From Sunday, 23 October 2011
Introducing UUCE’s new Mission Statement with background as to how the Board of Trustees selected it, with the guidance of Rev. Forsey. This Mission Statement will be our unifying force – illuminating our hearts – as we gather together to worship; as we gather in together to work in committees or share in small groups; as we gather to promote and do social justice work here in Eugene, as well as in our wider world.
Podcast: http://www.uueugene.org/audiopodcasts/380-uuces-new-mission-statement
I am honored to be here now to introduce to you UUCE’s NEW Mission Statement. In a minute, I will give you some background as to how the UUCE Board of Trustees arrived at this Mission Statement with the prompting and guidance of our minister, Rev. Forsey. As with all things UU and particularly all things UUCE, please be assured that it was a process in which many were involved, on which some disagreed, but upon which all finally came to embrace. Let me start by sharing UUCE’s new Mission Statement with you now:
“Empowered by LOVE, we transform ourselves and serve our world.”
“Empowered by LOVE, we transform ourselves and serve our world.”
Today Rev. Forsey has shared with us the beauty and meaning of the Hindu Festival of Lights. This holy period symbolizes the celebration of the uplifting of spiritual darkness. From darkness into light — a light which empowers us to commit ourselves to good deeds – this brings us closer to our own Divinity. Earlier in our worship today, you were reminded you of your own Divinity. This interior illumination – this DIVINITY – is OUR HIGHER SELF – OUR HIGHEST SELF.
This interior illumination – this LIGHT – is a great unifying force, powerful enough to unite all our hearts together as ONE. May our new mission statement be OUR shining light – that guides us – that unites us – that keeps and holds our community as ONE. This Mission Statement will be our unifying force – illuminating our hearts – as we gather together to worship; as we gather in together to work in committees or share in small groups; as we gather to promote and do social justice work here in Eugene, as well as in our wider world.
Our own UU Principles affirm and promote the following ideals:
• The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
• Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
• Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
• The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
• Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
We may all have differing theological beliefs and backgrounds, but LOVE is the one force that unites us. Our Principles have an underlying assumption that it is LOVE that brings us all together in community. Is Love not the most empowering of human emotions?
“Empowered by LOVE, we transform ourselves and serve our world.”
Revered UU theologian, Forrest Church was senior clergyperson of All Souls Church in New York City. In Lifelines: Holding On and Letting Go, Church says….
Perhaps the most paradoxical of Jesus’ teachings, [at the time,] something new in the canons of religious literature, is that we should love our enemies. He didn’t pose this in terms of love and hate. He didn’t go on to say that love casts out hate. He said LOVE casts out FEAR. He said that God is love, that we should love our neighbors as ourselves, and that love to God and love to neighbor sum up all the law and the commandments….[and] If the opposite of love is fear, fear looms as an impediment to every kind of love – personal, neighborly, and divine.” (Church, Forrest, Lifelines: Holding On and Letting Go. Boston: Beacon Press, 1996.) End quote
If FEAR is the most disempowering of all human emotions, and LOVE has the empowering ability to cast it out, then is not LOVE what WE want to be about? Through LOVE, are WE not empowered? Our love of each other and the community that we have created together is EMPOWERING.
Have we not all seen this in the last year or so, as we have purchased, demolished, and remodeled a new building; recently sold this BELOVED building; and created a new space DOWNTOWN where we can live our vision and our mission together? Are we not creating together a new, abundant, generous, transformative HOME for Liberal Religion in DOWNTOWN EUGENE?
This empowering LOVE that we have for each other and for our world TRANSFORMS us. Love IS transforming. LOVE transforms us from WITHIN to be better, more loving, more generous people. We show each other every day that we ARE being transformed. And as our LOVE TRANSFORMS us, we open ourselves to the broader community. We open ourselves to the work that we, as UUs, have said that we want to do in the larger world, starting here in Eugene.
In the meditation today, you were reminded you of your own DIVINITY, your own HIGHER SELF. When we act from our HIGHER SELVES, we naturally and automatically want to serve our world. This is a Unitarian Universalist desire and principle that expresses our oneness and our commitment to do the local and global work of Liberal Religion and Social Justice.
“Empowered by LOVE, we transform ourselves and serve our world.”
You may say to yourself: “That mission statement is so short!” Perhaps you might even think UUCE’s previous mission statement was better, especially if you were involved with crafting it. You may think that our new mission statement does not include ALL the things that we are about. But the Board of Trustees and our minister would like to challenge that thought.
This mission statement says EXACTLY what we NEED it to say now. It answers the question of why the Unitarian Universalist Church in Eugene exists at all. It is clear, brief and unambiguous. In the coming months you will learn how this mission statement fits into UUCE’s evolving governance structure, emphasizes proper respect for all, and helps our congregation get on solid financial ground.
Its brevity and succinctness even meets suggested criteria set out by experts for GOOD mission statements:
1. It’s easy to remember
2. It’s short enough to fit on a bumper sticker, T-shirt, or coffee mug
3. It demonstrates spiritual action and dynamism
4. It distinguishes UUCE from other faith groups and secular non-profit organizations
5. It not only makes sense and is understandable to those of us who have been here for a while, but hopefully to those who may have just come through our doors
6. It can be used as a guideline for church committees to clarify their work and purpose
“Empowered by LOVE, we transform ourselves and serve our world.”
I’m going to tell you the story about how this mission statement was crafted. As part of her interim work with us, Rev. Forsey asked the Board to write a new mission statement for UUCE. Together we did some brain-storming of ideas and concepts that our new mission statement should include, such as “transformation” and “service”.
Then the Board of Trustees empowered a small Task Force to come up with a mission statement and report back to the board. So thusly empowered, this Task Force went out into the world, met at The Beanery for lunch a couple of times, picked their own – and each other’s – collective brains, and came back to the next Board meeting with three suggestions for a mission statement. The Board and our minister rejected all three proposed mission statements, of which this was one.
But you know what? Of the three mission statements proposed by the Task Force, THIS was the one that stayed in the minds of the Task Force, the minister and the Board members. THIS was the one that they thought about between meetings.
So at the next Board meeting, when the Task Force presented three new possible mission statements – this time setting the stage and reminding the Board of the criteria of good mission statements – the Board unanimously selected this one, but only after adding ONE word to it, wisely suggested by Rev. Forsey: SERVE.
“Empowered by LOVE, we transform ourselves and serve our world.”
So, even if you are not sure about this new mission statement right now – and based upon personal experience, I know that it may take time to settle in and feel right – I invite you to take it home with you. Try it on like a new suit of clothes, perhaps a dress-up outfit, or even a Halloween costume. How does it fit you; how does it fit UUCE?
Meditate on it. Pray on it if you are so inclined. Mull it around in your mind if you prefer. And get back to us. Let us know how it fits you; how it fits UUCE. We're hopeful that once you mull it over, that you will come to see it as we do – a statement to guide us on our true mission in this community.
But if you have questions, please join Rev. Forsey and the Task Force who crafted our new Mission Statement after the second service today, in the library to discuss it. Thank you.
No comments:
Post a Comment