Rev. Elizabeth Lerner Maclay, who serves the First Unitarian Church of Providence and previously served our Mount Kisco neighbors, writes on the essential nature of love to the congregation in the 2010 collection of essays, The Growing Church: Keys to Congregational Vitality:
Reflecting on her own journey, she shares these thoughts which resonate deeply with me:
"[Y]ou shouldn't go into ministry unless you love it ... The ministry deserve only people who love it -- love ministry, love their congregations, love our movement, all of which deserve nothing less. Love is critical to growth. A congregation must love their minister enough to trust her and endure the challenges that will try their partnership, and a minister must love her congregation in order to serve it well enough to grow."
When I first read this, I doubted I could have said it better. But, actually, I might insert a "shared ministry" here and there! Or an "all ministers" to be inclusive of our entire community and our shared ministry model.
I suspect we share a deep, abiding love for our life-affirming, justice-seeking Unitarian Universalist movement and are equally committed to deepening our faith as we move through life. We are in this together: following our calls, small or large, to ministries of all sorts; creating trust and safety by building strong relationships of lovingkindness; committing to be in right relationship; and bearing witness, within and beyond our walls, to the truth that to side with love is to defeat hate.
So, if you were to put yourself in the writer's shoes as the "minister," and if you were to grab a pen, a stylus, or a paintbrush, what words and images would be in your Love Letters?
What do you love about Unitarian Universalism and Fourth UU?
How does your love move you to serve the movement and this congregation?
What challenges do you see trying our partnership and shared ministry?
How do you respond, with love?
With blessings for the journey,
Rev. Cindy
Reflecting on her own journey, she shares these thoughts which resonate deeply with me:
"[Y]ou shouldn't go into ministry unless you love it ... The ministry deserve only people who love it -- love ministry, love their congregations, love our movement, all of which deserve nothing less. Love is critical to growth. A congregation must love their minister enough to trust her and endure the challenges that will try their partnership, and a minister must love her congregation in order to serve it well enough to grow."
When I first read this, I doubted I could have said it better. But, actually, I might insert a "shared ministry" here and there! Or an "all ministers" to be inclusive of our entire community and our shared ministry model.
I suspect we share a deep, abiding love for our life-affirming, justice-seeking Unitarian Universalist movement and are equally committed to deepening our faith as we move through life. We are in this together: following our calls, small or large, to ministries of all sorts; creating trust and safety by building strong relationships of lovingkindness; committing to be in right relationship; and bearing witness, within and beyond our walls, to the truth that to side with love is to defeat hate.
So, if you were to put yourself in the writer's shoes as the "minister," and if you were to grab a pen, a stylus, or a paintbrush, what words and images would be in your Love Letters?
What do you love about Unitarian Universalism and Fourth UU?
How does your love move you to serve the movement and this congregation?
What challenges do you see trying our partnership and shared ministry?
How do you respond, with love?
With blessings for the journey,
Rev. Cindy
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