Rev. Don writes:

Max DePree was a business person and writer. A good friend of mine often signed off his emails with this quote. That’s how I discovered it. I feel it describes well what interim ministry is about and the opportunity it offers our congregations.

Without a clear sense of purpose and a clear message, our churches tend to meander and wander.  To be sure, every major religion has its own peculiar message to offer consistent with its cultural environment, place, and time. But the purpose of every religion is the same – to offer a way of relating which heals our disjointed, fractured, and severed relationships.

To be effective, however, we must not only speak our message, but model it. For the message without the model is an empty promise. Before people are willing to commit their life, they wish to know if it works. And the only demonstration of this is the proclaiming community living out its message by example.

If we Unitarian Universalists want to help heal a broken world, to help make it more whole, then we must first do three things –

• Proclaim a clear message
• Offer the power of wholeness and the inspiration of hope
• And model our message in community for all the world to see

The only thing that stands in our way is ourselves.

In the Spirit of Life,
Rev. Don