Notes from the Far Fringe

It was amazing.

The joint service, I mean.

I’m exhausted…but thrilled. And I feel invigorated.

Rev. Scott Alexander, lately of the Vero Beach congregation, shared a message of hope, excitement, and invigoration. He woke me up when he said that there are more people who believe they were abducted by aliens than are Unitarian Universalist. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE? What are we missing? How are we not getting our message out?

For me, it helped me even more clearly define why I am hearing the call to ministry. Namely, I want more people to know. I have been so helped and healed by this faith, so invigorated and comforted by this denomination. If it can pull me from the depths and help me with major crises, surely it can help others. I want others to KNOW it can help them.

And of course, the question is “how”? We tend to be a cold and cerebral crowd… it seems the heart is missing sometimes.

I remember Kaaren Anderson speaking at District Assembly a few years ago (she did the Gould Discourse), and she used the “E” word: Evangelism.  Her point was that we too have incredibly good news to share, so we should share it. Indeed, much of what she shared was practical – getting feet on the ground, getting the congregation organized to handle the effects of outreach. But I have kept the word “evangelism” in my pocket since then, wondering how we can do it effectively and not offensively, wondering how to share our message, or at times, even what our message is.

It seems to me we’ve not done a very good job defining who we are and what we’re about. No wonder our symbol is the Question Mark…