We believe the purpose of congregational life is to equip everyone in the congregation to live into their Spiritual Leadership. Here we share reflections to inspire and support Unitarian Universalists tending to Spiritual Leadership in themselves and their community.
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by Wren Bellavance-Grace |“I will not sink to your barbaric behavior.” I was ten; my sister was six. I knew more multisyllabic words than she did and she leapt at me with her little fists. I just sat there until mom arrived and punished her for hitting. Of course I loved my sister, but I’d already learned that words...Filed in: Doing Our Inner Work -
by Erica Baron |There is a cave, the story goes. In the cave, there is an old woman. She has been in the cave for as long as she can remember, weaving. Like so many stories, this one has been told in many places, and so it has many variations. Here’s how I heard it.... -
by Wren Bellavance-Grace |“How are you?” I asked my DRE colleague on our recent phone call. Her response was not exactly typical, but becoming more familiar. She’d had a bout of Covid about six or eight months before. Although she’d been quite sick, it could have been much worse, and she was grateful for the vaccines...Filed in: Doing Our Inner Work, Faithful Risking -
by Meck Groot |For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyard and gather their crops. But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest....Filed in: Doing Our Inner Work -
by Wren Bellavance-Grace |Recently, I gathered around our dining room table with my daughter and her 7-year-old to play a game of Right, Left, and Center. It’s a portable game involving dice and chips that get shifted to the right, left, or into a center pot. As bedtime neared, we packed the dice into their box and my...Filed in: Doing Our Inner Work, Tending to Tradition -
by Wren Bellavance-Grace |Maybe you’ve heard the inspirational story about the starfish. It’s often told as a celebration of a young child’s hope triumphing over a curmudgeonly elder’s resignation to the inevitability of encroaching doom. But taking those signifiers out of the story, and it goes something like this:...Filed in: Centering Gifts -
by Erica Baron |There are lots of things in congregational life that can cause big feelings. In a recent webinar, we asked participants to name some of these things, and they did!...Filed in: Doing Our Inner Work -
by Erica Baron |We have talked to many congregations recently reporting that they don’t have enough volunteers to fill open board and committee roles. We don’t expect this to change anytime soon — and that might not be bad. UU congregations in the last century — largely white, middle- and upper-class —... -
by Meck Groot |Last year, at their request, I met with Follen Responds to Racism (FRR), an anti-racism team at the Follen Community Church in Lexington, MA. We had an animated conversation. They told me about their work and the many ways they are addressing racism within and beyond their congregation. I was...Filed in: Centering Gifts, Covenanting, Doing Our Inner Work, Faithful Risking, Tending to Tradition -
by Wren Bellavance-Grace |“Hello, who are you?” “I don’t know; I’ve never met me before!” This dialogue is from a comedy skit a friend and I wrote for an elementary school talent show. My comedy career never took off, but this dialogue resonates with me these days, as we collectively emerge from two years of...Filed in: Centering Gifts, Covenanting, Doing Our Inner Work, Faithful Risking, Tending to Tradition