Most
of us have heard the expression: "May you live in interesting times."
It is, supposedly, a Chinese curse. I don't know about that but I do know that
we are living in interesting times. We have had hurricane, tornado, and
ministry changes.
During
the summer Diane and Al and Steve and many many many many others have been
working at a feverish pace to get the daycare up and running. And doing it well
paying attention to our UU principles. I especially acknowledge Steve for
phenomenal work in using recycled materials for almost all of our construction
changes as well as locating a professional painter who is doing public service
to do much of our painting. You are not going to believe the difference in the
downstairs.
In
addition, we are ramping up with Rev. Ralph Clarke as our consulting minister
and creating a team to deliver a solid ministry experience of the church. There
have been a number of teething pains along the way. The board and I are just
now adjusting to the type and amount of work necessary to manage the church
with ministry team that covers us rather than a single full-time minister.
Danielle and the worship and music committee are going to have a learning
curve as well. We had planned on having a ministry team in place delivering
sermons by September and we are now looking at November to December.
The
single most important thing that any of us can take on is being in
communication. if something doesn't work for you, please take it to a board
member. We may not know what to do about what you are saying, we might not even
know who it should be going to. But learning what we can and can't do as well
as what information needs to go to who is a critical part of our learning
process. The board and I are playing this game for keeps; For the long-term.
It's like creating a marriage. If you know that you committed to being married,
each breakdown is simply something to learn from in order to strengthen the
marriage. Living in interesting times is the natural outcome of being committed
to something and then dealing with whatever comes.
May
you live in interesting times.
I'll
see you in the upcoming Sunday's,
-Jim
Mochel
