Some of you heard me say last year how impressed I was by our congregation's commitment to devoting 10% of our Reach Campaign to outreach and social justice. It started with our Board of Directors. It would have been easy for them to carve away at the percentage out of fear. Justifications for using the money in another way would have been easy to come by. But they were unwavering. They wanted this tithe to go toward our commitment for the future and for the community.

Because our Reach Campaign runs for five years, we have some time before this commitment will be fulfilled. But our planning has started. As one example, I am working with a brand new group in the Tyson's area on developing an interfaith partnership. We gather monthly - Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims and UUs - to imagine how we might contribute to the transformation of Tyson's.

We believe it is very important to bring a values/service perspective to the table along with the economic development work that is already happening there. In the next two decades there will be an explosion of growth. I hope we will be a part of ensuring a quality of life to go along with the quantity.

Our group's draft mission is:

Tyson's Interfaith Partnership (TIP) is an organization of diverse faith partners creating opportunities for spiritual connection, growth, learning and service with those who live, work and play in the Tyson's community. TIP is committed to the principles of diversity, mutual respect, compassion and ethical engagement. As partners in faith, we seek to weave these values into our work and the fabric of the Tyson's community.

This is only a draft, but I believe it represents an innovative, timely response to the world as it is changing around us. We have talked about providing services to employees and residents like ESOL, classes or services sponsored by member congregations and childcare, to name a few. In the weeks and months ahead, I hope some of you will be interested in engaging in this effort.

Beyond this project, I have heard several interesting ideas for ways we can contribute more to our community through outreach and justice work. Over the next few years we will be evaluating our current outreach and social justice work and planning for the future. I hope you are starting to dream.