On September 9 we return to our regular worship schedule of two services, 9am and 11am, and a new church year begins. This will be the church’s 106th year, more or less (the church was founded in April, 1913).
In September and October we will spend time during worship and in other ways, talking about the history of this congregation. I’ll start by putting our local church in the context of the larger history of Unitarian and Universalism. But over several weeks we will also narrow our focus down to looking at the particular events that make up the story of this church.
Telling the story of a church is an important way to uncover embedded personality traits, unconscious habits, and the particular culture of a community. Oftentimes it’s not so much the actual events that matter, but it’s the stories we tell about the events that are revealing. Why do we tell that story and not others? Why do we tell the story that way instead of lifting up other aspects of the story or giving other possible interpretations?
When the stories of the congregation are laid out next to each other we can do some further reflecting. Maybe we will see that there’s a repeated pattern. Or maybe we’ll see that the congregation has a tendency to move back and forth every decade or so between two contrasting styles.
Once we’ve brought some of the hidden history up to the surface we can make conscious choices. Some of what has become a standard part of our culture will be positive. We will want to hold on to that deliberately. Some old patterns might have worked in years past but have grown stale or even unhealthy for the church today. Maybe we will choose now to let go and take steps to give birth to a new culture.
One aspect of church life that I love is that we are communities that shift as members come and go, but also that last for decades, even for centuries. I love feeling connected to our past and celebrating in my current faith the good work of good people who came before us. We are about to start a new church year, a year that is really new, a year that gives us open space to be and do whatever we choose. But we are also part of a beloved community moving through time that began before us, asks us to continue their hopes and dreams as we add our own, and that we will pass on to still others yet to come.