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Connecting Congregations,
Communities by Ministry
Reaching out to the larger community can be a challenge for congregations.
Social justice volunteers in the congregation have only so much time.
Parish ministers have to devote most of their time to the congregation.
But an increasing number of congregations are finding another way to
reach out: ordained community ministers.
There are three categories of UU ministers: parish ministers, ministers
of religious education, and community ministers. Community ministers
are generally those who are employed outside a church setting. Typically
they do healing or justice work, as chaplains or in a wide range of
social service and social justice organizations. Community ministers
are ordained and go through the same process as other ministers to gain
UUA fellowship. To remain in fellowship, they are required to have a
relationship with a UU congregation, district, or UUA affiliated organization.
Such an association, called an "endorsement," is helpful to
congregations as well as ministers. A minister benefits by having a
place that supports her or him spiritually and provides social connections.
The congregation gains by its connection with a minister engaged in
the community.
Additionally community ministers generally preach at the congregation
at least annually and can conduct funerals and weddings and perform
other services in the absence of the parish minister. The congregation
and its members often support the minister by making contributions of
time and money to the minister's community work and to the minister
as well.
There is no precise figure as to how many congregations have relationships
with community ministers. The practice is expected to become more common
because more than a third of UU theology students describe themselves
as focusing on community ministry.
The UU Congregation of York, Pa. (264
members), has had a formal relationship with community minister the
Rev. Kathy Seitz Bortner for five years. Bortner joined the congregation
in 1985 and a year later became the crime prevention coordinator for
the York City Police Department. In the mid-1990s, convinced that the
work she was doing was ministry, she went to divinity school and then
was ordained in 2000 by the York congregation. She continues to work
for the police department.
Bortner attends half the congregation's board meetings, writes church
newsletter articles about her work, serves as a consultant to social
justice groups in the congregation, meets with every New UU class, and
helps lead the Build Your Own Theology class. In return, the church
provides her with professional expenses and some office space.
The Rev. Robert Renjillian, York's parish minister, says having Bortner
in this capacity is a plus. "It means that this congregation has
more than one minister paying attention to what's going on in the congregation
and the community," he says. "Just this week there were two
community luncheons and I couldn't do both so we each took one."
He adds, "I'm committed to social justice also, but because I'm
a parish minister I need to mostly focus on the preaching, teaching,
and pastoral care. Knowing I have a colleague who is helping maintain
UU connections in the community takes an immense weight off my shoulders."
The Rev. Maddie Sifantus is a community minister endorsed by First
Parish in Wayland, Mass. (329). Sifantus is the longtime director
of a community elder chorus, The Golden Tones. The chorus does 60 concerts
a year at nursing homes, schools, and churches. Sifantus' ministry is
to the 58 members of the chorus.
Many of its members are un-churched. Some are First Parish members.
"I deal with all of the issues around aging and death and dying,"
says Sifantus. "I do pretty much all that a parish minister does
except there's no church building to do it in. I visit people in hospitals,
do counseling, funerals, strategic planning, and budgeting." For
First Parish, Sifantus conducts workshops on aging issues, serves as
liaison with an interfaith prison ministry group, and occasionally preaches.
The Golden Tones is considered one of First Parish's ministries, and
the congregation provides some of its financial support. "The congregation
enjoys helping to provide her ministerial presence in the larger community,"
says the Rev. Ken Sawyer, parish minister at Wayland. "Her ministry
contributes so much to the town and the surrounding area."
The Rev. Dorothy Emerson is editing and co-writing a book on community
ministry. She believes community ministers provide one of the most effective
ways for congregations to reach out beyond themselves. "It's hard
for congregations to do social justice work with only volunteers,"
Emerson says. "They burn out. But community ministers working with
a congregation can help organize the whole congregation around a project
and keep it going." She adds, "Community ministry is where
the potential today for Unitarian Universalism is."
The Rev. Jeanne Lloyd is president of the UU
Society for Community Ministries, a professional organization for
community ministers. She herself is endorsed by UU
Society: East in Manchester, Conn. (264), where she consults with
three of its committees, accessibilities, Journey Toward Wholeness,
and social justice. She occasionally preaches and fills in at other
times for the Rev. Josh Pawelek and is available to conduct rites of
passage. In return the church pays her for preaching and pays a stipend
for her to attend General Assembly. Congregation members also help support
the nonprofit she works for, The Arc
of the Farmington Valley, where she is director of community services,
helping people with disabilities make connections with other people
in their communities.
Lloyd believes many congregations are not aware of community ministers
until one approaches them, seeking endorsement. "We hope that congregations
will be excited about having another trained minister in their midst
and that they will see that this can strengthen their congregation,"
she says.
Income can vary for community ministers. Emerson estimates that perhaps
half of them work for established community organizations such as prisons,
hospitals, hospices, the military, etc., where compensation is adequate,
and the other half are likely to have income that is uneven, with little
or no benefits.
Relationships between congregations and community ministers typically
come about when the minister, already employed in the community, approaches
a congregation and asks for endorsement.
"Community ministry is something we want to encourage," says
the Rev. David Pettee, the UUA's ministerial credentialing director.
"I think of these ministers as the people who are taking the mission
of a congregation directly into the community. "
RESOURCES
For additional information on community ministry, go
to www.uua.org/programs/ministry/community,
or the website for the Society for Community Ministries, www.uuscm.org.
January
2006 Index · Leadership Resources
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