Don’t Lose the Big Mo’!

With two staff retirements in the offing at Mission Peak, it would be easy to focus so much on the transition process that we lose “the big mo’” – the dynamic momentum MPUUC has enjoyed through most of its 14-year history. But that doesn’t need to happen. Here are some thoughts about keeping our growth momentum alive during the remainder of my ministry and the two-year interim ministry which begins September 1.

I’ll start by sharing a concern: Although I am pleased that the Bay Area outreach campaign has brought us lots of visitors, I wonder if this success has made us complacent about telling others about Mission Peak. In recent weeks when I have invited people to introduce guests on Sunday morning, during joys and concerns, few have responded.

Several years ago I told you a true story about a fellow who decided to visit a UU congregation here in Northern California. I’ll call it congregation X. Congregation X is a large and thriving UU group, with a distinguished history. This man had wanted to try it out for a long time. When he finally entered the sanctuary, he looked around and saw several people he knew, and after the service he thought to himself, “I’m glad I came, and I plan to return. I wish I hadn’t waited so long.”

I was appalled when I heard this story. Do you see what depressed me about this anecdote?

The visitor did not know that these people attended congregation X because they hadn’t told him! Unitarian Universalism had been their little secret, rather than something they enthusiastically shared with those who might appreciate it. How many of your friends would say, “Oh, I had no idea you attended Mission Peak,” if they came here. The Rev. Dick Gilbert says that the average Unitarian Universalist invites a friend to church once in every 70 years. So let’s prove that he’s wrong!

Remember – when we bring friends to Mission Peak, we are not trying to give them a new religion. We are not trying to change them to make them like us. We are encouraging them to develop their own well-grounded faith, drawing on all of the world’s wisdom.

When we invite somebody to church it appears on the surface that we are doing the same thing as a member of a traditional congregation. But actually we are doing the OPPOSITE. Traditional religion says, “Come to us because we have a truth that is better than yours.” Unitarian Universalism says, “We want you to deepen your personal philosophy of life. We want you to march to the beat of your own drummer.”

(Question: Why did the UU cross the road? Answer: To support the chicken in searching for its own path.)

It may seem as if this season of staff turnover is not the best opportunity to invite your friends. But a time of transition can be one of the best periods in which to join a congregation. Those who join while the staff is in flux will tend to focus on MPUUC and on Unitarian Universalism rather than on the personality of the pastor and/or the RE Director. So think about whose lives might be enriched by the living laboratory of unity-in-diversity that we call Mission Peak.

- Shalom, Chris

To All Parents: Child Dedications at MPUUC

Christian churches baptize children, initiating them into the religion of their parents. Unitarian Universalist congregations offer a ritual of child dedication, in which we dedicate ourselves to the nurture and care of these young lives. At MPUUC during the past few years we have shared in several child dedications during the Sunday service. Children or youth of any age may take part. If you are interested, contact Rev. Chris Schriner at 510 657-5184 or at minister at mpuuc dot org.