by Rev. John Morehouse, Senior Minister
We are entering our third year together. A lot has changed in a short time. We are growing in spirit and size, amidst the greatest threats to our democracy and human rights in our time. That said, we are embarked on an exciting journey of transformation. Developmental ministry means that we are willing to examine what has been working and what has not and then to chart a course to transform our congregation into what we dreamed it would be. As seasons change, so does our time together. Let us celebrate the golden hues of promise we have before us.
This fall, our ministry will be focused on how we can deepen our relationships with one another and the larger communities of which we are a part. Part of that ministry includes our social justice causes of environmental justice and housing justice and our allyship with those LGBTQ communities around us. We hope that in the coming year we will also formalize our civic engagement with UUJusticePA, our statewide advocacy group. As the largest church in Pennsylvania, we have a responsibility to lead our UU Faith bravely into the public square.
This coming Sunday our worship servicewill focus on how personal and collective transformation is vital to our spiritual growth and institutional identity. Using the metaphor of a cauldron, we will invite all of you into the promise of transformation as the fire of this apocalypse calls us bravely on.
I leave you with this poem by John O’Donhue:
In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.
For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.
It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.
Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.
Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life’s desire.
Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.