Exchanging Stoles on Association Sunday
Well, we did say that congregations could celebrate Association Sunday 2007 anytime during the 2007-2008 church year. Proving that any Sunday is a good Sunday for affirming our common bonds and helping to Grow Our Faith, All Souls Church, Unitarian conducted their Association Sunday service on June 15, 2008. Their collaborative summer service was a huge success! This dynamic congregation in our nation’s capital braved the summer heat to come together to honor our connections and extol the necessity of our growth. In the end, they also raised the 14th largest amount out of our 626 participating congregations.
To model a unique collaboration, All Souls Senior Minister, Robert Hardies, and Davies Memorial Unitarian Universalist (UU) Church minister, John Crestwell, both delivered sermons during the service. Of this, Rob said, “We share an experience of having been saved by Unitarian Universalism…. The encounter with our faith changed our lives.” They even added to the symbolic depth of the act by exchanging stoles that Sunday. “We were preaching together as a symbol of our solidarity” Rob said.
Rob and John used this special event to speak of their commitment to creating UU congregations that are even more representative of the Anti-Racist, Anti-Oppression, Multi-Cultural values we all strive to embody. They asked those in attendance to give to this vision through Association Sunday. According to John, “When we are not in right relationship with others, we don’t grow.”
All Souls Minister Shana Lynngood offers further motivation when she wrote, “From my perspective, part of the success hinged on some very powerful testimonials—one from a member of our church and one from Taquiena Boston on behalf of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) staff and the UUA.”
“It was a powerful Sunday,” Shana said. By modeling collaboration, passion, and commitment to our values, they gave us all a gift we can be proud of.
Last updated on Tuesday, August 12, 2008.
