Beyond the Walls of Our Congregation

Community ministry has been woven into Unitarian Universalist DNA ever since Joseph Tuckerman left the comfort of a parish pulpit to serve Boston’s disenfranchised and impoverished over 200 years ago, launching UU Urban Ministry, the oldest continuously operated social justice ministry in the United States.

But what is “community ministry” in our contemporary world?  Any authentic faith-based ‘ministry’ seeks to care for beloveds as they (a) seek purpose and meaning, (b) search for healthful relationships, and (c) strive to connect with whatever life-giving transcendence is important to them (e.g., the Divine, love, reason, mystery, etc.).  ‘Community’ is that space in which we engage in the contexts of our lifestances, being present with other travelers in some form of relationship, and often engaged with those closest to us in mutual purpose-finding and meaning-making.

UU community ministry is caring for everyone, including those beyond the walls of our congregation, in a way that honors and repairs the interdependent web of existence, celebrates diversity and the plurality of creation, dismantles oppressions and seeks justice and equity, is grateful and generous, and respects the inherent worth and dignity of every sentient being.

As a member of the UU Society for Community Ministries (UUSCM) and the UU Ministers Association (UUMA), I am thrilled that CVUUS’s Board of Trustees voted to affiliate with me as your community minister and hybrid (community-parish) ministerial intern.

“Our goal is to create a Beloved Community and this will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Unitarian Universalism calls us to the work of bending the arc of history towards justice.  Community ministry helps us engage in this relational work by informing, collaborating, and most importantly opening opportunities for our spirits to align with our values and principles through direct engagement and action.  As the Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism reminds us, justice work can be uncomfortable for folks conditioned in the privileged, white supremacist culture:  “Mainstream faith sells the idea that it’s perfectly fine to come and be here exactly as you are, never changing anything.  What we are saying as Black UUs is that this faith calls us to the kind of transformation that the work of faith demands.”

So specifically, how might community ministry help us walk our talk?

In the Spring of 2023, CVUUS adopted a covenant that pledged accountable congregational action focused on dismantling racism and all forms of oppression in ourselves and our institutions.  As another step in that process, we have a plan to help CVUUS transform into a more multicultural “community of communities.”  In this video, Tom discusses the Foundations of Becoming Multicultural with UU Innovative Ministries consultant, the Rev. Dr. Brock Leach, to learn more.

We live an interdependent existence, and faith calls us to directly connect with, center, and serve our neighbors who have fallen out the bottom of our hyper-commoditized, predatory, consumeristic culture.  CVUUS supports community ministry that goes out into our communities’ intersections of impoverishment, recognizing and serving one beloved individual at a time.  As a ministry of active witness, we try to restore some sense of self-worth and dignity to people who have lost hope.  And we connect them with the support and services of collaborating partners.

Collaboration is a critical aspect of community ministry.  We work along the spectrum of transformation, from street ministry to alleviate some of the suffering of neighbors in need to community organizing and legislative advocacy necessary to bring about systemic change.  We are blessed with an abundance of equity- and justice-focused community partners.  For street outreach, we often team with colleagues from organizations like Turning Point of Addison County and Pathways Vermont.  For community organizing and shaping legislative action, we represent our Addison County communities as part of the Vermont Interfaith Action (VIA) network.  As Vermont’s sole faith-based state-wide advocacy collaborative, VIA successfully organizes to drive transformation on issues such as homelessness, racial justice, climate change, corrections reform, public safety, and anti-religious bigotry.

You are invited to visit our news and opportunities space to learn more about equity and justice issues in our Champlain Valley communities, and how you can engage in mutually liberative service that can transform lives.  Please reach out to Tom at communityminister@cvuus.org to be in conversation about community ministry at CVUUS.