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Service of the Living Tradition UUA Ministry Department |
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Service of the Living Tradition UUA Ministry Department |
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"Vocation does not mean a goal that I pursue. It means a calling that I hear. Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am." - Parker J. PalmerRealVideo:
Service of the Living Tradition Parts I & II
Called! By Whom? To What?
Sermon by Richard S. Gilbert
Minister, First Unitarian Church of Rochester, NY
Order of Service
The Rev. Dr. Richard S. Gilbert, in his sermon at the UUA General Assembly's Service of the Living tradition, called for all - not just ministers - to listen for the call to live a life with purpose, and to accept that invitation.
Sunday morning, June 24, the Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly, in the 56th annual Service of the Living Tradition, honored ministers who serve and have served Unitarian Universalism. The service recognized ministers granted preliminary fellowship, those achieving final fellowship, and those completing full-time service. The Service of the Living Tradition also commemorated those ministers who had died between May 24, 2000 and May 21, 2001.
The program began with a prelude, a welcome by the Rev. Dr. Diane Miller, UUA Dept. of Ministry director, a choral introit by the Singers of the Living Tradition, a call to worship by the Rev. Dr. Michelle W. Bentley and, finally, the Service's traditional opening hymn, "Rank by Rank Again We Stand."
The Rev. Dr. O. Eugene Pickett, who is completing an eight-year term as chair of the Ministerial Fellowship Committee, and who is a past president of the UUA (1979-1985), shared some reflections on, as he said, "what some say may be the world's second oldest profession." Then certificates were given to ministers entering preliminary fellowship and attaining final fellowship, with the hand of fellowship extended by Rev. Pickett, the Rev. Dr. John A. Buehrens (UUA President 1993-2001) and the Rev. Mr. Gary E. Smith (president of the UU Ministers Association).
The Rev. Dr. David P. Hubner recognized those completing their service in ministry. He noted that for most "retiring" UU ministers, retirement did not in fact end their service, but simply shifted the ways they serve.
The thousands of Unitarian Universalists present, assembled in the Cleveland Convention Center's Public Auditorium, then expressed their thanks and celebration for the new and retiring ministers with applause and a standing ovation.
An offering was taken for the Living Tradition Fund, which provides financial assistance, scholarships and grants to ministerial students and to ministers. The Rev. Dr. Ralph Mero urged that those present consider seriously increasing the amount of contribution they'd planned to make, Then the chorus sang Carolyn McDade's "There Is a Time," with the refrain, "Blessed our lives, blessed our love."
The Rev. Gilbert began his sermon by noting that this year is the fortieth anniversary not only of the Unitarian Universalist Association, but of his own ordination and marriage. After he was literally called to preach this sermon at the Service of the Living Tradition, he chose a theme of vocation for this sermon, with the text from a poem: "Many are called, but most are frozen."
He recalled his own call, heard at age 14 at a Boy Scout Jamboree, his path from a "mighty faith" to skepticism, his call from parish ministry to study academically the practice of religion, and his call in 1965 to Selma, resulting in his sense of a calling to return to the parish ministry, where he still serves.
The call, the invitation from life to live fully and with purpose, is there for all, he told the crowd.
But our lives are often so busy that we may not hear our call, or, if we do, we may not heed it. This running away from our call he named, following Maslow, the Jonah Complex. People tend to run away from opportunities to be their best.
Where does the call come from? Some, Gilbert said, would call it God. Others might say an individual, or the depth of consciousness. Gilbert, though, is less interested in what he called the "geography" of the call - where it comes from - but rather he is interested in the power of the call.
Other "calls" pull at people today, including the call of the marketplace or the call of the ladder of success. Or people fail to hear the call because so many are busy talking, not listening.
Gilbert pointed to a source that claimed that many Unitarian Universalists consider their UUism as their hobby, and suggested that we all ask: is this our hobby?
He also spoke of the difficulty in following a vocation, answering a call, when people have more opinions and fewer convictions.
Gilbert stressed the call that all people have: to do better than we do, to be better than we are. "To be is to be for others." We are called, he told the assembly, to come out of a culture of contentment, to commit to a ministry of love and justice.
"Listen -- hear -- heed," Gilbert closed.
Gilbert's sermon was followed by a choral response: Phyllis Bethel's "Souls A'Gathered," repeating the theme of "listen."
The Rev. Buehrens led the commemoration of ministers who had died in the past year by reading a roll call of their names and saying a prayer for their continued presence in our lives. The Service's traditional "For All The Saints" followed.
The Rev. Miller, in her benediction, spoke of a call to action in a world in need of our blessing. The chorus sang one more selection, "Deep Peace" by Bill Douglas and then the Service ended with a postlude.
The choir, the Singers of the Living Tradition, consists of UU ministers, students, educators and family members. The choir director was Dr. Toni R. Tollerud, music director at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of DeKalb, IL. The accompanist was the Rev. W. Donald Beaudrealt of the Unitarian Universalist church of Sarasota, FL. The organist was Marcellene Hawk, Director of Music at the First Unitarian Church of Cleveland.Reported for the Web by Jone Johnson Lewis; photos by Bill Lewis
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