Sermons

Minister: Rev. Margaret A. Beckman | Covenant is the silk that joins Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations, communities, and individuals together in a web of interconnection. The practice of promising to walk together is the precious core of our creedless faith.
 

READING ~ “Remembership” by Liz James
Today, you join in membership. This is a moment of excitement and possibility. And although I don’t wish to pull you out of this moment, I need to talk to you for a bit about a moment in your future.

There will come a time when we are not a community of excitement and possibility that is your true home. There will come a moment when you do not fit, and we disappoint you.

Memorize the feelings you have in this moment, because you will need them months from now or years from now. You will need them in the broken-hearted moment to come, when you realize that we, together, are not all that you thought we were.

You will not fit. If every one of us fit, we would not be called to grow. This religion is not a thing you join, it is a thing you are called to co-create.

So prepare now, for when we break one another’s hearts. Know what will carry you through that, and, know who will carry you through that. Be ready. Hold on to this moment, and this memory, for that time in the future when you are ready to turn away.

Your moment of re-membership will be one of the most precious parts of your journey as a Unitarian Universalist. Today, plant the seeds in your heart that will prepare you for it.
 

Sermon
Right now, in this moment, we are a new congregation. We are not the same as we were yesterday, for today we have welcomed new members into this congregation and by their arrival, we are newly formed. It is not up to these newest members to assimilate and become just like those who have been here for a long time. It is not up to long time members to forget or forsake or forgo the things that they cherish. It is up to all of us, together, to create our future with this membership in this moment with today’s gifts and challenges. Certainly, we are up to the task. Sometimes, though, it takes a moment of reflection and maybe a pause in our work to realize that the “we” in “we’ve always done it this way” no longer exists. The new “we” – the one constituted today – has never done it, whatever it is, in any way. This truth is at once frustrating and freeing. We can become frustrated because our new body wants to try new things and the former body can be tired of trying new things when the old ways seemed good enough. We can feel a great freedom to experiment and try different things and different ways of doing church because this congregation has never tried and failed and all ideas are new and fresh to someone here.

So, let’s be patient with each other as we learn in new ways what will work and what will bring us closer together. Let’s be patient as questions about how stuff works or when things happen that we’ve answered for many years as each new class of members comes into our community. Let’s be patient as we look for information and guidance and there doesn’t seem to be any. Let’s be patient as we realize that for newer people lots of things others take for granted seem like a secret or a guarded mystery or a complicated puzzle. None of us means to frustrate the other. We all mean to be loving and helpful.

Our congregation is not bound by creeds or adherence to any particular statement of faith. When we joined, we did not swear to any doctrine or belief. Our tradition emphasizes freedom, reason and tolerance. We like that about being Unitarian Universalists.

In exchange for the freedom from doctrine and creeds, we are also free from the support of common beliefs and spiritual practices that unite many faith communities. Our strength must be found in relationships. Ours is a relational faith and we express that in the promises we make to each other in our covenants.

Our vision statement tells the world who we want to be.
Our mission statement tells us what we will do.
Our covenant tells us how we will be with each other.

Our UUA describes covenant this way . . .
Covenant is the silk that joins Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations, communities, and individuals together in a web of interconnection. The practice of promising to walk together is the precious core of our creedless faith.

“Covenant” is both a noun and a verb. It can be a written agreement among individual community members promising to behave in certain ways, and it can mean to engage in mutual promises with Spirit, with other people and communities.
The covenant we share together is the precious core of our faith.

The covenant of this congregation was crafted several, maybe many, years ago at a particular time and in a particular way. It won’t last forever. At some point, people here will come together and they will say, “It is time for us to fashion a new covenant that is more relevant to where we are now.” And they will do exactly that. For a covenant – the noun – is not meant to be forever. It must live and breathe and be the description that fits with the community. When it no longer serves, it will be replaced with new words and new ways of describing how we will be with each other.

We also covenant together – the verb. To covenant is to behave based on promises made and kept. And yes, we mess up sometimes. Then we talk it out and we make amends and we begin again – in love.

When we covenant with each other, it means that we are together through whatever comes our way. It means that when the going gets tough, we stay. We stay and we talk and we listen and work our way through the hard stuff. It means that we are obligated to create and maintain safe and nurtiring space for every person, especially when we disagree or disappoint.
UU minister, Victoria Weinstein, says
The relationships we form in our church are based on needs of the soul — needs that render each of us vulnerable, and therefore reliant on each other’s grace and goodness, and generosity of spirit. As members of this church we pledge to be guardians of each other’s spirits, to respect the ultimate privacy of each one’s human struggle, and to believe in each one’s inherent dignity.

Finally, as members of this congregation, we know that we can always rely on the wisdom of our covenant which reminds us of our true purpose in being together.
UU minister, Tom Owen-Towle, reminds us of our heritage and our promise.
[From Freethinking Mystics with Hands: Exploring the Heart of Unitarian Universalism]
As a religious heritage bonded not by creed, confession, or common prayer but by covenant, Unitarian Universalists vow to stay at the table long enough to understand one another and mold a viable community. Ours is a fellowship united not by law but by loyalty, by faithfulness of vows rather than sameness of beliefs. We promise to hold and be held by one another. We pledge our troth or trust. Fidelity, internal discipline, and mutual responsibility are required in a covenantal faith in order to work out our differences together….

In joining a Unitarian Universalist congregation …, we confess that we are not self-sufficient pilgrims. . . .

We are pilgrims who pledge our troth to uphold a beloved community of personal growth, social justice, and spiritual awakening—for better, for worse, forever. Troth is all we have to offer, but it should prove sufficient adhesive to bind us together for the length of our shared journey.
This is our new congregation and we pledge ourselves one to another.

Blessed Be.   I Love You.   Amen.

COVENANT OF UUCC

We covenant with one another to listen to each other always with respect and empathy; to remain open to the views of others; to be attentive and attend without judgment; to provide an environment that allows each of us to be true to ourselves without fear of disapproval or reproach; to reach agreement in light of our shared expectations and experiences. We covenant to support and sustain the spiritual, ethical, intellectual, and overall well being of our members.

Covenant is our practice with one another. We will each fall short at times, but we share the responsibility to bring us back into covenant gently when we stray.