When I got my initial training for interim ministry last spring I got a syllabus with lots of required reading and recommended reading, and handbooks and case studies, a small library of tools and techniques that honestly I could not begin to digest. That made me anxious. How could I possibly get all this done?…
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I had a great idea for this week and sure enough, the moment I sat down, I forgot what it was. Don’t say it was a ‘senior moment’ because I have been like this my whole life. There are so many things happening in my head that truly there is no way to keep track…
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Remember that ‘move the cheese’ thing from last week? Well, I am about to move it again. But first, some context. The staff meets weekly and often our conversation is about priorities. Who does what, what comes first, and so forth. The demands of a community are almost as many as there are members of…
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Back north, where I lived for all but four years before coming to Arizona, we know the ways of ice and snow. For example, it is not the cold but the thaw that is dangerous. As ice and snow melt, they move. What was solid a week ago is now liquid. Frigid water then carries…
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I have sometimes defined Unitarian Universalism as an experiment in democratic religion. Both of our traditions grew from earlier experiments in vesting power in the people as much as the clergy or a creed or a book. Thus to ‘join’ a UU community is to become an owner/operator. It is less a confession of faith…
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