At Orange Coast UU, we believe that growth is a spiritual practice. That's why we created HEART, our Healthy Expansion And Research Team. As we step into the new chapter our sanctuary represents, HEART is helping us ask the deeper questions: What does it look like to welcome more people into our community without losing the soul of who we are? How do thriving congregations create real belonging in an age of loneliness? And what would it mean to grow with love at the center of our decisions?
Rather than rushing toward solutions or assuming we already have the answers, HEART is taking time to study congregations that are genuinely thriving as larger, vibrant communities. We're interviewing their leaders, learning from their wisdom, and resisting the temptation to move blindly forward thinking we already know what to do. It's slow work, and it requires some patience. But we hope it means that the minister, staff and leaders don't get burnt out which can happen so easily in a growing congregation.
Over the summer, the team will be interviewing program sized congregations and the few that have gone from pastoral to program sized. We hope to learn a lot! If you have any suggestions or would like to help out, contact the team at heart @ ocuuc.org. Or talk to one of our wonderful team members: Kathleen M., Amy T., John P., Cory B., Meg W., Peggy H., Tony A. and me.
With love,
Rev. Sian
Rev. Sian Wiltshire is Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church's minister. Please feel free to reach out and say hello! She can be reached by email, revsian@ocuuc.org, or by church phone at (714) 556-2882 (x302).