Congregational Conversations about the Proposed
Congregational Covenant
This Sunday after the service from 11:30 to 12:30, one of the offerings in Adult RE will be a congregational conversation about the proposed Congregational Covenant. If this Sunday does not work for you, there is a second congregational conversation scheduled for 7 PM on Thursday, October 29, also on Zoom.
The proposed Covenant was first presented to the congregation in the March 22, 2020 service. Shortly after that, due to the Coronavirus, presentation to the congregation was put on hold. Now we are back on track.
What is a covenant? It’s a statement of identity, intended to remind us who we are collectively. A covenant grows from an affirmation of the needs, values, and principles we share, and the Vision that guides us into our future as a congregation.
Our proposed congregational covenant begins with this Introduction.
“COVENANT INTRODUCTION: Our ‘living tradition’ calls us to be in covenant. For Unitarian Universalists, a congregational covenant reflects our aspirations and commitments to one another and to ourselves. In a covenantal community, each of us is empowered and has the responsibility to help one another as we seek to create a loving, supportive, and affirming community in which to grow in spirit and service.
COVENANT: As a congregation with respect for our past and commitment to the future,
we draw from the depth and power of our hearts and minds,
guided by our Unitarian Universalist principles, to serve our mission and vision.
We celebrate the diversity of our identities and experiences,
and foster a culture of appreciation, inspiration, and kindness.
We honor both the strength of the collective and uniqueness of the individual,
willing to support and challenge each other with love and compassion.
We entrust ourselves to each other in beloved community,
to embolden personal and congregational growth and transformation.”
A covenant is a commitment that we make to ourselves as individuals, and to each other. A covenant helps us as a congregation to understand what our tradition calls us to be, and how to move into the future with shared purpose. A covenant speaks to how “We’re all in this together, building a better world.”
Before putting pen to paper, this team spent more than two years on a journey of discernment, doing our best to express what the heart and soul of our community consists of.
The writing was an iterative process. After a draft was put together, we went back and checked it against all the comments received in the three congregational conversations and in the survey responses we received to keep on track with the desires of the congregation.
We are hoping that our proposed covenant can be taken for what it is: the work of a dedicated team who feels that what we have put together reflects who we are as a congregation, as well as who we aspire to be.
The members of the Team are Dick Dana, Brian Frank, Jan McCracken, Patti Jo Newell, Leah Purcell, Kelly Smith, and Sam Trumbore. We also want to lift up others who helped us with this process: Reese Satin, Zack Metzger, and Jacqui Williams.
Please take the time to think about this covenant and let us know what you think. And if you want more background information about what the Team has been doing over the past three years, how Unitarian Universalists view covenant, its history in our denomination, and the many documents resulting from our efforts, you can find them on our website by CLICKING HERE. Thanks.
Zoom link for Sunday, Oct 25 during Adult RE at 11:30 AM:
Use this link to join:
Meeting ID: 518-366-4532
Password: 4051842
Zoom link for Thursday, Oct 29 at 7:00 PM:
Use this link to join:
By phone: 929-436-2866
Meeting ID: 299 018 7785
Password: 0000
