|
The second statement in our church mission says that we strive to "connect with each other." Like worship and justice, connection is a spiritual gift we find through our involvement with our church. So how can we get connected?
One way I hope to connect with you as your minister is by inviting you to share a lunch hour with me once a month. Starting on Friday March 3, and continuing on first Fridays, please join me in the Dining Room for lunch and conversation at 12 noon. Bring your own lunch; we'll have coffee and water available. There won't be an agenda or a curriculum. We can simply connect with each other and break bread together in friendly fellowship.
I will be attending youth group meetings in the coming month, a First Friday family gathering, as well as a meeting of our Unitarian Universalist Sisterhood and visits to our members in retirement communities. Are there other groups I can connect with? Let me know how I can get to know your church group better.
But connection is not just (or even primarily) about the minister or staff of the church connecting with the members. It is about building our capacity to be in relationship to one another and to others we meet in our lives. It is about weaving the fabric of the community through strong relationships in the church. Like worship, which we practice in church so we can recognize the holy in the world; or justice, which we seek out in our spiritual lives; connection is a spiritual undertaking practiced here and which we then share with others.
One of our goals as a church is that our ministries will overcome loneliness. To overcome loneliness in our lives we need connection. But we need something more than that, too. We need courage to share ourselves authentically with other people. We need daring flights of outreach from one person to another. We need to open up our own hearts and be able to be present to the open hearts of other people.
Think about how much it means to you when a friend really listens. I'm thinking of that moment when you share some good news in your life and your friend is genuinely happy for you and curious to know more. I'm thinking, too, of that moment when you venture to share the smallest piece of your personal heartache, and your friend shows you they care and let you know it's ok to share more. These moments when we move beyond mere politeness and chatter and delve deeper with one another: these are moments of true connection. These are the moments that overcome loneliness.
We don't overcome loneliness within the church walls only. If we practice moments of connection in our church community, we become more able to take our ministry of connection out into the world. We practice bringing our fully human selves into relationship with other fully human selves. We build the spiritual muscle of authenticity and community. It serves us well in all the communities of which we are a part.
We encounter the holy when we truly encounter one another. May our own spirits grow through authentic human connection.
In faith,
Rev. Sarah Stewart
| 
