Nancy: from Shared Ministry
We are all of us strengthened when we enter into a task with others in a spirit of collaboration and generosity. We members of the Shared Ministry Committee have always felt supported and encouraged by Roberta in our work these past few years. She was a steadfast member of our team, someone we knew would keep us on task and do so with an open heart. More importantly, as liaisons to the three associate programs in the church, we witnessed this spirit of collaboration between her and the members of the worship, pastoral and outreach associates. We watched as she empowered those who were hesitant, unsure of themselves, telling them that, of course, they could do this work. Because she shared her ministry so easily, she made our job so easy.
Roberta: “Love is nothing till you give it away, and you end up having more.” What is ministry but the embodiment of love? In all the forms that our ministries take, the basis of what we do together is love – love of neighbor, of self, of creation, love of God . . . Ministry is, by definition, something to be shared. And the more broadly it is shared in a community of faith, the more deeply and richly that community lives out its faith. (Pause) Whether you know it or not, you are here because you answered a call to the ministry of this congregation. Of course you can do this work.
Jo: from the Outreach Associates
To be on the Green Sanctuary Team, to work with Ministry for Earth, or to be an Outreach Associate means dynamic activity and lay empowerment. Our ministry is community wide and public, and also individual. South Church members worked together to plant trees, plants and flowers in an affordable housing development in Barrington, NH—Pepperidge Woods, alongside members of that community. (TREES –R-UUS!)
Including Green Sanctuary within the Outreach Associate program meant that the our church recognizes caring for the environment as a form of Social Justice. It has also been better integrated into the life of the congregation. As we value the interdependent web of being, we also value the ways all the elements of our church community are interdependent.
The scope of the Outreach Associates has expanded significantly, due in large part to the dedicated involvement of our minister. With her guidance and encouragement, we have taken on more and more in areas of social justice, peace and voter registration. In a day-long workshop led by Roberta and Barry, we developed a new vision and mission statement; this has given us firmer ground to stand on in our ministry.
Our interdependence as a community, within South Church as well as outside of it, continues to grow. Emerging from the outreach program, we now have a dynamic intergenerational group. This adds a crucial element: a “ministry of play”—of joining together to laugh and celebrate. This group has collaborated with the Green Sanctuary program to offer nature walks and movies at church that have an environmental message. Our work and our play are interwoven.
Council meetings and quarterly “town hall” potluck gatherings have helped improve communication among us, offering opportunities to inform one another of our various “ministries’ and to appreciate one another’s “ministries. Through all of this, we know each other more—and we know of more ways we can give to each other and to the wider community.
Roberta: The oft quoted James Luther Adams wrote that a faith that is not a sister to justice will bring us to grief. The role of the Outreach Associates is to continuously remind the congregation of that admonition. To work for peace, for justice, for sustainability - that is a spiritual practice that will transform you as well as transforming the world around you. On Friday the Peanuts comic strip showed Lucy looking up at the stars and complaining about all the wasted space. “The whole solar system needs readjusting,” Lucy cries. To which Linus replies, “What can we, as individuals, do?” The Outreach Associates have an answer to that question for each one of you.
Jennifer: From the Music branch of our church
These past three years, music has been important an important part of our ministry. Music contains wisdom, emotion, and an opportunity for expression and connection that differs from the spoken word. With that consciousness, South Church commissioned Grace Lewis McLaren to write “Pray for Peace,” the hymn presented to Roberta on the occasion of her installation as settled minister of South Church. We appreciate Roberta’s consistent support of the music program and participation in it. She initiated the hymn of the month, and now we all know our hymnals a little better.
Meanwhile, the Choir, made up of members of our congregation, not only performs but leads us in hymn singing the 2nd Sunday of each month. From no choir came choir, and the South Church Choir is here to stay. Roberta’s ministry saw the development of this adult choir, which she graciously accepted as it was, with no expectations or pressure. It is good for the choir when the minister is vocal in her appreciation of the choir, as well as in her appreciation of the wide range of music presented during services. Roberta has expressed appreciation and gratitude—and, beyond that, has sung with the choir and attended the choir’s social gatherings; her husband, Barry, has also sung with the choir, and has played the accordion during worship. All the gifts of music, from Barry and Roberta’s participation, to the choir’s, to each one of you who sings in the pews—or who sits in silence, taking in a musical phrase or movement—are a part of music’s ministry in the South Church community.
Roberta: Music is a pathway to the spirit. For every person whose spirituality is based on words, there is another person who is touched by music in some form. Music is a vital part of the worship and the social life of South Church, and I have been grateful to be part of that vitality. It has been by pleasure and privilege to work in collaboration with Terrie Harman, and the many talented musicians in this congregation. So keep playing, and singing and even dancing. Most importantly, keep listening for the call of the spirit in the music you make together.
Nancy: From the South Church office
Part of ministry is administrative leadership. Roberta has provided steady, professional and intelligent leadership presence, even in times of great stress. We have enjoyed her wry wit and admired her skills at diplomacy. Rather than looking for a scapegoat when times got hard, she has led her fellow staff members towards solutions and reminded us how to stay strong. She has also reminded us that, although we staff people have a business to run, it is a spiritually-inspired business. While following "best business practices", we need to also follow the guidance of our spiritual Sources.
The nitty-gritty of church work is not glamorous. It doesn't happen in the Sanctuary on Sunday mornings, during Social Hour, or even in committee or council meetings. The nitty-gritty of ministry is in the daily details - the creating of infrastructure, the streamlining of how we communicate, the planning of worship. Roberta does the nitty-gritty of ministry very well. Over the past three years, your church staff has grown in spirit and heart. With humor and wisdom, Roberta has helped us nurture an atmosphere of professionalism that allows us to serve our spiritual community. While we are very saddened by her departure, we will carry her leadership with us as we enter this time of transition. We are a better staff for her presence in our lives.
Roberta: When I started thinking about going to seminary, I went to talk to my minister, Kim Beach. His response was, “If you’re considering seminary because you want to think about theology all the time, forget it.” The professional minister is a generalist – a preacher, pastor, teacher, advocate, leader, follower . . . and sometimes a practitioner of the nitty-gritty. Julie, Sarah and Kathi: together we have struggled to find that balance between mission and to-do lists, between vision and details. Good tea and the occasional piece of really good chocolate helps. So does a good team. Folks, your office staff are a special group of people. They care about you and they care about South Church. They do a whole lot with limited time and resources. I cannot thank them enough for working alongside me with such passion and energy and commitment.
Jo: from the Board
Participating as a member of the Board of Trustees during the past three years has been an amazing experience, sometimes difficult and painful, and sometimes joyful and gratifying. One might think that being part of the governing body of the Church, making policy, financial, staffing and other decisions related to the business of the Church seems quite separate from its ministry, but it is not at all. To work on the Board is to be an integral part of the ministry, at the heart of the life of the Church, in good times and in bad. We on the Board have worked hard to improve our listening and communication with our congregation, which we are honored to represent and serve. At times it has been difficult to understand the diverse ideas and feelings and to balance the differing needs and priorities of our community, as we all strive for a deepening of understanding, acceptance and celebration of our differences. This has been a time of learning and growth, as the Board has evolved to become less minister-centered, developing a more collaborative approach to the work of the Board. With Roberta, over the last few years, we, as a Board, and a congregation, can list many significant accomplishments: the establishment of the Ushers program, the Program Council, a new way of organizing the stewardship campaign, the Fellowship associate program; completion of the space plan for our buildings, as well as a number of maintenance and repair projects; the Strategic Plan; moving to one Sunday service and addition of the Minister’s Forum, to name just a few. Working with others on the Board who are so caring and dedicated to South Church is inspiring. Together, we look to the future with hope and optimism for the new opportunities for growth during the upcoming ministerial transition time.
Roberta: They also serve who budget and strategize and, most importantly, make hard decisions on behalf of the congregation. In a few intense hours last Tuesday night, your board did an amazing amount of work. They came prepared, they thought strategically, they struggled to balance mission and vision with practical realities. In the course of that evening we talked to each other and listened to each other. We allowed for respectful disagreement, we learned from each other, and finally your board arrived at consensus about the immediate direction that South Church will take in order to find an interim minister and director of religious education. To accept the call to leadership in a church is to take a risk. Will I be have the time, will I know all that I need to know, will I be appreciated and supported and respected for practicing the leadership to which I have been called? The board has an awesome job ahead of them, but the quality of their experience is up to all of you – the people who called them, the people they serve. So please appreciate them, support them, respect them, and know that they are bringing their very best in service to our faith, and to this congregation.
Jennifer: from the Pastoral Associates
The ministry of Pastoral Associates is a personal ministry that extends beyond our church walls into homes, hospital rooms, and individual lives. In the words of Albert Schweitzer, “At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” Visits, emails, phone calls, cards, and gifts offer a kind of healing touch, and a way to relight that inner flame. To minister in these and other ways deepens commitment to the church and the people we see each Sunday. We feel comforted, cared for, and grateful for each hello or hug. To give is also to receive. It is ministry defined.
I knew I was ready to become a Pastoral Associate not only when it dawned on me how many South Churchers I didn't know, but when I realized that behind those faces were people who needed support and care when times got rough. I am just one of many who believe in the gentle and sometimes powerful experience of connecting with others. It is often humbling to sit in a hospital room waiting for good news, sending a card to someone who just needs to know that someone is thinking of them or asking another to bring a meal at a time when making a meal is the last thing on their minds. This is what we all can do for one another when we listen carefully to each other inside church and outside.
“A pebble does not enter a pond without a ripple circling out and in time touching every shore.”
Roberta: What better way to end this time of reflective sharing than with the image of the pebble in the pond? The Pastoral Associates know well the power of presence. They know well the magic of the rekindled flame. And they know, as we all know, that we are, every one of us, a pebble. And we are, all together, the pond. As we each practice the ministry to which we are called, we create our ripples, never knowing fully the shores they will touch or the lives they will transform. In spite of that uncertainty we embrace our various ministries because we are people who believe that salvation comes in this world and in this time. We have a vision of a world made fair by our actions and our words, and we walk resolutely towards that vision, no matter what happens around us. As some of you know, the hymn we are about to sing is my favorite. I love the haunting beauty of the melody line, but even more the theology it expresses. Soon the Day – a vision of a world that can be, if only we will bring it to fruition.