"Building Up the Bonds of Community" by Rev. Thomas Schade

[Memos from Rev. Barbara Merritt and Rev. Tom Schade]

M I N I S T E R ‘ S   M E M O

“Building Up the Bonds of Community”


Alone in a crowd.
Silent in the midst of the cacophony of modern life.
Pictures, images, songs, slogans and jingles are directed at you all day,
every day, from every direction, yet there are few opportunities for you to
speak with another person, one on one, friend to friend.
Optimistic analysts call it the decline of real communities, but say that
they are being replaced by online communities on the internet. I doubt it.
Mostly, real communities decline and are not replaced by anything other than
loneliness and isolation.
I recently read an article by Chris Hedges in which he noted that the
mega-church phenomenon is strongest in those places where other institutions
of social and cultural community are the weakest: in the new suburbs and
exurbs. The extra large church is fulfilling the hunger for community, often
where there are few other options.
Even in a small city, like Worcester, with its rich mixture of social and
cultural institutions and organizations, there is a crying need for more
opportunities for community. It is one reason why people seek out churches
of all types, including ours.
We are getting a reputation for being a friendly and gracious community
which welcomes newcomers. This was not always the case. One of the nurses
who cared for me during one of the many midlife medical procedures one
undergoes told me that she had come to First Unitarian for a while in her
childhood. She and mother had come for years and years, but finally left,
“because they never asked my mother if she would pour at coffee hour.” True
story!
I told her that she should come back and try again, these many decades
later. We have a sign up sheet on the bulletin board for hosting coffee
hour, and if no one signs up, we all just line up at the big percolator and
help ourselves. Less elegant perhaps, but no one feelings are being hurt.
If you think that the creation of a warm and gracious community is an
important part of our church’s work, there are some things that you can do:
Attend the Time for Community program on Sunday Morning. Before the start of
the worship service, we dedicate 25 minutes to community building activities
in the sanctuary.
*         We start with News from the Pews. For about ten minutes, people
share the news from their families and communities: birthdays,
anniversaries, illness and death, new jobs, lost jobs, the achievements of
the children. The floor is open. We cannot build a caring community unless
we take the time to listen to each other, and hear what is going on in other
people’s lives.
*         After a brief musical interlude from one of the many talented
musicians in the congregation, Time for Community continues with a Greet
Your Neighbor Minute. Get and say hello to people you know and don’t know.
It’s a one-minute coffee hour without the coffee and without the stress.
*         Finally, we conclude with the Announcements of upcoming events.
Join the Parish Services Committee Email List: You can do so by either
filling out the blue card in the pews, or by going to our website online and
clicking the Sign Up menu item, or by leaving your name at the Welcome
Table. Once a week, you will receive an email from Parish Services Chair,
Kate Narita. She will tell you about the current needs of Parish members who
need our help: meals, rides, and small chores. If you can help, respond to
her. The standard is “Help as much you can when you can.” The Parish
Services Committee also has a Freezer Fellowship Project, in which they
prepare several meals which are kept frozen in the church’s freezer, for
anyone who needs one, for any reason.
If you want to build up the bonds of community in our church, these two
simple acts, coming to Time for Community and Joining the Parish Services
Committee are easy to do, and will help the church community grow.
Even more importantly, they will work for you. As the common prayer by Ted
Loder from last week, said:
O God, I want so to belong;
         teach me to accept.
I want to be close:
         teach me to reach out.
I want a place where I am welcome;
         teach me to open my arms.


                                                            Tom
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