Dear ones,
This past Sunday, my family needed to be with our people to feel the embrace of the Beloved Community after a wrenching week. As we sang and prayed and laughed and wept together in the sanctuary of First Universalist Church of Minneapolis, I gazed around the overflowing pews full of old timers, newcomers, returners, wanderers, elders and babies. As I soaked us all in, I felt in my bones how important this space is for this community – and I knew that many other Unitarian Universalist congregations across the country were also bursting at the seams that morning, gathering the people to make meaning and hold grief and tend hope together.
Our UUA President, the Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt, reminded us powerfully last week that in times of great fear and devastation, Unitarian Universalists are a sanctuary people, providing communal care and solidarity and spiritual grounding for the hard work our shared values and commitments demand of us. This is certainly true for those of us who have long found our spiritual home within Unitarian Universalism. And clearly, the many people who poured into our congregations last week for the first time think we might be a source of belonging and sanctuary for them, too. What a humbling thing, to hold this hope and trust.
Sanctuary is not just a theoretical concept or abstract identity; it is a framework for concrete action and commitments. Fully embodying what it means to be a sanctuary people will require us to prioritize and focus our work, deepen our ministries, and call up our courage. Your UUA is here to support you in this work. In this email – the first in a series of messages we're sending to UU religious leaders – we’ll share some areas we are asking all leaders to prioritize in the coming weeks. There are also a couple of lists of linked resources for you to use and share as needed.
Welcome, Absorption, and Ongoing Care
At other times of great national upheaval (after the September 11th attacks, after the 2016 election, and in the early days of the pandemic, for example), Unitarian Universalist congregations have experienced an influx of new and returning people seeking balance, support, and belonging. Many congregations have reported similar surges this past weekend, and that is likely to continue for some time as people are looking for a place to seek connection. This may be particularly true for people who are already at risk and will be increasingly targeted by the policies of the incoming administration and state laws, including and especially folks from LGBTQIA+, Black/Indigenous/People of Color, disabled, and undocumented communities.
If congregations want to truly offer an experience of sanctuary to newcomers, we will need to level up the ways we extend radical, inclusive welcome and deepen our ongoing ministries to speak to the realities of people’s lives. How will your greeters welcome the young, Black trans woman who comes to worship, and how will you offer pastoral care to her in an ongoing way? What kind of experience will the couple with mixed immigration status have when they come to your Wednesday night community dinner, and how will your congregation support them as they navigate the challenges of ever-more-draconian immigration policy? How can you welcome the nonbinary 7-year-old into religious education for the first time, and how will you offer meaningful sources of courage and support to their parents over time as they try to help their child get access to gender affirming care?
From Radical Welcome to Long-Term Belonging
Now is a critically important time for everyone in the congregation to get the training and support they need to offer newcomers, visitors, and returning members a radically inclusive welcome and a path to long-term belonging. UUA Congregational Life staff and our colleagues at the UU Association of Membership Professionals (UUAMP) have a wealth of resources to help.
Conversations for Congregational Leaders
It’s also important to have conversations with the leadership of your congregation to consider the financial, spiritual, pastoral, and programmatic resources you are investing in and prioritizing in the coming times – not just for those who are already among you, but for those from a diversity of backgrounds and experiences whose values align with Unitarian Universalism, but for whom our dominant culture often presents a barrier to deep belonging.
UUA Congregational Life staff have curated an extensive collection of resources for addressing internal and external communications, conflicts in the congregation, risk assessment and readiness and more.
Partners for Inclusion and Support
People develop a deep sense of belonging to congregations when they feel fully embraced and valued within the beautiful, multigenerational diversity of the full community and deeply connected to a smaller group of people whose passions, identities, and/or life experiences resonate with their own.
For members, friends, and visitors who are already part of vulnerable groups, it is important to ensure that you are offering specific and responsive care. Make sure these folks also know about national UU organizations and formations that provide specific connection and support:
In the months and years ahead, as the targeting of the most marginalized among us ratchets up, we know that the need for our faith communities to offer sanctuary will only grow. It is a profound blessing for Unitarian Universalist congregations and communities to be able to offer this ministry in whatever ways we can. It is not only a balm for those in pain; it helps all of us lean into the courage this moment demands and deepen our own faith, tending our flames of hope to shine brightly in the world.
In faith and solidarity, Rev. Ashley Horan UUA Vice President for Programs and Ministries |
