Sermon:
We partied down on Friday night at our 60th anniversary celebration. We worshiped, shared stories, honored our founding members and founding generation, and we had a sumptuous dinner. We also re-membered. Re-membering is a way we bring together the stories from our past into a whole that can inspire us for the future.
The historian, David McCullough, writes that, “History is who we are and why we are the way we are.” I would add that history also defines who we will be. We can reject those who came before us, or we can stand on their shoulders and create an even more hopeful future.
We need to celebrate our rich history and honor those who have worked so hard to build this church into one of the largest and most dynamic Unitarian Universalist congregations in America. But we cannot stop there. We must learn from our founders how to be re-founders, as Lindsey Harmon writes, how to “reach beyond this tiny space we have in time” as Peggy Fisher writes, so that we may dream and then make our dreams come true. And we must recognize, as Natalia Averett expessed it, “The future of UUCA is now.”
So how will we re-found and re-build our church in these next 60 years? Many of us won't be here in 60 years, but it's not about us, is it? It's about those who follow us, our children and their children and all children who will need this church. Make no mistake, we are in this church because we want to make a difference in our world, and there can be no greater purpose to our lives than that. Our founders certainly made a difference in the world, and now it's up to us to do the same.
If we are to build on the accomplishments of our founders, let's build on the three major themes I keep hearing over and over again when I hear the stories of the sixty years this church has been a living, breathing reality in peoples' lives. The first theme is that the founders believed our faith should be spread far and wide across this land.
For those who weren't around in those early years, you've probably heard the name of a man who would surely be a saint if we had saints in our movement. Most of our founding generation once eagerly crossed the Potomac River on Sunday mornings to hear Dr. A. Powell Davies preach from the pulpit of All Souls Unitarian Church.
A. Powell Davies was arguably the most influential Unitarian of the 20th century and one of the most prominent political gadflies in Washington D.C. during his 14 year ministry at All Souls. He's largely responsible for all of us being in this church today, for during his tenure he inspired the birth of seven new Unitarian churches, and those churches then gave birth to more Unitarian congregations so that this area now represents one of the largest concentrations of Unitarian Universalists in the country. Our church was the first of Davie's children, and then we helped start two grandchildren congregations, one in Fairfax and the other in Accotink.
When confronted with the realities that our movement is small and fragile, Davies replied that, “Not only can we live while other, older movements die. We can fill the place they must relinquish. We can claim the world tomorrow... We can do this if we choose to do it, and if we have the courage and energy to back our choice.”
Davies believed with his heart and soul that our faith was worth growing, that the world needed our saving message, and that we had a responsibility to open our doors wide to all. Our church took that message to heart and grew significantly in those early years.
Yet, since that time growth has been controversial in our church, as well as in our movement. Some fear it's challenges. In a strategic plan about 15 years ago, it was stated that we should cap our membership at 1,000, and now we are close to that magic number. And then what do we do, lock our doors? Take down all of our signs so no one can find us? Tell our children and friends that they will have to search elsewhere for a church?
Let me say it clear: there should be no limits on our growth, no cap at 1,000, 2,000 or 3,000. Once you set limits, then you lower expectations and motivation. We should always be making room for more.
If we don't have room in our worship services and religious education classes, then we can provide more worship services and classes. If we don't have room in our building, then we do what has been done in the past, we build more room. Or we spin off satellite congregations. There are always options for growth. There is always room for more, and we need to make room both in our building and in our hearts by welcoming everyone who needs us – everyone – into this church. And I expect that in the next 60 years we will double or triple or quadruple our size, because there are many people in our community who are hungry for our message.
Growth will come when we realize that the world desperately needs our message. This is another legacy of our founding generation. They left us a message that can transform lives and change our world.
Humanism is the belief that galvanized our founding generation, helping them stand up to the dehumanizing theology and politics of the day. Humanism proclaims the responsibility and power of humanity to change our lives and our world for the better without being dependent upon a supernatural deity. It looks not to another world for our salvation, but to our intimate relationship with nature and the cosmos.
Most of us here today – including myself – would describe ourselves as humanists, and yet there has been a tension over the years between those who wish to add additional layers upon their humanist beliefs, such as Earth-centered pagans and liberal Christians, theists, mystics, and naturalists, as well as Buddhists. That tension has led to rich conversations and an ongoing evolution and deepening of our beliefs, and may that continue for another 60 years.
But most important is our common message that every human life is precious beyond measure, as is the Earth itself, and that we must do all within our power to protect and nurture “the inherent worth and dignity of every person,” and to have “respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.”
Mary Lathram told me that she spoke with a gay couple who came to our church for the first time and told her that she could have no idea of how much it meant to them to have a religious community like ours who welcomed them so warmly. I've heard similar comments from many different people in different circumstances. We cannot forget that our message is life-saving and world-saving and that if we don't proclaim it and live it out, then who will?
In these next 60 years I foresee our congregation becoming a lifeline for thousands, a theological wellspring that sustains and nurtures people from all over the Washington area. We will spread our life-saving and world-saving message on television, the internet, and face to face so that everyone knows what we believe and why we believe it. We will be a congregation of evangelical Unitarian Universalists who are proud of who we are and the difference we make in the world.
And we will live out that message. Perhaps the greatest legacy of our founding generation has been its commitment to peace and justice in our world. When those folks tell stories of our past they are usually about what we have done to make this a better world:
...the picnic at Bon Air park where our members were harassed for having blacks and whites mingling in public and where one of our black members was arrested;
...our work to defeat segregation in Arlington and Virginia, and our anti-racism, anti-oppression efforts;
...the building of Culpepper Garden as affordable housing for the elderly;
...our Welcoming Congregation for gay people and our saying no to the death penalty;
...giving sanctuary to a Salvadoran family, worshiping together with Mt. Zion and Our Lady Queen of Peace churches on Martin Luther King's birthday, helping save New Orleans, Peace Camp, and now being involved with our hispanic neighbors;
There's so much more we've done together, so many stories of living out our values and principles. In the next 60 years I see our church increasing its involvement in the community with every member expected to participate in at least one of our social justice programs. I believe we will become known as an undeniable conscience for the Washington area, the church that lives out its values and principles so passionately that everyone knows what we stand for, the congregation that works with other religious communities and organizations to leverage power for the powerless and to speak for those whose voices are ignored.
But this calling will not be easy. I see one of our biggest challenges for the future as becoming a multicultural congregation. In a religious community and denomination that has a vast majority of white, middle class members, how do we relate to and work with and invite into our community people of color?
My hope is that in the next 60 years – in fact, let's make it a lot sooner than that -- we cease being an island of whiteness in one of the most racially mixed communities in America and instead become a rainbow of diversity.
My hope is that we will install swinging doors on our church, welcoming all into our sanctuary of hospitality, generosity, and justice, and at the same time continually moving out into the wider community to stand side by side with those who are struggling for basic needs and human rights.
We have made big strides, and I especially have great hopes with our leadership in the new congregational organizing group called VOICE, where we are working with other faith communities across boundaries of race, class, and creed, to achieve justice. To be an effective force in our community and to truly live out our values, we will be challenged to engage multiculturalism personally and as a congregation, and I believe we will meet that challenge.
This past Friday we commemorated the 40th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination. Many of you know the story of his journey to Memphis. His support of the sanitation workers was highly controversial. Some of his aides thought his advocacy for a class issue rather than a civil rights issue would weaken his influence. But Dr. King went where he was needed, and he was desperately needed in Memphis.
In his last speech the night before he was killed, he told people that he'd lived long enough to see the lunch counter sit-ins of the early 1960s. He'd seen the protests in Birmingham. He'd delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963. He witnessed the signing of two major civil rights bills. America was moving forward, though reluctantly.
"Well, I don't know what will happen now," he said that night, perhaps reflecting on the many threatening phone calls he'd received in the middle of the night. "We've got some difficult days ahead." His flight to Memphis had been delayed by a bomb threat, so his words were solemn and sharp.
"But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop and I don't mind," he said, giving thanks to God for letting him live through such interesting times.
"And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain,” he preached. “And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land."
I believe the Promised Land Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke of that night is the same Promised Land we are moving toward in this church, a place of peace, justice, and human dignity. We may never get there since it is a place of perfection, but we will – we will – continue on our journey together, with the spirit of our founders and Dr. King and all those who believe in the greatness of the human spirit, at our sides.
We will continue that journey against all obstacles, and when we die we will pass on our hopes and dreams and values to the next generation so that they may come ever closer. In the meantime, may we never lose sight of that Promised Land and our ability to make a difference in the world.
So may it be.
This I Believe by Natalia Averett
“Don’t just speak about it, be about it,” so says the rapper T.I. I may be taking the words out of context but the statement says briefly, way more briefly than I could, my motto and my vision of what our congregation is and will be. The Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington is what it is because it was founded on principles of progressive dialogue and responsible action. Rob Keithan of the UUA Washington Office for Advocacy asked “If your congregation was not here, would anyone notice?” How would the numerous community organizations which rely on funds and volunteer hours from UUCA be affected- organizations like the newly assembled Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement, Sullivan House, Arlington’s original family shelter and Culpepper Gardens, a non-profit retirement and assisted living home and the first of its kind in the country? Would we notice if we lost a spiritual home and place where people of all ages were encouraged to develop their own identity and ways of being? Since 1948, we’ve welcomed many voices and continued to both affirm and promote the principles and actions, words and deeds that put the planet and its people first. UUCA has for many members, been a rock in a sea of change, strong and consistent at its core but changed and moving with the environment to new places and becoming along the way a smoother and beautiful product of its past. A youth at the district conference said “We can not wait for the future, we are here today.” I hope we will take this to heart and continue to be what we have always been: here, voices loud, boots in the dirt and eyes on the future. The future of UUCA is now. Here’s to us being what UUCA is in 2068.
Reading: “To Reach Beyond” by Peggy Fisher
Is there a way to reach beyond
the tiny space we have in time?
Can mortal men and women find
an earthly immortality?
We'd like to plant some trees and flowers
to grow for others to enjoy.
We'd like to cultivate a brave idea
and nurse it to maturity.
We'd hope to turn this brave idea
to service with the men and women
and the children whom we love
for them to share and pass along.
We yearn to foster beauty with
such skill as we possess. With art
and music we would save
a little of the loveliness we know.
We yearn to find the words to write
in poetry and prose the feelings
deepest in our hearts to speak
with generations yet to come.
Perhaps it's not too much to hope
that life has deathless qualities
that reach beyond this finite time,
this precious time we have on earth.
Reading:
"Founders and Re-founders" by Lindsey HarmonThose who founded this church
Near a half-century ago
Were young men and women
in their 20s and 30s and 40s.
Only two gray heads among them.
to give of their wisdom.
Their children outnumbered them.
in those pre-ZPG* days.
They were bold, gay, courageous;
as they built the foundation
Of the great church we have now.
They blazed bright new trails
thru the staid, stultified jungle
Of Harry Byrd's Old Dominion.
A brick church in a weed-patch
on Arlington Boulevard
Was outgrown before occupied.
Defying judges and governors,
they brought racial integration
Where it was still illegal in schools,
libraries, parks, and theaters.
They grew like a bay tree.
They built an addition
And filled it to the rafters;
They up-ended tradition.
Now worn and aged, they look
To a new generation
To transform their tradition
In the New Century
In the bright new millennium
that is close upon us.
* Zero Population Growth
Young men and young women
Now face new challenges
Not foreseen by the founders
Whatever their wisdom.
The founders bequeathed you
A tradition of courage
A strong organization,
A fine sturdy new building
And a mountainous mortgage.
"To you, from failing hands
they throw the torch.
Be yours to hold it high."
You yet unborn when
This church was founded –
It's yours to carry on.
We, surviving founders and
Followers of the first generation.
We accept, with glad gratitude,
The honor you do us.
Now we in our turn salute you.
You be the founders of
The next generation and century
The coming Millennium.
Young hearts, young hands,
Young minds unencumbered
By old ways and old customs.
You are the new Founders!
October 3, 1996
