I was moved by Sunday's exchanges and felt sure that, whatever else we are, we are definitely alive and kicking.
Yet another full-on meeting last Sunday about the building, followed by some full and frank emails - full and frank but clearly sent in love. Today we had a discussion about our mission, this is a fifth Sunday - not a normal service day - and there were only eight of us there. It was a wide-ranging discussion. It is quite a thing to see as we struggled to work together with quite different approaches and personalities. How do we manage those who like to speak in pages rather than paragraphs? How do we encourage those who are happier listening than speaking to actually say something? Does it matter if we don't have an agreement at the end? Are the conversations beforehand and afterwards just as important?
I was just glad that we all spoke with each other and listened to each other. I am very glad that we all appreciate how difficult this has been but most of us feel that we have now moved onto the phase where we will actually be doing things with the building. At some point we may be able to focus on what we are here for - which is what we were talking about today.
Following today's discussion we came up with a whole list of reasons why we are, individually, here within a Unitarian community. The things that we said were about
- Spiritual searching
- Loving community
- Time to think and reflect
- Support in becoming integrated - exposing and facing our demons
- The freedom to think, to go where our consciences take us
- Being with others who want to make a difference
I hope that we can do more of this as the building works are completed. Then when we do a bit more promotional activity and new people come along, we will all be very clear about what our community is here for and understand the diversity which we hold within us. As a reading that I was given said about someone's experience of a Unitarian community,
'It is a relief to attend'.
