5005 13 Marks of A Healthy UU Congregation
Pacific Southwest District

Speaker: Rev. Tom Owen-Towle

"Beloved community" is a strong phrase. Rugged individualism is not a typical UU phrase.

You must judge every proposed reform: does this help toward the coming of the universal community? The community church is a practical embodiment of what is holy.

Theology is subsumed under ecclesiology - the growth of a soul is not of an individual but a community. The question is not "Who am I?" but "Whose am I?"

James Luther Adams said, "By their groups you shall know them." Martin Luther King, jr., used "beloved community" as a metaphor for heaven incarnate.

Hallmarks of a healthy vital church:
(note: the statements were in some cases followed by comments from audience members, amplifying or even disagreeing with some of what had just been discussed)

1. A healthy congregation occupies holy ground; it's not a social club. It's primarily a site for seeking and spreading the sacred, "the deep way" as Sophia Fahs said. You're "dealing with ultimate things," said Barbara Pescan at the Service of the Living Tradition on Sunday. You should heal that part of the cosmos where you're planted.
   
   
2. A healthy congregation welcomes all souls, including all sorts - for example the Church of the Open Door in Chicago. "Am I saved?" is the wrong question; it should be "Are WE saved?"
   Kami: an amendment would be: change it to "All people" as "all souls" has historical baggage that can narrow the appeal.
   Dana Reynolds: we have to be more engaging and intentional; it's not enough to have a open door but we have to go out of the door and compel people to come in. Also, we have to help one another heal from whatever our primary tradition was. Be aware that words like "soul" and "spirit" can be stumbling blocks for people.
   Barnett Cook, Tallahassee: "open hearts, open minds, open doors" are the ideals of our church.
   Rena from Delaware County: it's not what happens when people walk in the door but what happens down the road. Does the welcome get continued weeks later?
   
   
3. A healthy congregation is framed and run democratically, not autocratically. Shared ministry involves rights when you become a member, rites, responsibilities and the risks. Democracy has a theological facet as well
   Betty Stapleford, Cunejo Valley Universalist Fellowship: am troubled by use of democracy.
   Dorothy Ward, Phoenix AZ: "consensus" is a better way than "democracy" -- encouraging people to speak is so important.
   Hope Russell - Stamford CT: board experience: people tend to transfer style of leadership from their business models.
   Kevin McCulloch, First UU San Francisco: consensus IS a democratic process. The goals of democracy are larger than anyone.
   
   
4. A healthy congregation CARES for its own membership. The mature congregation banks not on fixing but on serving one another; you must distinguish between caregiving and caretaking -- we are not a hospital. We do this through convenant groups, support groups, kinship circles, whatever works.
   Judy Amir, Birmingham MI church: Allowing dysfunctional behavior in congregations causes great problems.
   Leonetta, Beverly Church, Chicago: Caring means caring for the total community; you should move people to professionals so they can really get professional help when needed.
   Judy Tipton, Flint MI: "Dysfunctional" is not a good word; you need to think in terms of dysfunctional behavior.
   
   
5. A healthy congregation embodies UNITY AMIDST DIVERSITY. All life choices are welcome; the challenge is to become diverse without becoming divided; you "DO" church by continually clarifying your mission.
   
   
6. A healthy congregation balances JUSTICE and JOY. It's about balance; a healthy congregation is not comprised of grim crusaders, nor smug celebrants. Mother Teresa said, "Serving is my joy, not my duty."
   
   
7. A healthy congregation practices the law of RESPECTFULNESS. The overarching goal of church life is right relationship, not rugged individualism; Religious education is all about respect: boundaries are kept, saboteurs are confronted, conflicts are engaged, not run from. A healthy congregation fights for impact.
   Rev. Ellen Johnson-Fay, Colorado: our congregation has worked hard and intentionally at this: (www.asuc.net); it's something you have to work at.
   John Young, Jacksonville FL: yes, there will be hypocrisy but we are practicing, it's a working goal.
   
   
8. A healthy congregation gazes BACK, AHEAD, AND AROUND. You don't dwell in the past but you chart it. You mark transitional moments, rites of passage of the institution as well as individual. It should be trans-generational, with healthy vital activities for all ages.
   Peter, Lexington MA: much to be gained from studying the past, also from looking to your neighbors.
   
   
9. A healthy congregation spreads our version of GOOD NEWS. Outreach is two-pronged. There should be ongoing low-key evangelism directed at those in the larger society who harbor liberal religious leanings, and there should also be public witness on larger issues. The role of religious leader is not to BE a saint but to "equip the saints."
   
   
10. A healthy congregation produces STEWARDS, NOT OWNERS. We are all interims, all "temps," we must pass the torch on. Stewardship is a meaningful word, it encompasses the entire sweep, from our own bodies to the environment. "Keepers of the hall" is what it originally meant. Stewards "co-shepherd" a parish for a while, on loan.
    
    
11. A healthy congregation is wholly LIBERAL; marked by compassionate just behavior that "liberates." It is also appropriately conservative because we preserve our heritage. It is also radical because we go to the roots.
    
    
12. A healthy congregation keeps EVOLVING. The church knows it's always reforming and being reformed, it is the change agent but also the recipient of change. Evolution is a personal and institutional aspiration as well as a biological reality. It's a JOURNEY toward wholeness; we're not a system but a movement.
    
    
13. A healthy congregation is held in an ETERNAL EMBRACE. It is a mystical ideal; congregations never reach the promised land. You have to "keep your eyes on the prize." It gets back to the question of "Whose I am?"

Reporter and Photographer Allan Stern; Editor Jone Johnson Lewis, Web Designer Anna Belle Leiserson

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