm a covenant for the church. Thus far there have been four meetings in which people have given their input about the covenant. The response has been overwhelming positive, but there have been three specific wording changes that persons in the congregation wished to make. The covenant below reflects these changes:
A Covenant of Healthy Relations
We, the members, friends, staff, and ministers of Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church, acknowledge and commit ourselves to the work of sustaining our beloved community, welcoming all in good faith, ministering to each other and adhering to the following standards:
- Be direct, honest, and respectful toward one another in a spirit of compassion.
- make our church a safe place to express our deepest fears and our greatest joys.
- forgive ourselves and others when we fall short of expectations, willing to call ourselves back into covenant and allow humor and the optimism to move us forward
- express gratitude and appreciation toward one another
- honor established process of resolving conflict where differences become chronic
- support our church with generous gifts of time, talent, and money in gratitude for the fellowship, joy, and inspiration we receive, in accord with our ability.
- Make decisions guided by the congregation’s mission, supported by our values, grounded in the common good.
- model Unitarian Universalist principles within our community and beyond, seeking engagement with the larger communities around us and the larger world that our light might shine broadly
Thus do we covenant with one another.
Your thoughts, suggestions, and comments are very welcomed as we continue on this process.
Rev. Ed
A Covenant of Healthy Relations
Special Notice from Rev. Ed Brock
As mentioned in the sermon on Sunday October 2nd, below is a draft of a covenant of healthy relations to be considered by the congregation. This covenant was written by taking some of the best of the best statements from covenants of UU congregations from across the country. It was then discussed with dozens of people in the congregation before taking the form that you read below. I hope you can read it carefully and share your thoughts with me about it via e-mail (minister
ocuuc
org) or in direct conversation. During the week of October 17th-20th, there will be several meetings to discuss it. On Sunday, October 30th, the congregation will vote on making whatever is the result of this process the covenant of healthy relationships for this congregation. I sincerely hope each of you can be participants in this process.
A Covenant of Healthy Relations (Draft)
We, the members, friends, staff, and ministers of Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church, acknowledge and commit ourselves to the work of sustaining our beloved community, welcoming all in good faith, ministering to each other and adhering to the following standards:
- Be direct, honest, and respectful toward one another in a spirit of compassion
- make our church a safe place to express our deepest fears and our greatest joys
- forgive ourselves and others when we fall short of expectations, willing to call ourselves back into covenant and allow humor and the optimism to move us forward
- express gratitude and appreciation toward one another
- honor established process of resolving conflict where differences become chronic
- support our church with generous gifts of time, talent, and money in gratitude for the fellowship, joy, and inspiration we receive, in accord with our ability
- Make decisions guided by the congregation’s vision, supported by our values, grounded in the common good
- model Unitarian Universalist principles within our community and beyond, seeking engagement with the larger communities around us and the larger world that our light might shine broadly
Thus do we covenant with one another.
Rev. Ed Brock
Casual Comments From the Minister – June 2011
It’s time to say goodbye. It could seem a somewhat unimportant task since none of us are going anywhere, but it is absolutely essential because we are changing roles and that’s as significant as physical departure. We’ve had a wonderful, thirteen year run, but it is fast coming to an end and it would be sad not to mark the change that is upon us. So let’s say goodbye!
I hope that you, like me, don’t really want to say goodbye, but it is, nevertheless, time to say goodbye. We need to do it to honor our time together and the work we’ve done as well as the joys we have shared. And we need to say goodbye because it is part of what is necessary if we are to move on to whatever comes next. Long ago a good friend taught me that when he left both the physical area and the job that had brought us together. It was painful to say goodbye, but it freed us up to know one another in a different way and to cherish that new relationship.
There are many ways to do the goodbye thing: certainly it should include cake — maybe even more than once. We can say goodbye formally and there are several upcoming opportunities for that. First will be June 19th when I will preach my last sermon as your called minister. I hope you will all be there to hear that final message. It’s one that is dear to my heart. In fact it will be preceded by two other messages in the preceding two weeks. Next Sunday [June 5] I’ll be talking about the possibility of parallel universes, a topic that explores possibilities that are definitely “outside the box!” We’ll say goodbye to Patrick that day and honor those who work in religious education. And then on the penultimate Sunday [penultimate is one of my favorite words!] I will be offering “five last words” that I think could be a recipe for living well and we’ll honor those joining our “Twenty-five Year Club” — those who are joining the group that have been at OCUUC for 25 or more years. Each of these Sundays will be an opportunity for us to say goodbye to the ministry we have forged together.
And we can say goodbye informally and more personally. I would love to tell each of you what you have meant to me and how I value our association, because it is true that each of you has impacted my life and my ministry. I hope I will get the chance to do just that, and I need your help to make certain that can happen.
I believe that if we do a good job of saying goodbye to our ministry together we will honor it and cement it into our hearts so that it can continue to affect our lives and how we go on to minister in future situations long after we are no longer together. This is my goal for my last month as your minister. I hope you will make it your goal as well.
And then I will “disappear” from your lives for a time so that you can look at OCUUC clearly and see what is necessary for you to continue the work you have done, continue the good health that characterizes this beloved community, and determine how you want to thrive in the future — and so that you can welcome your new minister with open minds and hearts when he or she joins you. But know that I will be holding you in my heart even though we are apart.
In the meantime, may you
Go shining,
Karen
Emeritaocuucorg
Casual Comments From the Minister – May 2011
I’ve spent a fair amount of time in the past 7 weeks meeting with a small band of hearty souls to study “green theology”. I’ve learned wonderful things in the process — some of which quite surprised me.
For instance I’ve always thought that theology was either a story or a set of rules that someone propounds and a follower decides to accept as his or her own. As a result of the green theology class I’ve revised that definition significantly. Dr. Mike Hogue, who created the course, suggests that theology grows out of “seeing, judging, and acting.” We have to see what is there in front of us — what life is all about, or what it offers to us. Then we have to judge both the offering and our reaction to it. Finally we need to act out of the results of our seeing and our judging. Theology is actually how we live our lives and how we relate to life. It certainly can involve a story [or more than one] and it definitely involves rules, but the story is our own and the rules must evolve from our seeing and judging, not solely from what someone else has surmised. Certainly we can gain wisdom from others journeys and deliberations — we did that in our green theology class — but the decisions and stories of others should only be guideposts as we devise our own understanding and create our own rules. It brings whole new meaning to the idea of building one’s own theology!
In the course, as a result of our deliberations we became moved to act. At one point I decided that I was going to take my own glass to restaurants that use plastic containers for drinks and use it rather than the disposable [but not biodegradable] one’s the restaurants provide. This was a true living out of the theological process that Mike Hogue proposed [and that comes from liberationist theology]. I saw a problem that is devastating our earth, I judged that I cannot stand idly by and analyzed what contribution I was making to the problem [as opposed to the solution], and decided to act — to change the way I am in the world. Now for the really good news: I can’t begin to tell you how good it felt to do this small act or what a thrill it was when restaurants were happy to collaborate in my efforts! Perhaps the very best thing about this is that it inspires me to want to do even more.
But I’m going to go slowly, because I want this to become part of my personal theology and for that to happen I have to be intentional and give the change time to become a natural part of life. I need to feel the very special, sacredness of doing this for me and if I rush headlong in to the next change I want to make, I won’t get that sense of holy work. So I’m living with this change for the moment and savoring the intense feeling of connectedness that it brings me. And then, in a bit, I’ll go on to the next change — perhaps LED light bulbs or carrying my own cloth napkins to avoid using paper. I haven’t decided yet — that’s a piece of the work for another day.
Your passion may not be for the ecosystem — although I do hope it is — so the way for you to create and live a theology may not look like mine. But whatever it is, I invite you to take some time, see what the world is calling you to, evaluate or judge how you want to respond, and then act. In this sense, we are all theologians!
In the meantime, may you
Go shining,
Karen
Casual Comments from the Minister – April 2011
Get ready for a whirlwind of exciting events! The next six weeks will bring several UU notables to OCUUC and I hope you’ll want to spend time with each of them. Here’s the lineup:
- April 9 The Reverend Doctor Tom Owen-Towle will join us for a potluck dinner and a talk. Tom is one of our most inspirational ministers and I know that spending time with him will reaffirm your faith in Unitarian Universalism and your commitment to both OCUUC and our movement.
- April 26 Bill Schulz will spend an evening with us talking about the work of the UU Service Committee [of which he is President]. Bill is also past UUA President and past Executive Director of Amnesty International USA, and will bring all this experience to bear on his time with us. If you’ve never heard Bill speak before you are in for a treat. And if you have heard him before you know how compelling [and funny] he is and I know you won’t miss another opportunity to hear him.
- April 29 and 30 Dr. Michael Hogue will spend the weekend with us leading the closing workshop on Green Theology. Everyone is welcome whether you’ve taken the rest of the course or not. Dr Hogue is a professor at Meadville Lombard Theological School [my alma mater!] and is the recipient of the John Templeton Award for Theological Promise in 2008. His visit with us promises to be exciting! Watch for details in the future.
- May 1 I will be co-leading the Sunday services with Dr. Hogue.
- May 8 Gini Courter, UUA Moderator will be the preacher at the 11:15 service at OCUUC. Some of you heard her when she joined us for a joint service with Tapestry a few years ago and you know that she is an amazing person and a great speaker.
I’m excited about all these wonderful people coming to share our space and time this spring. Not only am I delighted to be able to introduce them to you, but I’m proud to introduce you to them! Please plan on joining in as many of these events as you possibly can.
In the meantime, may you…
Go shining,
Karen
Casual Comments from the Minister – March 2011
We’ve been talking about change at a theoretical level for several months now and the time has come to move to discussing it at a personal level. Big change is just around the corner for all of us! The first Sunday in March you will begin the process of searching for a new minister in earnest and in just four months I will complete my service as your minister. That means we need to spend this last time together with intentionality. I see three things we need to do:
- Let’s make certain that all the good work we’ve done together establishing shared ministry is firmly in place. We have worked together so well, building a strong, healthy congregation that I know this part of our last months will be easy work. Still we don’t want to become complacent — work still needs to be done.
- We need to plug holes and tie up loose ends [finish those projects we’ve started]. Two that come to mind are the communications issues and the adult education program for which we’ve received a UUA grant. Please, please fill out the communications survey which is on line and will be available in the church office. We need your input in order to adjust the communications program so that it meets everyone’s needs and preferences. And plan on attending the “Green Theology” class which begins this month and ends with a weekend workshop in April.
- We need to say good bye. The UUMA covenant calls for me to “disappear” for a period of time so that you can do the work of transition and then welcome in your new minister. And I intend to live up to that covenant. It may seem harsh to some of you, but it is the only way to make this transition as healthy as possible. We need to acknowledge that there will be a hiatus during which we will not be in relationship and if, in the future, it is appropriate for me to be part of this community again, it will be in a very different relationship. Because we often find partings difficult and painful it is tempting to ignore them. What I learned a long time ago, from a very wise teacher of mine, is that if we say goodbye, fully owning up to whatever emotions that brings out, we will be able to move forward in a healthy fashion and we will have honored the importance of our time together as minister and congregant.
We’ve done so much good work together — let’s complete our time with the same integrity, energy, and love that has characterized it for the past thirteen years! I do not know yet what I will be doing next year. I have several “irons in the fire” but it is too soon for them to materialize. I promise I will let you know when I have determined my future course.
In the meantime, may you…
Go shining,
Karen
