The Unitarian Fellowship of Peterborough

My family is stuck. We can’t find a workable date for our annual reunion. It seems sacrilegious to choose a date that will leave someone out; it simply won’t be a family gathering without everyone present. While we didn’t choose to be members of this family, to be a Stoneberg is to share things that make up who we are...genes, experiences, commitments...things that bind us together. So, when any of us has to miss a gathering, an opportunity to grow and deepen our ‘Stoneberg-ness’ has been lost.

As minister to a congregation of 105 members, I know every member and most friends, and am pretty familiar with those who visit occasionally. No one takes attendance at services (we keep a count, but never by name), yet on most Sundays, as I walk or drive away from a busy morning, I find myself thinking about those who were absent. It saddens me. I wish those absent had been a part of the rich communal experience that morning. An opportunity for greater congregational knowing and bonding has been lost.

I do not mean to berate those unable to attend. But I do believe that communal worship is the central activity that fosters growth and meaning in our congregations. It is our practice of worshipping together that defines and shapes us...worship is how we come to understand who we are. How is it then, that the CUC Vision Statement contains no mention of worship? This, in my opinion, is a grave oversight.

By definition, a congregation is a group of individuals, just as a family is a group of individuals. But being part of a congregation is voluntary, and our voluntary associations hold the greatest potential and import in our lives, exactly because they are freely and intentionally chosen. Through our chosen associations we create purpose and meaning in our lives. And, in turn, those chosen associations help to shape the people we will become.

As an American in Canada, I have often heard disparaging remarks about rampant individualism in the United States, a reality which I also find distasteful. But we Unitarians might take a hard look at ourselves in this regard. We resist efforts to claim a shared identity and we resent expectations that we should regularly participate in our congregations or our national association. Our individualism cannot build communities that connect, restore, challenge, and transform, nor can it create a shared and holy space that allows for the in-breaking of joy, compassion and radical connection.

Whatever else we are, and whatever else we do during the week, the Sunday morning worship service is the primary way by which we build community, live out our tradition of liberal religion, and create who we will be. The living breathing ‘organ-ization-ism’ that we are invites us to be bound together in ways that will change and shape us. And each time we gather, we renew our commitment to walking together in this voluntary association we call the CUC.

See you on Sunday morning!

Julie