Introduction:
I'm writing to give you, the members of the congregation of the Unitarian Church of Norfolk, some ideas and insight on ordination to inform the congregational decision about whether or not to ordain me. My ordination will be a decision item at UCN's Mid-Winter meeting on Saturday, January 21.

What Does Our Congregation Have to Do with Ordination?
Unitarian Universalist churches operate on a basis of congregational polity. Polity means the type of governance of a nation, state, church or organization. Congregational polity means that the local congregation is independent, self-governing and autonomous in all its important decisions: owning property, managing its finances and making all other decisions about how it will function and operate. In Christianity, congregational polity is distinguished from episcopal polity, where local congregations are governed by a hierarchy of bishops, and from presbyterian polity, where local congregations are governed by assemblies of presbyters, or anointed and appointed elders. Congregational polity is found in Christian denominations such as the United Church of Christ, the Amish, the Mennonites, most types of Baptists and the Disciples of Christ, as well as in Reformed Judaism.

Two very important decisions made by local churches in religious traditions that have congregational polity are: calling a minister to serve in their congregation and ordaining ministers. Many Unitarian Universalists are familiar with the search process used to call a minister to serve their church. Some may not be so familiar with the process of ordination.

What is Ordination?
Ordination is, by definition, the act of conferring and of receiving entry into the ministry. It is a ritual act between the congregation and the minister. For me, that means it invokes and partakes of the sacred. Ordination can be described as a 'setting apart' from others in our faith to be a clergy member. I think of that as definitely a 'setting beside' rather than a 'setting above.' The relationship between the congregation as a whole and the minister is horizontal, not vertical. I also think that the minister's role is as a keeper of the meaning of the larger institution, of Unitarian Universalism itself. A key part of a minister's work is to continue grounding individual congregations in what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist individual and a Unitarian Universalist community through preaching, teaching and public witness. Promoting congregational connection to and interaction with our larger movement is also critical. Not that ministers are the only ones who do these things, but rather that it is a central part of the ministerial vocation.

In the Unitarian Universalist tradition, ordination occurs in a separate worship service for that purpose, usually a Sunday afternoon. During the ordination service, a Unitarian Universalist minister often receives a ministerial stole as a symbol of ordained ministry. There are other common elements for most Unitarian Universalist ordinations, including the congregation's statement of its purpose and intention in ordination, the laying on of hands and the ordinand's (person being ordained) receiving the hand of fellowship from another minister, plus music, readings and other worship elements appropriate to the occasion. My ministerial colleagues from around the state will attend. I hope that members of my family and many friends will be able to attend, as well as people from other churches where I have been a minister or a member. In many traditions, including ours, a person is not entitled to receive the honorific of "the Reverend..." until ordained.

OK, But What Does that Really MEAN for Us as a Congregation?
That's a good question and it is not always easy to discern in our tradition. When I looked for resources on ordination within Unitarian Universalism, the statements I found were mostly about skills, qualifications, credentials and knowledge. They could have been written for any secular leadership position. I was looking for statements that entered more into the spiritual or religious aspects of ordination and ministry. Yet, in recent writings on Unitarian ministry, such as writings of the Unitarian Universalist Association's Commission on Appraisal, there is almost nothing.
Given that the ordination often is defined in other religious traditions as the investment of divinity and/or the authority to perform sacraments, it is perhaps not surprising that Unitarian Universalism has struggled to find something to say on the deeper meanings of ordination!

As we do not share the same notions of divinity and our relationship to it and we do not claim any rituals as church-wide 'sacraments,' the Unitarian Universalist ministry cannot be defined by those states or authorities. However, I still wanted some spiritual meat on the credentialing bones of ordination! Ministry has to be more than a list of skills, credentials and knowledge, I thought.

To my rescue came the Reverend Susan LaMar, minister of our church in Ellicott City, Maryland. She wrote a paper on the meaning of ordination a few years ago for the Harper's Ferry ministerial study group. The Reverend LaMar contends that as a nonsacramental religious tradition, Unitarian Universalism has lost something from our understanding of ordination. She went back to some of our early Unitarian and Universalist sources to discover views on ministry and ordination in the hopes of finding more spiritual richness and depth. She also examined ordination in the Christian tradition to find any commonalities that could apply to us. Here is what she found that had meaning for her:

What is important is that through ordination, something changes, both within the ordinand and within the community. A new and different relationship is acknowledged, recognized, and committed to. . . it is conducted within and among the gathered community . . . It is a privileged moment of life for both the ordinand and the congregation . . .the change itself is invisible, ineffable, silent. The elements of the rite are outward signs of an inward or spiritual grace.

That seemed helpful to me. Ordination is a transformative act of the community in relation to a particular person. That is, both parties should experience a transformation of being and relationship.

And who is that person, as a Unitarian Universalist minister? According to William Ellery Channing, a founding parent of Unitarianism, a minister is not simply a collection of knowledge, skills and qualifications. Rather, as the Reverend LaMar notes, Channing set a standard of character, not credentials:

. . . intellectual, moral, and religious worth . . . faithfulness and zeal. . . honest, upright and pure . . . virtue, nobleness, spiritual energy . . . We trust that you will bring to this work a willing mind, a firm purpose, a martyr's spirit, a readiness to toil and suffer for the truth, a devotion of your best powers to the interests of piety and virtue . . . [he] is called to watch over the morals of society, and to awaken and cultivate the principles of piety and virtue in the hearts of individuals . . . We want [him] to be our friend, our guide, an intimate in our families; to enter our houses in affliction; and to be able to give us light, admonition, and consolation, in suffering, sickness, and the last hours of life.

Reading this certainly created a degree of anxiety in me (and in the Reverend LaMar)! Nonetheless, it is what I wish you to hold me accountable to in the act of ordination. Channing's list of qualities seems to speak to what is necessary for the sacred work of creating Beloved Community in partnership with a congregation. For me, ordination will be a dedication to a life of service in that building up of Beloved Community in our congregations, our communities and the wider world. That is my call to ministry.

But What About Those Credentials - Aren't They Important?
Yes, they are. I was received into the Fellowship of Unitarian Universalist ministers by the Unitarian Universalist Association's Ministerial Fellowship Committee on September 25, 2010. This was an acknowledgement of my basic readiness to be a Unitarian Universalist minister.
In order to be received into Fellowship, I had to: gain a Master's degree in Divinity from an accredited seminary; undergo at least one unit (400 hours) of supervised work as a chaplain in a hospital or other setting (I did two units or 800 hours); be certified as to my psychological, emotional, intellectual and moral fitness for ministry through an intense psychological and career evaluation process; have a history of sustained and significant participation in Unitarian Universalist congregational life (for me that goes back 38 years); have a thorough civil and criminal background check; and undergo a full-time, church-year-long internship under the supervision of a senior minister in a Unitarian Universalist church. My internship was at the First Unitarian Society of Denver (Colorado) in 2008-2009 under the supervision of the Reverend Mike Morran and the Reverend Robert Latham.

So, What Then Do We Need to Know in Order to Vote on Your Ordination?
That is largely up to you. I hope that you will learn some basics about what ordination and the ordained ministry are from this document. You might want to question me about my sense of call and my preparation for ministry. I will welcome your calls, emails and conversations about this.
Regarding the vote, a member of the congregation raised an interesting point when he asked me: "But who would vote against this?" My reply is that it is not so much who would vote for or against ordination. Rather, the point is that you can vote. In many faith traditions, individual congregations have no say in who will be their minister or how people are chosen and affirmed as ministers. It is our honor and our responsibility in Unitarian Universalist congregations to be the most critical part and the culmination of the process to shape and ordain our ministers.

What Would Be Our Responsibilities if We Vote to Ordain You?
The congregation's responsibilities include:

• participating with me in the creation of the Ordination Service
• hosting the Service
• participating in the planning and organizing of all the things needed to have the service, including issuing invitations and providing hospitality to those attending
• providing the financial support for the Service

Please ask me any additional questions you have! You may reach me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or at the church at 757-627-5371. Please do not hesitate to ask anything of concern or interest to you. I am used to being questioned and challenged on all aspects of my beliefs, sense of call and personal life and qualities - that happens nonstop in the ministerial formation process. It is critical that our congregation understand what is happening when it votes on ordination. Thank you for your willingness to consider my ordination!

I’ve been here with you at UCN for almost four months and it has been an exciting and challenging time! Most of my efforts have been in listening and learning – a process that will continue throughout my ministry with you. A significant achievement for the Board of Trustees and me has been developing leadership goals. You can read more about them on the Board Blog post by Chris Holbein.

For my first blog post, I thought I would write about ministry and specifically, the developmental ministry that I have contracted with the Board of Trustees to provide. My blog title is Towards Higher Ground. I hope we can all keep moving together towards what is best and highest for our community and for each of us as individuals, in all ways.

My being here as a Developmental Minister is a first for UCN. There have been a lot of ministers here over the last few years – some called and settled, some interim. There was also a search and call process that did not result in a call. As Jerry Slosser, your former President said, developmental ministry is a good option for this church because the time did not seem right to go through the search process for a settled minister. And, the guaranteed short-term nature of an interim ministry, with its focus on congregational self-examination, did not seem appropriate for UCN, either. Recent interim ministers have done excellent work in helping UCN do the self-reflection necessary to develop a new spirit of energy and commitment. It seems time to move into action.

Developmental ministries are goal-oriented. As a developmental minister, I am on a year-to-year contract and can stay as long as five years. My main task as a developmental minister is to mentor and coach congregational leadership in identifying and achieving key congregational goals. In my contract, the goals mentioned are leadership development and strategic planning.
During our initial time together, the Board of Trustees has refined these into specific goals: mission development; behavioral covenant development; developing stronger communication policies, procedures and formats; education with the congregation on church-size transition; organizational capacity analysis; and supporting key committees and task forces.

Besides the goal-oriented work, I am also responsible for all key ministry activities, such as leading worship, religious education and teaching, pastoral care, social justice, officiating at life passage rituals, prophetic witness and, of course, administration and church staff supervision.

In addition to listening to and learning about the UCN community, I must love you individually and collectively. So far, you have made that easy! And, we must also trust one another. In October, we entered into a covenant together during Sunday worship. In it we promised to extend trust mutually and to be together in respect, transparency and lovingkindness. The stronger and more complex the webs of relationship are among all of us, the easier is the trust and love. If we’re not loving each other in all that we do, then nothing else matters much. We can and will disagree, but that can happen in a context of love and respect. “Us” and “them,” however and whomever we categorize, is never a viable approach.

I am here for you as your minister for pastoral care and support. I am also here to support your learning and exploration of Unitarian Universalism and your own spiritual journey. You may find me in my office most days of the week and depending on the day, most times of the day. (It’s best to make an appointment to be sure I am available.) And when there is a crisis in your life and you need my presence, I can be reached 24/7.

If you have issues or concerns related to me, please give me the courtesy and respect of speaking directly to me about them. If you have questions about my contract, my purpose, my focus, please be in touch – it’s all open. There are no mysteries to be held about my presence here.

I am excited about the limitless possibilities for this church community – to be a powerful and effective religious community in the Hampton Roads area! To be a Beloved Community for our members and those with whom we partner. Let’s make it happen!

Blessed be.

The Board thanks everyone who came to the Mid-Winter Meeting. Those attending did some good work and had a good time doing it.  Lynn Jacobs has typed up all of the notes from the suggestions made for the Covenant of Right Relations Task Force to use.  Three people have volunteered to work with me on the Task Force and we would like to have a couple more.  If you are interested in helping to compile the suggestions for the Covenant of Right Relations into a document that we can work with over the next couple of months, please contact me by eMail. It should take just a few meetings to complete our work.  Then the draft will be widely shared for discussion and suggestions.  Our goal is to have a completed Covenant of Right Relations for approval by the congregation at our Annual Meeting in June. 

As we promised at that the December 18th Listening Session, the Board has reviewed the comments made at the Listening Session and other comments that have been shared with us regarding the Disruptive Behavior Policy.  At our January meeting, we made revisions to the original policy and hope that you will read it on the UCN website by clicking here. 

The Disruptive Behavior Policy is quite different from the Covenant of Right Relations that we began at the Mid-Winter Meeting.  A Covenant of Right Relations is an agreement among all members on how we will treat each other.  It reflects our highest aspirations for the beloved community that we desire and each person’s role in creating that community.  

The Disruptive Behavior Policy is a process for the Board to follow if we are presented with an extreme situation involving individual behavior. These situations have arisen very infrequently, but a process needs to be in place to deal with the rare problem that may arise. There are several steps involved in the process.  When confronted with such a problem, the Board will form a committee to work with the person. The committee gathers as much information as possible about the situation and meets with the individual to define the problem and work out behavioral parameters that will help guide the individual and hold him/her accountable for his/her behavior. After working with the individual, the committee makes a recommendation to the Board regarding the action to be taken. The behavioral guidelines established with the individual may be sufficient to allow the person to continue to be a full participant in church activities. In some cases, the committee may recommend that the individual be excluded from some church activities but participate in others.  When an agreement cannot be reached or the behavior poses a serious risk for others, the person may be excluded from all church activities.  The person remains a member of the congregation and can petition the Board at a future date to participate again. In that case, a committee would again meet with the person to develop behavioral guidelines for his/her return and make a recommendation to the Board. This process has been followed several times in the church’s history and has now been made a part of our Policies and Procedures Manual. 

We all care deeply about our UCN community and aspire to be the beloved community that we envision. Thank you for everything you do for the Unitarian Church of Norfolk.

Karen Forget, President

Dear UCN Members and Friends,

I know that many of you have been upset by the recent discord at UCN and are concerned about our church.  We are going to be okay.  Disagreements and differences of opinion are inevitable and are not necessarily bad.  They frequently occur at times of transition and are often the nexus of growth and needed change.  We are in a period of transition at UCN and have important choices and decisions ahead of us.

It is during these times of disagreement that it is most important that we hold to our UU principles and treat each other with respect and care.  We must listen thoughtfully to each other and speak our own truth honestly, directly and with compassion.

Your Board is committed to openness and communication.  We want to know what you think.  We plan to hold monthly listening sessions like the December 18th meeting where we can share the things we have been working on and hear your ideas, your questions, and your concerns.  We will not have a session in January due to the Mid-Winter Meeting, but will resume in February.   

There is a process in our by-laws for the congregation to request a congregational vote on any policy or action of the Board of Trustees.  If 20% of the members of the congregation disagree with a Board action and petition the Board, a special congregational meeting will be called and members in good standing can vote on the Board policy or Board action.  Our church follows a democratic model.  The Board is elected by the congregation to work on behalf of all of us and members always have the right to question any action of the Board.

The Board plans to continue to tackle the tough issues and work hard to move UCN forward.  We believe in this community and our potential.  We believe that UCN is very important to Hampton Roads and that we have much to offer.  We want to see UCN be all that it can be as a healthy, vibrant and powerful religious and spiritual community.  We believe in our UU Principles and we believe in you.

Help us to move UCN forward by coming to the Mid-Winter meeting on January 21st at 3:00 P.M.  We will be meeting from 3:00-5:00 and dinner will be served by the Middle School Group at 5:15.  During our time together, we will be working to develop the framework for a Congregational Behavioral Covenant.  We will also be voting on Cyndi Simpson’s ordination and the Congregational Study/Action Items to be considered at this year’s General Assembly.

In preparation for the meeting, I hope you will read Cyndi’s piece on ordination in the Minister’s Blog on our website and the information on the possible General Assembly items on the UUA website (half way down the page you will see “Proposed CSAI’s for 2012-2016”).  Print copies of both of these can be obtained from the church office if you do not have internet access.

Thank you for everything that you do for UCN and for our community.  I look forward to continuing to work with you this year.

Sincerely,
Karen Forget, Board President

Greetings to all Members and Friends,

Your Board of Trustees has been working hard, and we are excited to share our progress with you. We are confronting some of the systemic problems that have hampered UCN over the past decade, and we’re starting the process of forming a vision (a congregation-wide endeavor) to guide us forward over the next decade.

Traditionally the UCN Board has had one retreat (a longer meeting, lasting about five hours, to dig deeper into larger issues that can’t be appropriately addressed in our monthly meetings) each year. This year we have already had two, with more to come. In addition, each member of the Board has read Moving on from Church Folly Lane: The Pastoral to Program Shift by Robert Latham. The book expertly examines the challenges frequently faced by UU congregations of our size. The problems identified match precisely with many of the issues UCN has faced and continues to face. We recommend all congregants read this interesting and insightful book.  Copies will soon be available on loan from the church office. 

We have agreed on six goals for the Board for the coming year:

1) Creating a Religious Mission Statement: As Reverend Latham convincingly explains, a church will stagnate unless it has a succinct, well-understood religious mission statement to guide it. The mission statement should be reworked on occasion so that the current members feel fully invested in it. We think now is the perfect time to reestablish our mission.

2) Forming a Behavioral Covenant: We are a congregation made up of kind, moral people, but we don’t always interact with each other as well as we could. Forming a behavioral covenant, steeped in UU Principles, will allow us to hold ourselves and each other accountable.

3) Communications, Plan, Procedures and Policies:  The world has changed dramatically with new electronic communication (Facebook, Twitter, email, etc).  We want to make appropriate use of these tools and enhance our church-wide communication systems so that information is shared accurately, quickly and respectfully.

4) Education on Size Transition: Our church has hovered in between a pastoral sized congregation and a program sized congregation for years. As outlined in Church Folly Lane, stagnating in that in-between zone for too long leads to all sorts of problems. We want to explore the causes of this stagnation with you, so we can break through this barrier and become a more powerful force for religious liberalism and social justice in Hampton Roads. 

5) Analyze Our Organizational Capacity: We will examine whether we have the appropriate amount and allocation of staff and related resources to grow into the more dynamic and effective congregation we want to become.

6) Support Our Committees and Task Forces: It is vital that the Board provide support to the many groups doing important work in our congregation, especially newly-forming task forces like Dreamcatchers II,  the Emergency Planning Task Force, our invigorated Membership Committee and the new Leadership Development Team. 

We hope you join us after the service on Sunday, December 18^th for the Board’s first Listening Session of the church year. UCN has many, many wonderful attributes already, and our potential is enormous. We are proud to serve as your Board, and are excited about the future of our congregation.

Sincerely,

Chris Holbein

Vice President

 

 

On March 5th, Sandy Ogletree and I will travel to India to visit with the Unitarians in the Khasi Hills of northeast India. UCN sponsors a young man at the Unitarian school there, and we will get to meet him. There are many needs in the area, and we want to help with some of them. We are going to take some school supplies along to distribute. We also want to be able to buy blankets, which we understand are in short supply in that area. Not all of India is very hot. Several people have asked us how they could help with this. Of course, we will accept cash donations, but if you would like to get tax credit, you could make a check to UCN, with Soc Just - India in the Memo. We will then take the money from that account. It would be most helpful if you could send or donate your money by Feb. 26th, but if you need to donate later, we will still make sure the money is well used.

(Editor's note: More information about the Khasi Hills Unitarians is available in UUA President Peter Morales's blog.)

Thank you in advance, from our Unitarian friends in India,
Marcia Slosser

This is a placeholder for Brian's first blog entry. Hopefully, more interesting and engaging copy will come soon, because this certaining isn't.