March is Pledge month. It’s the time we come together to support the special place that is this congregation for another year. We hold up the programs and the buildings, the worship and the activities, the family ministry and the music, the pastoral care and the people, our friends and opportunities, and how each of us is inspired to be our better selves, and to feel good about ourselves and our time in particular and our lives in general, even in the face of all that which would might have us feel otherwise.
What we don’t talk about much or name very often, but which I feel so quietly and strongly each time we come to this moment, is the grace that surrounds and emanates from the very presence of UUFH in Hendersonville.
By grace, I mean the sense of something more, more than one would anticipate or expect or can even really account for; that something more that happens and ripples out into the world in feeling and affect because we are here, living out our values, carrying our message and practice, connecting our energy and our lives and our inclusive orientation into our relationships and the world around us.
Our collaboration with Pam and Charley Rogers is a wonderful example of just such grace and importance beyond what we anticipate from the sum of our efforts. They are the force and the energy behind the Charter for Compassion and Compassionate Congregations. When we spoke last week about the upcoming Heart of Hendersonville kick off that is happening March 15, we talked about the Fellowship and the reality of that sense of networked contributions.
Here’s what Pam wrote to share:
“Two years ago, the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Hendersonville partnered with The Charter for Compassion International as a Compassionate Congregation. You said let’s walk the talk of bringing compassion to life. And then you made those intentions real through a collaborative effort with other Hendersonville Compassionate Congregations called Turning Conflict Into Community. This successful, bold initiative brought folks with opposing political views together in dialogue right when we all needed something to give us focus and hope. Together we began to open pathways to mutual understanding, respect and peace between divided people.
You kept going and helped shape the second annual collaborative effort of Compassionate Congregations into The Heart of Hendersonville Project. This effort takes the next step in walking the talk – coming together with understanding and respect to find creative solutions to issues facing our town.
The purpose of the Project, modeled after a similar program in Brevard, is to strengthen our city by actively engaging all its communities in conversation and connection so we might “find our way back to each other” and a more shared and felt sense of common good and neighborhood.
The launch event for the Project is [described below]. Your Fellowship has taken the initiative to partner in compassion, and every member is now a stakeholder in the success of the Project.
The first part of your role which you do so well, is to “show up” – to be present; to be a voice and to be a force in the audience on March 15th. Then comes the real “heart” of the work: each congregation and group is being asked to follow the Launch Event with a four-session congregation-led study group using Parker Palmer’s book: “Healing the Heart of Democracy so that we can come back together in July for a community-led Action Circle.”
Whether you as an individual participate directly or not, you are a part of the Heart of Hendersonville by belonging to and supporting this congregation. You are part of being important to and for your town. Thank you for all you do to help us all inspire each other, encourage each other and keep each other moving forward toward a vision of compassion and care for our community and our neighbors.”
Thank you for being UUFH – where grace and hope become real. Thank you for the something more of goodness and right relationship that your pledge helps create in our lives, our community and our world. Yes, you too are the Heart of Hendersonville.
—Rev. Jim McKinley, Minister