From The Shooting Star, April 8, 2007. Copyright 2007, Ellen Rowse Spero. All rights reserved.
I spent this past Saturday at a retreat full of fun and spirit, worship and play with the Coming of Age youth, their mentors, and my co-facilitators, Sadie Kahn-Greene and Tom Coffey. One of the assignments we gave the youth and their mentors was to create a ten minute worship service on a theme related to spirituality. The results were beautiful, creative, spiritual, and fun. More than once during these services and during our discussions throughout the day, I thought to myself, "The next generation will be in very capable hands." I saw concretely before me the practice of stewardship: of adults in the congregation giving of their time and talent to offer their wisdom, experience, and questions to the next generation; of young people taking seriously the trust that will be handed them; and of a deep commitment to and love for this congregation and Unitarian Universalism.
Below is an excerpt from the reflection I offered at the Stewardship Sunday service yesterday, as we kicked off this year’s pledge drive.
"This congregation is in our trust. We are its stewards, not its owners. Generations past have done their part and ensured its survival and growth for us. We have been entrusted to steward it through our times so that it is here for generations to come. So, what is IT, that we have been entrusted with, that we are asked to steward?
Like all things Unitarian Universalist, there is more than one answer. We are entrusted with a promise, a covenant, to walk together on a religious and spiritual journey, across time and death and the space between the stars, that is grounded in reason, an ever-expanding search for truth, compassion, gratitude, hospitality, justice, and a deeper and ever-expanding understanding of right relationship. As religious liberals, we trust that this life matters, that other people matter, that this planet and all her creatures matter, and that we can make a difference (for better or for ill), so that we need to choose wisely and with care. Whether we believe we do this in partnership with the divine or only with our fellow humans or we are not sure, really, is less important than that we do it well and with integrity. That is the vision and voice part of our trust.
The other part is the people. We are not a congregation without people. And we have been entrusted with the care not only of each other and each other’s lives and souls, but of those of our children and youth, of those among us and beyond our walls in fragile times of their lives, of the memories of those whom died and whose lives need our witness. If we really trust in our principles and purposes, our congregation needs to be ready for everyone out there who needs to hear our voice and vision. This includes those who need the sanctuary, the welcome of our good news. And those who need to hear the challenge of it…being in religious community is about values and ethics and ideals, hope and compassion and justice. But to make these abstracts concrete and relevant and lived, we must commit the currencies we have to give shape to what we trust is worthy. The ideals are beautiful. The work is real and often hard but also full of joy and blessing. It asks us to consider not what we can live with, but what we live for, and what we want to live out."
I then asked as people brought up their pledge cards to share a word they would use to complete this sentence: "For me, First Parish stands for…" The most consistent answer was "community." Others included "hope", "compassion", "faith-in-action", "quiet", "memories", "spiritual community", "enlightenment", "contemplation" and "commitment". When I see the generosity you offer one another and this congregation, I am truly grateful. May we continue to do well by the trust we have been given to make manifest these things for one another, and for the generations to come.
In faith,
Ellen