From Kathy Underwood – Director of Lifespan Faith Formation

Building Capacity

I recently joined a Zoom comprised of religious educators from around the US and Canada, as well as some staff from the UUA, centered on the general topic of “what are you doing in your congregation that is multigenerational, and what are your plans for the summer in your program?” My first reaction was, “Summer? Are you kidding? I’m trying to make it to March!” And I found that I wasn’t alone. Many religious educators (and I dare to say other congregational staff) are still feeling drained and discouraged for a variety of reasons. Many have left the profession. Let me assure you that while I have days when I feel this, overall I still have plenty of passion for this work and the UCE community!

Not to sound like a broken record, but we are living in a different world than we were three years ago. While on the surface things appear to be “back to normal”, in reality they are still in transition. I say this from the perspective of our faith formation programs, and this is true for adult programs as well as those for our young people. I venture to add that this is even true beyond faith formation. Attendance has been up and down for most programs in all age groups. We are more discerning of how we spend our time and who we spend it with, and so we are reluctant to share that time and energy as much as we used to do so.

I believe the struggle in this transition is in finding a “new norm”. That is, resisting the urge to do things the way we used to do them, because that is seemingly the easiest thing to do, and ideally brings us back to how things used to be. While we know logically that this isn’t true, our hearts want to recall and recreate those feelings of belonging and community.

In the Zoom gathering I mentioned earlier, I learned a new phrase that I want – and need – to embrace:

I’m about building capacity, not being the capacity.

You all have wonderful and exciting ideas for UCE as we find our “new normal”. I find myself getting caught up in that excitement and wanting to make things happen. Alas, I am just one person though. There are only 24 hours in a day. I simply cannot do it all. As I have seen with many of my colleagues, this only leads to resentment and frustration, and for some, leaving their congregations.

But what I can do is work towards building capacity. To me, this means forming relationships with new people and strengthening the ones I have within this community. It means making time for fun and play as well as for the tasks at hand. It means listening to each other and sharing our joys and sorrows, no matter how big or small. It means sitting down to a meal together and sharing stories.

And so I’d like to invite you to join me in this new mantra: We’re building capacity.

After all, no person is an island.

In Faith,

Kathy