Faithful Risking
Another practice of Spiritual Leadership in congregations is faithful risking. Spiritual Leadership calls us to risk stretching beyond where we are comfortable, beyond what we think we are capable of in the name of Love and Justice. This kind of stretch is how our congregations reinvent themselves, adapt to new realities, and renew our historic covenant.
By Faithful Risking, we mean choosing to take action even though the outcome is uncertain and things may not go as we intend or plan -- and we risk losing something we value.
Sometimes we have to choose to move, to take a risk, or to stretch beyond our comfort. Sometimes we are flung into motion when risks come whether we welcome them or not. This was the case at the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic, which required sudden, radical changes to almost every aspect of congregational life.
We can, individually and collectively, meet these situations faithfully or not. That is a choice that is always before us. To what extent we will live aligned with our values? And what will we risk for that alignment?
Practice Makes Possible
Displaying 11 - 19 of 19.
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At the beginning of 2020, we didn’t know what was coming. At the beginning of 2021, we had hope on the horizon. Now, at the beginning of 2022, our hope is tempered by a healthy respect for how quickly things can change, and some trust in our ability - and flexibility - to faithfully respond....
February 15, 2022 | From Practice Makes Possible Blog -
According to Movement Strategy Center (1), community transformation depends on: power analysis: understanding who has access to resources; who influences and participates in decision-making; and whose standards, stories and worldviews are valued; community organizing: working together across our...
By Meck Groot | November 22, 2021 | From Practice Makes Possible Blog -
Here I was thinking everything had already been said. That there were no other words to say (again) what we all already know: here we are, still in pandemic life. And yet, a shift has arrived and there are ideas being shared that can bring comfort, illumination, and insight. So, I wanted to share...
By Hilary Allen | September 22, 2021 | From Practice Makes Possible Blog -
September is County Fair season in much of New England. In our UU congregations, September is also Ingathering time; water communion time; returning-to-church-time after far-flung summers laden with small jars of water from our travels and foot-long zucchinis from overflowing gardens....
By Wren Bellavance-Grace | August 23, 2021 | From Practice Makes Possible Blog -
A congregational board member called to ask what their church might do about their building. Like so many New England churches, theirs is old, labyrinthine, mostly inaccessible, and larger than they need now....
By Meck Groot | July 22, 2021 | From Practice Makes Possible Blog -
The following is based on content presented as part of the “Staying the Course” workshop at the New Day Rising Conference in February 2021. The full workshop is available to conference registrants through Whova and to new participants who enroll in the UULI course. To stay the course in our...
By Meck Groot | April 20, 2021 | From Faithful Risking -
As we go about our work at this time, the NER staff team keeps learning about the faithful ways UU congregations are meeting the challenges of being and doing church during a pandemic.
By Meck Groot | December 18, 2020 | From Faithful Risking -
Earlier this year, just as the reality of the pandemic was unfolding, the New England Region was planning to host a workshop on “Faithful Risking,” one of our Practices of Spiritual Leadership. Ultimately we ended up cancelling the workshop. While we could have adapted to an online format,...
By Hilary Allen | November 11, 2020 | From Faithful Risking -
Faithful congregations take faithful risks. In this post, we lift up examples of the faithful risks New England Region congregations have taken recently. The UU Meeting House of Pittsfield, ME When they lost their longtime minister and realized they could not afford to hire another professional...
By Erica Baron | September 29, 2020 | From Faithful RiskingTagged as: Living Our Faith, Immigration