Hello WellSpringers!
As I returned from vacation today, I intentionally set one item on my to-do list as “number one” for my first day back: collecting the notes from our Senior Leader Retreat, held one month ago, back at the end of February.
Once a year, we invite all our Senior Leaders (that is: leaders of each Team, and participants on each Ministry) to come together in the middle of the winter season, for a check-in on our congregation’s annual goals. We talk about the accomplishments we’re seeing this year so far, assess the progress we’re making on the goals we set last year, and discuss what we see changing in our wider world – changes both within and beyond our community. Then we spend a little bit of time with our congregation’s DNA, talking about where we feel called as a community for the year to come. What opportunities exist for us, at this stage in our life cycle? Where are we feeling the pull to grow, or develop, in new ways?
Maybe you’ve felt like this too… sometimes in the midst of our day-to-day work, it can be hard to even see – let alone celebrate – the progress we’re making. But after a week away, as I read through these notes from our Retreat… I felt so proud of us. We’ve made significant progress on all the goals we set, for the current congregational year. Plus, our leaders had such tremendous insights to share, when we gathered, about the way our world is changing – and the way our congregation has truly stayed strong while the chaos swirls around us.
There is a huge increase right now, in folks’ interest in community activism and engagement – people are looking for ways to plug in. And, people in our local communities are also hurting – some in old or familiar ways, but with a new and unprecedented sense of urgency… and some are feeling fear like this for the very first time in their lives.
We have an incredibly meaningful role to play, in a time like this. As a growing, authentically human, and fully alive community of souls gathered together for a purpose, I think we are finding ourselves more connected to the world beyond our doors than ever before. As inheritors of a rich and lasting spiritual tradition, we feel the strength of our deep roots, solidly embedded in the values of love, justice, and compassion – in an era when demonstrations of those values feel all too rare. So, I really just wanted to write to you all today to tell you that I am grateful for each one of you, and the role you play in keeping our community alive and well.
If you have a chance, feel free to look over the notes from our Leader Retreat, and see what the folks who dedicate their time to service on our Teams and Ministries are saying about where we are, and where we are called to be, in the year ahead. There are four pages of notes, each focused on a different question, available for you to read. We’ll share a final version of next year’s congregational goals, as always, at our annual Congregational Meeting in early June.
Until then, pat yourselves on the back and celebrate the strength of our community – and the way you’ve each contributed so beautifully, to it. <3
Take care,
Rev. Lee