Dear WellSprings,
Our community – each of you individually, and all of us collectively – has been so much on my mind and my heart in these past few weeks. When I was preaching two weeks ago, we spent some time reflecting together – and then sharing with each other – about who we are, and how we hope to show up in our world right now.
This was no small task… because it is meaningfully difficult to be alive in times like these. For so many, our immediate safety is in jeopardy. The voices of fear and hate, destruction and recrimination – they lurk around the edges of our lives, threatening moments of peace we might find. So many of us feel powerless and overwhelmed – struggling each day just to “take it all in.”
That’s why I wanted to spend some time that Sunday morning thinking together about what we put back out – and why that matters. Our speech and our actions, expressions of our collective care, bravery, love, presence, loyalty, determination, kindness… the world needs them, deeply. We need them, from each other, shared amongst ourselves. When we remember that we do hold the power, to share something our friends and neighbors need to see – we push back against what lurks around the edges. We reconnect just as meaningfully, to the source that sustains each one of our lives.
You might groan when I follow up such big ideas with a sentence like: “one of the ways you can show up is to give your time to our congregation” – but I promise you… it’s true. I am grateful for all the ways you each show up in the world right now, whether as a parent, partner, community volunteer, activist, caregiver, builder, teacher, friend… the world needs all of it. Our community needs it too. A spiritual community holds a certain kind of magic, because by gathering in shared purpose, we become more than the sum of our parts. But fundamentally, a congregation is also just an assorted collection of your neighbors – real people, standing together and facing outward at the same, difficult world. And we are a real, tangible place in your life where you can practice sharing your energy and power with that world. What you offer here will have an impact on your neighbors that you can see, every Sunday – and it directly supports the wider community of people who share WellSprings, right alongside you.
You may remember that we made some changes to our budget and staffing this year to help our congregation grow more sustainably – but that also means less staff time to support our critical Sunday morning Teams, especially our Tech Team. Without more help on Tech, we may have to scale back (or even end) our practice of livestreaming Sunday morning worship – a key function that helps us reach people beyond our walls. Anyone can volunteer for Tech, from teens all the way up to elders, and no experience is required. If we get enough volunteers, the commitment will only be one Sunday per month. You can e-mail Jen at office@wellspringsuu.org to be put in touch with our Tech Team.
If Tech isn’t for you, you might feel moved to show up for our community’s children – volunteering in our Nursery, sharing our values with the school-age kids in YouthSpirit, empowering our youth through our Teen Spirit & Service group, or doing big picture work to grow all-ages connections on the YouthBridge Ministry… some regular time for play and wonder may be just what your spirit needs right now. We could also use another hand on our Setup Team, preparing Bell Hall for worship and re-setting it at the end of our Sunday service. All of those roles are filled by a group of volunteers on a rotating basis, to fit your schedule.
We have other active Teams that are making plans now, for the year ahead – and if you’ve already served somewhere within WellSprings, our Leadership Development Ministry would love to support you in moving towards a role in congregational leadership. No matter what group you’d like to learn more about, Jen at office@wellspringsuu.org will help you get connected to the right people.
At least once a week I meet someone (not an exaggeration – I ran into someone at Pickering Coffeehouse in Phoenixville while writing this letter) who tells me they’ve been meaning to visit on a Sunday, and see what it’s like to be part of our community… and they’ve decided now is the time to do it. I can understand why.
WellSprings is here for our neighbors today because all of us keep it alive – and because so many “someone”s stepped in to tend and sustain it, before any of us got here. Communities like ours provide solace, joy, strength, and sustenance in times like these. So I’m grateful for each and every way that you choose to take part in our good work – and I hope that sharing your energy and power with the world will keep your spirit strong, just as it grows the charge of the soul for us all.
Take care of yourselves, and each other <3
Rev. Lee