Sermon

INTRODUCTION: Several years ago, I was called in as a fund-raising consultant to a rehabilitation hospital in Denver, Colorado. Three wings had been built, but a fourth had stalled and stood incomplete. In the process, I became good friends with the Executive Vice-President. I flew in one morning for a meeting, and went into his office. In the process of the meeting, I asked, “What is standing in the way of construction restarting?” He said, “We’re finished.” I frowned and asked, “What do you mean? I just walked by and it’s not even halfway done?’ He said, “Oh, that.” Then he pointed to the architect’s rendering and said, “We’ve made the decision to finish. That is the big step.”

I’ve thought about that many times since: Making the decision as to what we want to do is the biggest hurdle; how, what, when, and where always follow. It’s never the reverse.

Back in February 2001, some 100 or so of us met at Gulf Harbour Golf and Country Club. The question was, did we want to found a new, liberal religious congregation in SW Florida? Until then, it had only been a figment in the imagination of a few of us. Without a dime in our treasury – actually without a bank account, without any members, without even a name, much less a place to meet, we decided: Yes, we wanted to found a new, liberal religious congregation: All Faiths Unitarian Congregation.

The situation in which we are giving voice to that question today is very much like that: Do we want a “home of our own?” We don’t have a penny in a building fund; we don’t even have a building fund; we don’t have a location or a building selected. But the question is, do we want a home of our own? When we say yes to that question, then and only then can we proceed to address the issues it broaches.

I want you to do something with me: What could All Faiths look like in ten years – if we really dreamed? If we really imagined? Again the question: What could All Faiths look like in 2018? Again, close your eyes and imagine. I’ll signal when to open them. <Allow one minute.> Now for 3 minutes, share what you envisioned with someone nearby.

Now let’s do the same thing, but for a different timeframe: What could All Faiths look like in five years to make the ten year dream reality – if we really dreamed? If we really imagined? Again the question: What could All Faiths look like in 2013? Again, close your eyes and imagine. I’ll signal when to open them. <Allow one minute.> Now for three minutes, share what you envisioned with someone nearby.

For the next minute, envision your dream for what All Faiths will need to be in one year – if we put feet to our dream for five years and ten years from now? If we really imagined, what will All Faiths look like in 2009? Again, close your eyes and imagine. I’ll signal when to open them. <Allow one minute.>

I’m well aware that merely asking the previous set of questions poses another question. I’ll put it in the third person for discussion purposes. It goes like this.

Were we to get serious, could we develop a multi-year plan to transition to the time when Wayne is no longer available to be the full-time minister of All Faiths?

Without our having a plan, will any minister ever telephone and ask for the position? No. Will she or he ever write a letter asking if the position is available? No. Would anyone anywhere in the United States even know about the opening? No. We have to have a plan.

The question is not, what happens when Wayne is no longer available as full-time minister; rather, the question is, what is our plan for when Wayne is no longer available to serve as full-time minister?

Once we have a plan, there will be a long line of people applying. Let me give you an example: Have you heard the expression, “Sell the sizzle, not the steak.” The sizzle is this: There are a lot of liberal religious ministers in America freezing every winter in the cold thinking, ‘Gosh, wouldn’t it be great to spend my last five years of ministry in Florida.’” And for every one of those ministers – and they number in the hundreds, if not the thousands – have we got a congregation for them. A great salary, a great congregation, a great place to live, and a superb finishing challenge for their last five years. They can preach, they know ministry, and they are not fresh out of school.

I promise you, if you break out of inside the box thinking, there will be a list of ministers lining up to be considered who would love to spend their last five years of ministry in Florida. These are experienced ministers, who have superb skills in the pulpit, and are highly trained theologically.

Now let me say that I have no intentions of retiring now or any time soon; but when that time arrives – five or ten years from now – All Faiths needs to have a plan in place.

What about affiliation? Currently, our name is our only identity: All Faiths Unitarian Congregation. We use Unitarian Universalist Hymnbooks, and my ministerial credentials are with the Unitarian Universalist Association in Boston. Many of our members, both year-round, and seasonal, are also UU. But there are many others who have had no UU ties, or only short ones based on my four years at Shire Lane.

But we have no formal ties. The UU congregation on Shire Lane has just now called its 7^th minister in eight years – four interims and three settled. She’s fresh out of seminary, with no experience. I’m very hopeful that as she gains confidence and strength in her position that our congregations can join together in social justice efforts in our community. Whether that requires UU affiliation is debatable.

Personally, after 7½ years of thinking differently, I now believe that our overriding objective should be to develop our own strengths and let affiliation take its own course, naturally.

Flannery O’Connor tells the story of the Irish children on their way home from school. As they walked through the fields and pastures, they would come to these formidable rock walls built over the centuries. They were so high that the kids could not climb over them. Their response? They threw their caps over the wall. That meant they had to find a way to get over. Which usually meant joining together and finding a solution.

That’s our challenge too. Whether it’s a home of our own, insuring a timely and successful ministerial succession, or what to do about affiliation. We need to decide what we want to do first, then commit to using our best efforts to make it happen.

So let’s not worry about costs and interests rates and what this bank will or won’t do. Let’s determine what we want to do, devise our strategy, and then do it.

Now it’s your turn. First, I want us to get in groups of four to five. That’s one of the good things about meeting here: We can move around as we wish. Don’t worry about the seating. They have to be rearranged anyway.

In a minute, I want you to start discussing the issues of facilities, ministerial succession, and affiliation. Agree together on the question you want to ask. We will go from group to group so that everyone has an opportunity to be heard.

Also, in your group, determine who you want to represent you at the microphone. I would recommend that this not be a board member, since it’s the board that is soliciting input from the congregation.

Okay, let’s get in groups, and I will start calling on you in five minutes, one group at a time. The first question will be on facilities; after that we will focus on ministerial succession; and last on affiliation.

<after five minutes of group discussion, followed by their questions, move to ministerial succession, then to affiliation>

[1] A sermon presented in a special service on April 27, 2008, to address issues of the future, including discussion and interaction with the congregation, at All Faiths Unitarian Congregation, meeting at the Crestwell School, 1904 Park Meadows, Ft. Myers, FL, with the Rev. Dr. Wayne Robinson, minister.