Get Involved!
A good friend of mine serves as minister of one of our churches in the Salt Lake City area. While he’s often at odds with the Mormon majority in the area, he finds himself occasionally envious of the ways in which their churches operate. “I wish I had the authority, like their bishops do, to just point at someone and tell them what their call is!” he tells me. “You’re playing piano, this year. You’re teaching second grade, this year. It would make life so much easier!” We both laugh, knowing this is completely antithetical to the Unitarian Universalist way of governing a church, and knowing none of our people would ever stand for being pushed into roles they weren’t interested in or equipped for. Sure, it would be easier, but it wouldn’t be right.
When we talk about stewardship in the church, we often talk about the “three Ts” — time, talent, and treasure. Once or twice a year, we talk seriously about the third “T,” your treasure, but it’s not often we have a serious talk about the other two, your time and talent. The operation of a UU congregation day in and day out takes the coordinated effort of both the staff and the membership. A board of trustees takes care of the major policy and money decisions, Ministry and Operations reviews the day to day work of the church, and various committees take on the work of charitable giving, filling the pulpit on my Sundays off, coordinating care efforts for members in need, and many other tasks. We’ve got professionals for handling religious education, music, administration. And I won’t even begin to list the many hats I wear in a given week.
My question for you this month is, “Where do you fit into this picture?” I know that no one comes to church thinking, “I want to join a committee!” That’s rarely a selling point for joining any faith community. But, the truth is that this congregation thrives on your individual talents and gifts as much as it does on mine. While I’ll never point my magic finger at you and turn you into a committee chair against your will, I do ask you to consider where your talents and interests lie, and how you might use them in service of the congregation.
If you want to learn more about how you can participate more in the life of the congregation, be sure to join us after the service on Sunday, October 18th, for our “Get Involved” Fair. Leaders from our various committees and programs will be in the Gerber Room to talk about their work and give you more info about participating. Meanwhile, I encourage you to take a look at this page, which sums up the bulk of our committees and church structure.
See you in church!