In conversation with friends, I am often asked, “Tyler, why do you go to church?” While my role as a religious professional is frequently overlooked in those conversations, I take the question to heart. Depending on the context, I would say that it all began when I was a teenager looking for a spiritual community that both embodied its faith and provided real solace in a weary world. And at other times, I would share my first experience with the Water Ceremony and the meaning that it has come to hold for me. While I didn’t understand the power and importance of the ritual at first, I followed the instructions given to me. I filled my small glass bottle with a bit of water from the river that I spent countless summer days in and would routinely find myself beside when I needed space to be still. On the appointed Sunday, I witnessed individuals and families alike fill a large bowl with their respective waters. When all was done, the Minister shared how the combined waters were not just a symbol of our interconnectedness, but was, in a very real sense, the substance that sustains our connection – our existence – in a variety of ways.

As the new church year approaches and many of our congregations across the region prepare for their own Water Ceremonies, like my friends, this is a good moment to ask, “Why?” Why do we gather in community? Why do we routinely take part in ceremonies like Coming of Age, blessing new congregational leaders, or the Water Ceremony itself? Why, or maybe better yet, what is our purpose as a religious people with and for one another? While I do not doubt that there are those among us who regularly ask themselves these questions. I believe it is imperative at this point in our liturgical calendar, given all that is happening within our individual and collective lives, that we all return to these questions routinely. For it is in this practice of reflection that we might discern our personal and collective missions in the world. Why do we do the things we do? And why are we doing the things we do as a church community?

While the world is different today than it was all those years ago when I, and maybe even you, first encountered Unitarian Universalism and the Water Ceremony. The ritual and our faith are not, in essence, different. They have remained a constant source of grounding and reassurance amid unimaginable change like large boulders in the middle of a steadily flowing river. As the thin veil disguising authoritarianism within our nation has slipped away, when the pressures of dwindling resources have come into sharper focus, and our hearts are surmounted by sorrow of all types. To frame it one way, the why of our churches and congregations are to be places to grow in deep connection, to wrestle with the transcendent, and to transform the world. As we meet this moment and all that it brings with it, may our whys ground and guide us in all that we do.

Dear Ones, as we enter this new church year, I offer you this blessing:

May the Love that holds all things hold you.
May the grace that affords transformation create pathways towards new possibilities.
May the waters that sustain our connections flow ever freely in our work and ministry.
And when things get rough, as they always do, may we never forget that in Love,
all things are possible.