We are a faith community of big dreams and collective power.

A couple dozen lay leaders and First U staff attended Dr. Elías Ortega’s workshop on Forming Our Faith, Shaping our People, and Sustaining Our Mission. I’m still thinking about so much from Dr. Ortega’s visit and from his teaching and preaching with us. As I said on Saturday, I see so much of First Universalist in the ways of being that Dr. Ortega and other religious leaders are naming as essential to meeting this moment. I’ve found myself especially drawn to the Four Pivots outlined by Shawn Ginwright that Dr. Ortega shared:

Awareness
Pivot from problem-solving to possibility-creating

Connection
Pivot from transactional relationships to authentic relationships

Vision
Pivot from scarcity mindset to abundance mindset

Leadership
Pivot from clergy-led/lay-supported to lay-led/clergy-supported

These are pivots we are actively engaged in making as a faith community, and I can already see the strength these changes are seeding in us. And as I reminded us on Saturday, these changes—these culture changes—take sustained effort to come to fruition. Most experts will tell you that culture change takes 5-7 years of concerted effort to truly take hold, and that in times of stress, most individuals and communities revert back to old ways of being, even when they are fully committed to the new, more life-giving ways of doing things they have grown and developed. 

What does this have to do with church right now? What might these pivots mean in our own individual spiritual lives and in our collective community life? What shape might these pivots take, and what might they allow us to do? 

I know that the leaders in this community are already thinking about these questions, and I look forward to continuing the conversation with them and an ever-widening circle of church members and friends about who and how we are, and the future and present we will shape together. We are a faith community of big dreams and collective power. We are meeting the moment of rising authoritarianism, democracy in peril, and the targeting of maginalized communities with resistance, resilience, and care. We are growing in compassion, community, and justice. There is so much we can do and be together now, and for times we shall never see. 

But most immediately, we need to fund our 2025-26 budget. We are $150,000 short of funding our program and staffing goals for the year ahead. What can you commit over the next 14 months to help us get there? And who will you invite to join you in that increase of giving? Every dollar counts. Can you add $100 to your giving this year? Or $1000? Or $10,000? Or more? 

If you have already made or increased your pledge, thank you. You are shaping this community, determining who and how we are, and what we can be now and for the future. Who could you call to ask to be your personal “matching gift?” Who could you remind that we are not alone, that we can hold this together if we both give boldly? Whatever you can do, we need you now. Staffing and programming decisions will be made in the next three weeks as we build a budget that matches our financial resources for the church year beginning on July 1, 2025. 

It’s time to move from scarcity to abundance and from problem to possibility. How will you make this move with us?

In gratitude for all the ways we shape this community, together,

Rev. Jen