Unitarian Universalist Church at Washington Crossing

At the annual planning retreat on Aug. 22, the Board worked at identifying some goals and direction for the Board and the congregation.  My article in the September Crossings relates to the Board goals for the new church year.  A big question came up, based on some small group work that included myself, Charles, and Ludy, and then discussed with the rest of the Board and Robin Pugh.

We began to think about where we are in our history — in about six years, we will be at our 100-year anniversary!  We thought about what was going on with this church about 50 years ago — it was close to the time when the church began thinking about relocating from Trenton and taking the risk of building in our present location.  Whatever you might think historically about the wisdom of that move, it certainly took a leap of faith.  So we began to ask ourselves, What characteristics as a church community, are we going to need or develop as we approach our 100 years?  Are there new opportunities for another leap of faith?

There is widespread agreement among the present board that two of our present strengths are our ability to demonstrate that we care for one another, that we are there for each other in times of celebration, struggle and sadness.  And we have a commitment to reach out beyond our walls, beyond ourselves and demonstrate our concern for justice and equity and compassion in our local communities and beyond.

In uncertain times such as these, it is quite a challenge to plan for the future, to give ourselves the luxury of dreaming and thinking about the big picture, much less the big questions.  And yet our thinking is that we may have another opportunity, like 50 years ago, to commit ourselves, our time, our finances, our abilities to embrace another leap of faith.  One that strengthens our caring for each other and for demonstrating our care and concern for those outside of our community.

We have six years… we need to start talking about it.