Inspiration in Kansas City

Last week, I attended, along with ­­­eight of our church members, the Annual General Assembly of our Unitarian Universalist Association. This was my ninth GA and, as usually, I was overwhelmed by all the things to do, the number of people to see, topics to explore, and conversations to have. I wanted it to be a relaxing experience, but I should have known better. Here are some of the highlights from my week:

Our church was honored by the UUs for a Just Economic Community with the UUJEC Leadership Award. During the gathering in which we received the award, we heard from housing justice advocate and community leader, Margaret J. May about her experience as the Executive Director of the Ivanhoe Neighborhood Council in Kansas City.

From left, Martha Holman, UUJEC Chair, Terry Lowman, Betty Walker, Steve Serikaku, Rev. Eileen Wiviott, Lee Bannor, Jane Bannor, Shirley Adams, Christina Habib

UCE was also recognized as a Leadership Congregation, which means we are one of the 50 most generous congregations contributing to the UUA’s Annual Program Fund. We are among those congregations who give our full share of requested financial support to our national association, something we’ve strived for over many years. It was nice to be recognized for that, but the true reward is knowing our contributions help to provide support for all the Unitarian Universalist congregations around the country, to train our religious leaders, to provide resources for lifespan faith formation, and to amplify our voice for justice within and beyond our churches. Thank you to all of our members who, through your pledge, help support the progressive mission of Unitarian Universalism.

The Service of the Living Tradition (SLT) is the worship gathering of thousands of UU’s recognizing newly fellowshipped, final fellowshipped, retiring, and deceased UU ministers of the previous year. This year’s SLT featured Rev. Sofia Betancourt who preached prophetically and with loving challenge about our ‘interwoven salvation’ and our ‘collective wholeness.’ You can watch here: https://youtu.be/-iOYqUopZ4o or read the entire transcript here: https://www.uua.org/ga/off-site/2018/worship/slt

Each year since 1920, a distinguished guest is invited to speak to the Assembly. We have had such notable speakers throughout the years as Martin Luther King Jr., Howard Thurman, May Sarton, Mary Oliver, and last year, Bryan Stevenson. This year, Brittany Packnet, an educator, organizer, writer, and speaker at the intersection of culture and justice spoke to us, unapologetically, about the fact that this, what we are experiencing now – oppression, marginalization, tyranny and authoritarianism – is exactly who we are and always have been: https://youtu.be/WkV2fNuN1C4. It is our imperative to resist collectively.

These are difficult times, my friends. It feels glib to even say it. I know there is fear and anger, even hatred, within, among and beyond us. It is a struggle every day to keep those forces of despair and destruction from washing over us and drowning us. The only way I know how to move through, to cast out such fear and hate, is with love, with collective commitment to justice and equity, with our willingness to share power, share our stories and create meaning and beauty together.

I will be away for a few weeks, immersing myself in natural beauty in the state and national parks of southern Utah. You will be in good hands with staff, guest preachers and each other. I will return at the end of July and we will continue to build Beloved Community together, for it is the only thing we can do in times like these.

With love and in faith,

Rev. Eileen

Unending Thanks

Reflecting on the last year, since you ordained me, it is hard to believe how much we have done together. Not only that, but what we’ve endured, resisted, how we’ve challenged one another, even hurt one other, and also mended our relationships. We have struggled with how to be inclusive and supportive of one another in all that we are. We’ve experienced the sadness of loss, acknowledged the pain of abuse and longing for justice. We have proclaimed ourselves a sanctuary community and opened our doors to those who are vulnerable. We’ve said good bye to our Senior Minister, Bret, and look forward to welcoming Rev. Greg Stewart as our Interim Minister.

I am continually amazed and grateful to this community, to each of you for bringing your tender selves to one another, to this collective, to be cared for, challenged, and strengthened. As we fulfill another cycle of church life and move into a time of, hopefully some rest, relaxation and recreation, I think about how fortunate I am to be among you, to serve you as your minister, and to support the amazing ministry that you do with one another and in the world.

Thank you to each of the hospitality teams for making our church a welcoming place. I am so proud of how we communally own the practice of radical hospitality. Thank you especially to team leaders who send those reminders and shepherd teams each quarter and thank you to Melanie Kitchner for her unfailing administrative support.

Thank you for the ways you care for one another, check in, offer rides, feed each other, raise funds, manage money, engage in conversations, foster relationships, teach each other, learn from one another, and create beauty together. Thank you to those who have helped care for our building and make it more accessible. We are so excited that our Lula Lift is almost ready for use. Thank you to those who made that possible.

Thank you to the leaders who have handled change, managed demands, communicated concerns, and helped us steer the ship with love, wisdom, patience and dedication.

Thank you for the ways – the countless ways – you strive to make the world better. Your justice efforts never cease to amaze and inspire me. The Promise and the Practice service this past Sunday was moving and many of you expressed your heartfelt hopes and fears. You expressed hope for greater understanding, for greater opportunity and economic equality for all, for insight. You also wrote down your fears about the growing hate, fear, and prejudice tearing our country apart, your fear of closing your heart to others, and your fear that we will repeat the same mistakes.

Friends, we have much work to do, but I know this: our hopes have greater chance of being realized and our fears managed together, by continuing to build the beloved community. Thank you for not giving up or giving in to despair. We are not alone.

I look forward to being with you this Sunday, to celebrate our annual Flower Communion, to welcome new members, and to honor our teachers and learners this year. Please bring a flower (or a bunch) for our annual ritual of beauty and a dish to pass. Remember that we will conclude our one, 10 a.m. service with a congregational meeting to vote, once and for all, on the Black Lives Matter sign. If you missed this, we were two voting members shy of a quorum by the time we got to this vote at the Annual Meeting. There are lots of reasons this happened and Janelle Brittain and I have talked about how we could have done things differently. However, moving on, we promise to make this a very short meeting. We’ll ask you to quickly sign in if you are a voting member so we can vote and get on to the fun of our church picnic. If you are not a voting member, head to the kitchen or the south lawn and help us set up!

Yours in Faith,

Rev. Eileen