Hello Church Family,

It has been a busy month in my household as I imagine it might be in yours. We’ve had a birthday, a new job, back to school for the kids, and back to school for me as a professor and as a student.

The next two weeks will be busy here at UCG. I am writing this the day before the Church Council meets on August 21st. The Pathfinding Subcommittee Report will be sent to all members on August 22nd. We’ll have an informal opportunity for questions after the service on August 25th. There are 7 additional opportunities for small group Q&A offered before the Congregational Meeting on September 8th. By the time you read this, we’ll be neck deep in that process and have a better sense of the outcome

As I write this today, I don’t know the outcome – if only! If only I had access to a bona fide crystal ball. If only I could fast forward to the finish, then rewind with the forecast. If only the gift of prophecy should arrive just on time. Alas, I have neither crystal ball, nor supernatural VCR, nor prophetic abilities. I don’t know the outcome of this process – and I have some anxiety about that.

One way I have always coped with anxiety is by trying to imagine every possible scenario and envisioning the accompanying solution. I like to believe that this makes me ultra prepared to face any situation that could arise. Nothing can cause harm if I’m already prepared with the solution to avoid harm in the first place. This has given me a finely tuned ability to think through multiple aspects of a situation – some might call it overanalyzing. It is exhausting – as you might imagine. It’s also not particularly effective. Humans being humans, we rarely do what one might predict.

The next couple weeks ahead of us are full of “human problems”. We will all have our individual reactions to the report and this process. Some of you, like me, might feel some anxiety. Others might feel anger, dismay, or confusion. Or peace, or hope, or a sense of purpose. You might even feel two seemingly contradictory feelings at the same time. Our feelings often influence the way we act – consciously or unconsciously. Your actions might look like venting, or praying, or laughing, or dreaming, or asking lots of questions, or something else. Now, take that muddled individual experience, multiply it times the hundreds of people in our community and throw it all into a blender! How we move forward from this moment is a “human problem” and there’s no “one-size fits all” outcome for that level of complexity.

I have a magnet on my desk at work that says, “So far, my track record for getting through hard things is 100%”. At UCG, we have done hard things together before and our track record for getting through them is 100%! Go us! There is no reason to believe this particular hard thing will be the one that does us in. But how do we do this hard thing with the different feelings, thoughts, and responses that I imagine we are having at the time you read this?

Sometimes, instead of trying to prepare for every eventuality or trying to reinvent the wheel, it’s worth looking at what has worked before. The third verse of Amazing Grace says, “Through many dangers, toils and snares I have already come, ‘tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.” Grace.

Grace is one of those funny words wrapped up in the religiosity of my youth but the concept is still beautiful to me. Sometimes when we borrow money there is a “grace period” before we are required to repay. We get a moment to breathe, to plan, to be free of immediate expectations before something is required of us. The dictionary also offers a definition of “courteous goodwill” or “an attractively polite manner of behaving.” The first definition of grace frees us from immediate expectations and the others set expectations for how we might act in return. Grace is a reciprocal effort. We offer grace in our expectations of our fellow congregants, and in how we act toward one another.

The report you have received has been written with a great deal of thought about how to proceed with grace, how to create clarity in our procedures that allow us to live out our Compact, and how to move the entire congregation forward in health. To be frank, that requires a great deal of compromise and a hearty helping of grace from everyone. No one person or group is going to get everything they might have hoped for as an outcome. In that, I deeply believe we all end up with what we need – if we commit to the process together.

I don’t know the outcome. I do have faith in you, my fellow congregants, to live and act in grace. In doing so, I feel I can confidently predict that we will all be okay.

In love,

Lindsey Telg

Moderator