The longer I live, the more deeply I learn that love — whether we call it friendship or family or romance — is the work of mirroring and magnifying each other’s light. Gentle work. Steadfast work. Life-saving work in those moments when life and shame and sorrow occlude our own light from our view but there is still a clear-eyed loving person to beam it back. In our best moments, we are that person for another.
James Baldwin
As we celebrate the new year, I’d like to share my delight in announcing the upcoming ceremony and party scheduled for May 4th at 3pm.
Last May, the congregational membership voted to “call” me as the minister. This shifted our relationship. Now instead of being structured by a renewable contract, our relationship is covenantal — that is, it’s based on shared commitments, promises, and trust. An installation ceremony is an opportunity to articulate and recognize our new agreements with each other. While an installation is momentous on its own, this ceremony carries another important layer of meaning, since it is the first ever installation at UUFM. Founded as a lay-led congregation in the late 1950s, we have gradually sought out more professional ministry over the past 30 years. This spring, we are celebrating not only the relationship between the congregation and me, but the congregation’s new approach to pastoral leadership.
It’s exciting to announce this event on January 1st, a day pulsing with the energy of new beginnings. I also appreciate tying it to our monthly theme, Liberating Love. Accepting the call to serve UUFM was an expression of my love for the congregation, the land upon which we gather, and the communities that encircle us. It is a love that has grown over the past two and a half years, and I feel strongly that it will continue to deepen. Many of my colleagues move into called ministry directly — they are “called” before their arrival. Our pathway was different; you hired me under a two-year contract that named our shared intention to consider moving into a covenantal relationship. I’m grateful for this extra time. We gradually felt our way into the gentle, steadfast work of mirroring each other’s light. By the time you voted to call me, I had not only felt your clear-eyed appreciation of my ministry, I’d witnessed your clear-eyed love for each other.
The commitment to called ministry is often compared to a marriage. It’s not romantic, but there is spiritual vibrancy and tension. I like the metaphor of shifting from being roommates to building a home together. It’s a home we intend to live in together. But there will come a time when we, as individuals, move on. We hope the home will still be here, providing shelter and joy to those who come after us.
As James Baldwin suggests, the work we do to love each other in a sustained and committed way can be life-saving. As a Universalist religious community, this means that not only do we save each other when one member’s light is occluded, but we beam our love out into the larger world and provide hope and vision for all those who need it. I’m honored to be acknowledged as a leader in this shared work. And I’m humbled. Called ministry is new to me too. This level of commitment to community and place is, at times, overwhelming. And so this month I am listening deeply to our theme of liberating love. I trust that the work we are embarking on is freed, not constrained, by our covenant. There are things for the world we can only do from the stable foundation of this new relationship we are creating. Let’s discover together what they are.