In some ways, each new congregational year has familiar patterns: The changing of the light as summer moves to autumn. The sound of children filling the campus. The Water Communion as we reunite after summer adventures. In most any year we have come together for Ingathering, I would have been comfortable saying “welcome back,” but this year, it just doesn’t ring true.
This year, as we begin a new congregational year, it feels much more appropriate to say “Welcome Forward!” The above-mentioned signs of our regathering will still be the same, but this year things feel different. This is the first year in almost 3 years that we will congregate for Ingathering in our Sanctuary, and the world has changed. Although the world is always changing, the dramatic events of the past 3 years have had an impact on us all. We have experienced a once-in-a-century global pandemic, the societal upheaval stemming from the George Floyd murder, the threat to our democracy playing out at the ballot box and in the courts, the global conflict in Ukraine and the climate crisis taking its toll here and around the world. These are just some of the monumental events taking place in the world.
UUCF is not an island immune to these events. It is a place of deep connection and meaning-making where the events of the world are felt emotionally, physically and spiritually. We have reached a time where the 20th-Century design of our religious communities may not address the 21st-Century issues we are facing. Hence, Welcome Forward. From this point on – although there will be familiar patterns, events and activities – we will be experimenting with new ways of being in religious community.
In some ways, we will be wiping the slate clean, leaning into the need to be nimble in a rapidly changing landscape. Although many familiar aspects of our lives together will never change, others are calling for innovative solutions for the challenges and opportunities of these times.
For example, the Religious Exploration program is evolving to be more about Family Ministry – considering the religious and spiritual exploration of families in a more holistic way. In worship, we will make some modifications as we travel through the year; some will work and stay and some may not completely fit and they will not continue, but we are committed to meeting the evolving needs of our community as we gather for worship. One change you will start noticing over the next few weeks is an attempt to soften the physical space in the Sanctuary – to have our welcoming theology feel that way as soon as one enters the building. This includes a new children’s area in the Commons, new tables and umbrellas on the Commons deck and some additional seating in the Sanctuary designed to add to a sense of comfort and refuge.
And, one of the most important areas of Welcome Forward exploration this year will be how to deepen our connections and relationships in these turbulent times and how we can impact this hurting world through transformative acts of love and justice. And one more thing: Our two-part Ingathering will center on how we define community. In my Jul. 10 sermon, I asked us to consider “Who Are We?” You can find the sermon here.
This year, as we travel further into the 21st Century, who we are will need to look different. We are members and friends, but we are also families, we are the renters who love this campus and help fund this congregation. We are partners in the Potomac Partnership. We are an important center of more than 1,000 souls living Unitarian Universalist values. So, as we travel forward together from this point, we will mix the familiar with the new and together find ways to connect deeply, love fully and find our way through to whatever may come next.
Details for Ingathering 2022:
Welcome Forward: Ingathering 2022 Part I
Sun., Aug. 28, 10 a.m. (new worship time!), Sanctuary & livestream
All-congregation service followed by Zoom breakout session. As Ingathering invites the community into a new congregational year, it will also focus fresh lenses on Welcoming us Forward into new ways of viewing ourselves, the congregation and the world. Part I will explore a new understanding of what it means to be part of an intergenerational community. New: Child care for children 6 months to 5 years available in the Nursery by reservation here.
Welcome Forward: Ingathering 2022 Part II
Sun., Sep. 11, 10 a.m. (new worship time!), Sanctuary & livestream
Service followed by Zoom breakout session. Fall Religious Exploration classes begin for ages 2-18. Part II will feature the traditional water communion and broaden our perspectives of how we define community at UUCF now and from this day forward. New: Child care for children 6 months to 5 years available in the Nursery by reservation here.
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