Times of transition often lead me to reflection. Our congregation is about to transition from Rev. Seth being on sabbatical and Joel Tishken being our sabbatical minister, to having Rev. Seth back with us. But this will not be simply “business as usual.” We will not be going back to how things were before Rev. Seth’s sabbatical, because we are different, and he is different. As the hymn says, “Life calls us on,” (Kendyl Gibbons/Jason Shelton). Life does not, at least in this instance, call us back. Don’t read more into this than I intend: life calls us to continual renewal, to make intentional the change that occurs anyway, no matter what that change turns out to be.

I don’t plan to address the systemic issues we face here. Some of those that seem particularly relevant to me as we move forward are change and stability (or continuity and change), financial support, managing expectations on the cusp between a pastoral and a program sized church, too few volunteers trying to do too much leading to burnout, and theological differences. Nor will I make any specific recommendations about what I think the best course of action is. I do think that we need to be as aware as we can be of our expectations and whether they are realistic, and to hold them flexibly rather than rigidly.

I do not think we have completed the necessary personal and congregational work around the issues that have arisen in our communal life in the past few years. We have made a start, but we are not yet finished. We have begun to acknowledge the tensions that exist. But those tensions are not resolved.  It’s true they never will be completely; we are a diverse people with strong opinions, and we cherish our diversity.

That having been said, we can work to become both willing and able to embrace our diversity and live in harmony with each other. That is a challenging task, but one that I am sure we can do. To whatever extent we can, we need to show each other grace, forgiveness, and forbearance. We do not have to agree, and we will not. But we can commit to being open-hearted even in our disagreement.

It’s for this reason that I want to call us to some of our foundational principles. Not all of us will have the same list of key principles for our current situation; these are mine.

Even as we differ and challenge each other, and yes, argue and sometimes hurt each other, we must hold unwaveringly to our affirmation that each and every one of us is a person of inherent worth and dignity. No exceptions, no exclusions. No “yes, buts.” The congregation, the Board, committees, Rev. Seth, his supporters and detractors, the rest of the staff. And we must strive to embody this affirmation in unequivocally every interaction. And we have to do the hard work of calling each other out when we fail on this, but doing so in the spirit of building up rather than of tearing down.

Corollary to this, our commitment to the democratic process needs to inform all we do. That means no group or individual rides roughshod over any other. It means that all voices are heard and valued, and that all feel it is safe to speak their minds.

In addition to our Principles, we draw on many sources—religious, spiritual, humanistic, scientific. They do not speak with one voice on all issues, to be sure. What I hear echoing through all of them, however, is the call to treat one another with compassion, kindness, and simple decency. In other words, treat others the way we would like to be treated, and don’t do to other people what we wouldn’t want done to us. Deceptively simple to state, but very powerful when put into action consistently.

I don’t know the best way to move forward at this point. I do know there is no magic wand to wave that will make it all better. I know it will take work, and a willingness to listen to each other and to compromise. It will stretch us to be better than we have been. And I believe we have what it will take to emerge on the far side of this a stronger and more functional community of faith.

Can all of us hold in the forefront of our minds and hearts that we all want the same thing? We want to be the best church we can be, so that we can continue to be an outspoken and coherent voice for open-minded, inclusive religion in our city and the region, just as we have been doing since 1859. I believe we want to be a church that is an agent for positive, progressive social action. I firmly believe as well that we want to become a community in which all persons feel welcome, valued, and safe, a community of affirmation and compassion. We will differ on exactly what all this looks like and how best to go about it. But I truly believe that we are unified in our commitment to these goals.

With hope and confidence,

Rev. Julia