Religion as Haven or Hotbed?
Comments By The Rev. Susan Manker-Seale
May 22, 2005
We can pat ourselves on the back for a very exciting and very productive year. It was only a year ago that we bought the property next door, and since then we have conducted a successful capital campaign hand-in-hand with our stewardship campaign, made plans for the potential future use of our site, and began implementing a new organizational structure for our mid-size congregation that consists of two councils composed of committees composed of task-oriented teams. We have expanded two committees, ministry and worship services, and created the lay ministry team of worship associates. About half of our standing committees have engaged in strategic planning and reinvigorated themselves and their sense of ministry, especially social action which went from two to fourteen members. We have also conducted a survey of our communication needs and come up with plans for improving on them. It has been a busy year in which we have focused on strengthening our organization and mission to the end that we will better meet the needs of our members and newcomers and be ready for the day when we can build larger buildings to house our growing ministry to each other and the world, creating a lasting legacy for future generations of Unitarian Universalists in Tucson.
There are years when congregations have to focus more intently on internal organization to keep up with the pace of growth. An effective ministry looks both inwardly and outwardly and constantly reassesses where the congregation is headed. We have been doing this year by year, but this year has been especially full and maybe a little stressful for that as well. Conducting a capital campaign is a way to challenge ourselves to ask what the level of our commitment really is, and when we discover there are people among us whose commitment isn’t as high as ours, it’s a little disconcerting, even though it is also perfectly normal. On the other hand, it isn’t every year that we go to such an intense extent to ask people to commit with so much of their financial resources, and to spur those on the margins to decide where their loyalties really lie. Even as we have lost more members this year than any other, we have continued to add new members as we always have.
When I think of all the energy we have spent this year on organizational and fund-raising activities, I start once again to ponder the purpose of our religious organization. Is there a bottom line for our existence as the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Northwest Tucson? Will our organizational efforts and programs give strength to the ministries in which we engage? Is anyone out there in Tucson or the world besides those of us here already who even knows of our existence? Do we make a difference?
I stopped asking all those questions in the weeks Pope John Paul died and was replaced by Pope Benedict. I was interviewed by the Arizona Daily Star which caused me to weigh my true feelings about this change of leadership in the Catholic Church and the world. I must say that I am more than dismayed at the choice of the conservative Bishop Ratzinger for the new Pope. As much as I try to keep an open mind in matters of faith, I also must admit that I feel the positions and teachings of the Catholic leadership at the Vatican are hurting the world terribly, perpetuating hate and oppression at the same time as promoting population growth that the earth is no longer able to bear.
The fundamentalist factions of major religions are working to keep women down and to deny gays and lesbians equal rights even as they label them evil in the so-called “name of love.” I watched a movie the other day with my daughter, Kat, called “Saved.” The themes for this high-school drama were teen pregnancy, gay prejudice, and divorce. It showed the type of mind-control that conservative Christian schools exert on their students and how hurtful things are done in the name of saving the wayward.
Enough of you have come out of oppressive religious environments like that to find Unitarian Universalism a breath of fresh air and a place of peace. We are a haven to those who have been hurt in their past, whether by society or religion, or both considering that much of society’s prejudice is perpetuated by religion. Here, people find a community of respect and acceptance, where all are welcome as they are. That is our ideal. That is our teaching, and I hope that is our practice. No religious organization is perfect, and we certainly are not, but at least our teachings are non-dogmatic and encourage relationships in community that really are based on respect and love. Respect means to look again, to really see another person in their reality. When we do that, we learn to feel compassion and companionship with one another in our struggles to be accepted as we are no matter our gender or race or sexual orientation or age or ability or ethnicity or belief.
We are more than a haven, though. We are more than a place of safety, a place to hide out from society, more than a place to renew ourselves. At our best, we are also a hotbed, a place to be inspired, to work together, to find a larger, stronger voice for change, and a place out of which we can act on our values. Ministry looks both inward and outward, and religious communities function both as havens and as hotbeds.
This is a tension people feel even within themselves as they join a religious community. Some people, when they arrive, are looking for a haven. They are in need of healing and looking for ministry for themselves and their families. Maybe someone near to them has died, or is ill, or they have experienced a crisis of faith. Maybe they are feeling persecuted by others. Sometimes they are in need of pastoral care and sometimes they just need to feel accepted, safe, free to speak their minds.
Our worship services contain elements oriented toward those of us in need of healing or a haven. We have a time of meditation with silence and a time for celebrating community in which we can remember that we are not alone and that others are in need in the world. We have music, which is healing in and of itself. Little children are part of our community and remind us of a deeper love and life.
Other people, when they arrive, are looking for a hotbed. They are searching for a place where they can engage in a ministry to the larger community. They are looking for people to join them in actions which uphold and perpetuate our values.
Our worship services also contain elements oriented toward those in need of a hotbed. We have sermons on timely issues and songs that speak of freedom and justice. We have announcements and sign-ups for events and ways people can get involved.
All the time we balance between these two: the haven and the hotbed. Not just in our worship services, but in programs and events as well. Our Finding Heart Ministries program is built around this tension: finding our heart of care and concern, what we care most deeply about; and finding our heart of courage to make change, to bring our values to fruition in our lives and the larger community. Looking within and looking without. Ministry focuses in both directions.
May we find the balance and minister to each other with both pastoral care and prophetic intention as we move into creating our own future as a religious organization that is effective and cherished in all our lives.
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Northwest Tucson