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
Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.
