From Rev. Karen Gustafson: June 4, 2021
Dear Ones,
My ministry at UCE is nearing its end. Rumor has it that there will be some kind of farewell after the service on June 6. This will be my last appearance at a Sunday morning service. I will, however, be around dropping last words here and there, meeting with the Board and staff, tying up some loose ends before I formally sign off on June 30. On June 19 from 9:30 – until noon I will be hosting a formal Interim Review in which I will be revisiting the five Interim Tasks in light of the work we have done together and offer my summary reflection on the state of UCE. (Details to follow)
Right now, I want to briefly address a piece of UCE culture that I believe is crucial for a true claiming of a healthier future, particularly in regard to the role and relationship to your Senior Minister.
My earliest conversations with many of you (in the fall of 2019) reflected some considerable disappointment in UCE’s professional ministry. It was my perception then that most of these disappointments were the result of three things:
- Inadequately communicated and managed expectations of the roles and boundaries of congregation, staff and ministers.
- Unclear channels of feedback and opportunities for clarification of said expectations
- A willingness to tolerate toxic behavior on the part of both ministers and congregants in order to avoid conflict.
Over the past several months there have been multiple efforts to address these issues. The framework of Shared Ministry was introduced early in 2020 by me and Rev Eileen in her role of Acting Senior Minister. This is a way of making clear that effective ministry of the congregation is not about a set of discrete functions delivered by a single trained person and a paid staff and a small group of plucky volunteers. Instead it is the enterprise of recognizing the richness of EVERYONE’S capacity to create what we have come to call “the beloved community” whose mission is “to nurture the human spirit for a world made whole”.
AND, it also is an enterprise that NEEDS everyone to communicate and manage expectations, to use newly established channels of feedback to clarify and to address conflict with patience and love.
This is a culture change.
Here is how it works.
When feeling discontent or dissatisfied or disappointed:
1. Please think through your question or concern. Make notes or, better yet, write it out. When you are ready to talk about the concern or question ask yourself:
“In my considered interactions around the important issues facing UCE:
- Am I inviting integrity and partnership?
- Am I authentically open to alternatives?
- Am I approaching this with curiosity or judgement?
- Are my responses constricting/limiting or narrowing the conversation or opening space for more light, more insight?
- Am I ready to engage the UCE Covenant of Engagement in my expression of this issue/question/concern?
- How do I see myself as part of the solution?
2. Choose carefully who you talk to.
- What do I want out of this conversation? (Clarity or more information? Collusion? Change? Support fo a foregone conclusion?) Is this person/group in a position to partner with me to address the issue or concern I am raising?
- If you are uncertain about who to talk to, please contact a minister or other staff person or a member of the Committee on Shared Ministry or the Congregational Relations Team. These groups are all gearing up to hear your concerns as well as your joy and gladness.
3. Take time to reflect on what is right about the UCE community, what is working, how things are evolving toward greater wholeness and frame your concerns in terms of how to leverage strengths for the greater good.
4. Be informed. Read the newsletter; check out the website; attend worship and events; be involved. Make sure you understand what is currently in the works about your concern.
5. Remember what you are trying to do together.
My work with UCE over the past two years has been to support opening up lines of communication; to encourage transparent negotiation to clarify the role of the Minister and the responsibility of the congregation. I am leaving you with some new structures, some new possibilities and a settled Senior Minister who has been around here long enough to learn from the experience of some of your previous ministers. She has a head start. Let her use it.
This is incomplete work. It is HARD work. I have witnessed many of you in good faith feeling your way into a healthier way of engaging, using the new structures to help clarify your expectations and provide timely and constructive feedback. You all need to trust in the good intentions, good faith and basic competence of each other. EVERYONE WILL MAKE MISTAKES! Embedded in this time of great change MUST be the commitment to “forgive yourselves and one another and begin again” (and again and again) “in love”.
In love and gratitude,
Karen Gustafson
Interim Minister