Year: 2019 (Page 15 of 20)

By now you probably know that  Gretchen will be taking a sabbatical from from Monday, May 6th to Sunday, August 11th. Her last day on the pulpit was Sunday, April 21st.

The practice of Sabbatical is long established in many religious traditions.  It represents a “time away” for settled ministers and is seen as essential to maintain the overall health of their ministry. Sabbatical is a mechanism to provide both minister and congregation an opportunity to “Water the Tree” through introspection, reflection, and stopping. These past few years have been momentous in the life of the church, with a seemingly unprecedented amount of change. Gretchen, as our Senior Minister, has been at the center of it all. Now is a time for her to step back from her regular duties into a time of refreshment, renewal, and personal growth. As you might imagine, unplugging is difficult. It will take intention on all of our parts to respect and trust the sabbatical process, as well as to lean into the processes and systems that have been set up within Foothills over the past few years.

When we were a smaller church, our minister would go on a holiday, and the staff, lay leaders, and guest speakers would step in and fill in the gaps.  Now that we have grown, both in size and organizational maturity, it is clear that a more professional, thoughtful and intentional approach to sabbatical is appropriate. 

This is an opportunity for all of us in the Foothills community as well.  Naturally, there are responsibilities Gretchen has held, that need to be shouldered. There are logistics to manage, and that calls for courage, trust and stepping up from all of us. We have been together in this journey from being and operating like a small church, to being and operating as a large church. In the past several years we have developed in terms of organizational leadership, policy governance, and staff size and capabilities. In my mind, this sabbatical represents an opportunity to more fully lean into our own leadership, individually and collectively.  

Our ministers have worked together on developing a comprehensive plan to ensure that we maintain momentum during this time, and that our priorities are advanced both in within the church and in the larger world. A key part of that plan is that Sean is stepping into the Chief of Staff role during the sabbatical.

In order to make the most of the opportunity for our congregation to intentionally and thoughtfully learn and grow from this experience, a Sabbatical Team has been assembled.

Our charge is to observe, record, and communicate the impact of the sabbatical. We will be the pulse-takers, listeners, and recorders on behalf of the church. Our intention is to bring about Sabbatical at Foothills as an intentional, thoughtful, and forwarding practice that strengthens us and supports everything we are up to. 

The Sabbatical Team is lead by Bruce Wagner and includes Susan MacQuiddy, Andrea Bazoin, and yours truly (Doug Powell). We have been working closely with Sean and Gretchen throughout this preparation process.

Our team is meeting with staff, the Board, and congregants before, during, and after the sabbatical. The Sabbatical Team holds no authority. Rather, we are available to hear and record comments, concerns, ideas, and experiences of our church members and leadership. We are not the decision-makers, rather we are the ones to receive, distill, and reflect individual and collective experiences back to the church community, leadership and ministry.

This structure enables everyone to be supported through this process, while providing a mechanism for observation and communication.  We are excited about this opportunity for growth for all of us, and enthusiastic about the progress our church community has made. Growth that enables us to stand in this place, looking forward at this time of sabbatical, embracing the uncertainty, and seeing the possibility.

Thanks,

Doug Powell
Sabbatical Team Member  

At the end of each Sunday service at Foothills, we close with these words: “…our service has just begun…”

These words remind us, challenge us, unite us, to leave the relative comfort of our sanctuary and go be of service. That our purpose is caught up with that of our world – not only ourselves.

After listening to Rev. Gretchen’s sermon on Sunday, I was reminded that these sending words are not only necessary because the world needs us. They are necessary because WE as humans beings need to serve. We need to connect to something larger than ourselves. We need the relationships born of struggle that change us. We need to remember that we too have worthy gifts to offer. In short, we need to receive the gifts of our own service.

It was this line that sparked the theme for the upcoming installation service, where you — the people of Foothills — will install me as your called Associate Minister. Our theme Connecting to Serve is at the heart of the ritual of installation, but it’s much more than that. It’s a challenge and an invitation for each of us to install not only an associate minister, but our (re)commitment to the work of courageous love here in our lives and in Northern Colorado.

Here’s the invitation: during the month of April we have over 300 spots open across 16 distinct opportunities to serve with one of Foothills’ partner organizations.  

And the challenge: we are going to fill every last one of them.

We are going to clean up our beloved Buckhorn Camp, get Respite Care ready for their prom, help Homeward Alliance assemble breakfast bags, and write notes of care and support to incarcerated Unitarian Universalists. And much more.  There are opportunities for people of all ages to participate.

You can browse all the opportunities and sign up online.

P.S. Because the installation is the same time as our mobile Food Bank, and we don’t want to cancel that, we are hoping you’ll all think of someone you know (who is not a church member) who might be willing to volunteer at our Food Bank this one day.  And then, invite them to sign up online. Not only does this help our Food Bank continue, but it also helps spreads the gift of service – the connection – even beyond our own community.

It’s one of the most basic realities of being human: we need help. So, why is it so hard to get “help” right? Many of us are taught to value self-reliance, and independence – and asking for help requires we inform other people.  As in, broadcast our weaknesses, incompetence, inadequacies for others to see? No thanks!  On the other hand, when we asked to help someone else, we know it can feel really good to have that chance to be close to another.  We see how asking for help is not weakness, but strength – requiring courage and trust.   As Brene Brown reminds us, “our vulnerability is…the birthplace of joy, of creativity, of belonging, of love.” Still, it’s often hard to know if the help we offer is actually helpful. We aren’t sure if it’s too much, or not enough.  If we’ve come in with too much of our own culture, our own values, our own assumptions, our own pain….our own needs… Offering help often brings us right back there – to our own needs, our own insecurities – if we let it. Because helping always puts us in touch with our limits. Our humanness.  For the next five weeks, we’re going to dive into this basic human reality of “help.” Asking for it. Receiving it.  Giving it.  And even, dealing with the feelings of helplessness that are also a part of being human.   Because even though it is integral to being human, help is something that takes practice, and self-awareness, and an fundamentally spiritual orientation.  That is, a willingness to live in to our fundamental dependence. To accept that we are not in charge or control of most things in this life. And yet to know that this can be a gift – as we come to embrace and give thanks for the piece that is ours.  Our unique place and part in this great interdependent web of all.   Join us this Sunday, March 31st, as we kick off this new series, Help Wanted.   Guiding Music We always choose one song for each of our worship series that we sing or perform in every Sunday in the series.  It’s usually something you’ll find yourself singing later in the day, without even realizing it.  Because music connects in the deepest parts of our brains, the idea is that we’ll connect more fully with theme, and bring it into our everyday lives. For this series, we’ve chosen Come With Me from Joe Jencks – who provided special music in the services on February 24th. It’s a great song acknowledging the ways we need each other in this life.  Can’t wait to sing it with all of you throughout this series!! Go Deeper – Resources for further reflection on the theme People who need help sometimes look a lot like people who don’t need help. – Glennon Doyle 1.  Want to help someone who’s struggling? Here’s a great mantra: Comfort In, Dump Out.  Check out this article for more details on the “ring theory” of helping. 2. Have you seen the original TED Talk from Brene Brown? Have you seen it lately? There’s a reason that it went viral. It’s a transformational look at vulnerability, shame, and courageous living.   3.  Ram Dass’s classic book How Can I Help? remains a great resource on helping in all its forms.   4. One thing we’ve been thinking about as we explore this series is the problems with how we think about “helping” at a social level. Here’s an articleexploring the problems with the way we think about solving poverty, as one example.   5.  A great model of helping – giving and receiving – was a part of many of our childhood’s – or our children’s childhoods.  If you haven’t caught Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, the story of Mr. Rogers, now’s a great time – it’s out on DVD.   We usually think of giving as more important than receiving. Yet only by receiving light can flowers grow into their beauty and pollinate the earth. Only by absorbing rain can the earth grow what feeds us. Only by inhaling air can our bodies walk us to each other. Only by accepting each other’s pain and vulnerability can human strength grow between us. In these ways, receiving involves absorbing, inhaling, and accepting the life that flows through us, between us, and around us.  – Mark Nepo Join us for the whole Help Wanted Series Every Sunday – in person, or online.  8:30, 10:00, or 11:30 am until April 28th when we begin our two-service schedule at 9 and 11 am.

• 

Newcomers, the Now-Settled, and Longtime Stalwarts –

The Hospitality Team would love to welcome you to its fold. Every Sunday a team is required to create a worship experience that sends you back out into the world fortified and thinking.

Most of the year, we have three services every Sunday: 8:30, 10:00, and 11:30. Even though the first and third tend to be lower in attendance then the 10:00 service, it still takes the same number of volunteers to staff the experience. Some of the jobs require some experience, and some don’t. The Hospitality Team typically arrives 30 minutes before the start of the service for updates/support and some position stay active a few minutes after service.

For example, we need per service:

Two Greeters – the best position for newcomers, as no experience or knowledge about the church is required. You just need a friendly, welcoming persona.

One person at the Welcome Table – arrive 30 minutes before service begins and return to the table after service until your replacement arrives. If you are a newcomer, you can still do this by pairing up with an experienced member your first few times. You may get questions you can’t answer – I’ve belonged to the church for 30 plus years, and I still can’t answer all questions, so I have mastered, “I don’t know, but I’ll find someone who does.” Kathryn Boyle and Kristen Psaki are always floating about (soaring is more like it), ready to help.

Two Ushers – this requires very simple and straightforward training, or pairing with someone who’s done it before.

One Sound Booth Expert: this requires training, but we have folks to train you if sound technology is an interest.

One Slide Technician – this requires training. Again, this is relatively simple, and having done slides several times and made just about every mistake possible, I have found the congregation and staff to be most forgiving. It does help to sing along with the hymns. Anna Broskie (anna@foothilsuu.org ) does the training and always has your back during the service.

Coffee Captain/Coffee Barista – this is two jobs. Our most excellent staff have written out the direction with pictures even, to make this job easy for anyone to execute, even if you are not a coffee drinker – and serving coffee to UUs earns you high praise.

As I write this on the day after Pi Day, the math shows these equals 10 volunteers per service or 30 total per Sunday. See why you are needed?

Finally, Kristen and Kathryn meet with the Sunday Hospitality Team before each service with updates, there is a whiteboard in the office where you can document questions or ideas you have, and every month or so we meet at church for a simple potluck dinner to process how the Team is doing, get to know other team members (a real plus), and to receive some thoughtful wisdom from Kristen.

Don’t be shy! The church needs your service. The congregation is loud in their gratitude. Do yourself the favor of joining the Hospitality Team here.

Jane Everham, a Hospitality Team member