There are so many things I love about what First Church in Sterling is doing these days. It was their community conversation that caught my eye.
But probably half of what I love is that they invited those that come to "bring snacks to share." Often we want to be in the position of "host" which communicates graciousness, welcome, but also that we want to be charge of what is happening. The note to bring snacks insists that we are all creating this conversation, even those who have never been here before.
Community Conversations
First Church (UCC/UUA) in Sterling, Massachusetts has started a group of conversations in their small town. The first conversation was “Finding Your Line: A Community Conversation on the State of our Nation” and led by a member of the congregation.
Fifty-five poeple came! All ages, and about ten with no prior affiliation with their church. Pastor Robin Bartlett started the gathering with the story of Martin Niemöller and his familiar yet chilling quote "First, they came for ...". A lay leader, Peter Rezac, described his recent arc of realization regarding current affairs; he called for paying attention, seeing clearly, and acting quickly when it is needed.
They used a listening circle where people could say whatever they wished, but the focus was on three questions:
- What line do you fear will be crossed—or do you feel has already been crossed—that demands your action?
- What’s something you personally would be / are willing to risk to stand your Line?
- What’s something the church might do to stand its Line?
About twenty-five of those present spoke, some responding to what others said. There was deep, resonant emotion and tears from some, while others spoke calmly with clear determination. There was charisma, humor, and panache, as well as apparent reticence overcome by resolve. All the comments seemed touching, respectful, open, and vulnerable. The majority of people focused on what lines they feel have already been crossed, illustrated by large-scale socio-political observations, intimate personal examples, specific recent news stories, or decades-long themes.
A few people identified specific actions or types of actions that we as individuals, a community, or a church may want to initiate, including:
- Organize and Connect
- Participate in upcoming protests
- Help Humans
- Prepare to hide / harbor / protect members of particularly vulnerable groups (refugees, activists, etc.)
- Consider what resources we might share with those who have lost jobs, benefits access, etc.
- Vote / Get Out The Vote
- Pray
They also talked about how to communicate their work more broadly, in part by connecting to other organizations doing this work
- Publish any future meetings more widely (in all town newspapers, etc.)
- Connect with other churches and social organizations to share information, meeting invitations, organization, and action for greater effect
- Check out and perhaps connect with local groups like Indivisible
- Explicitly Invite All
- Plan some meetings in non-church buildings to ensure a stigma-free option for all to participate
- Make it explicitly hyper-clear that all religious/political/demographic stripes are welcome to participate so long as they want to follow the path of Love.
The group noted that they have moral clarity about the issues at hand and that the other side seems to hate this clarity, making it a valuable rallying cry. They also emphasized that loving kindness (not to mention courage, resolve, connection, etc.) matters.
The church took advantage of the crowd, gathering contact information, sharing their contact information, and planning another meeting quickly after this one.
This is not First Sterling's first time to engage in action. They attended the April 5 protests as a congregation, in 2019 hosted families from the nearby Islamic Center, became Open and Affirming in 2017, and more. And they aren't stopping now. Their next discussion is Behaving Decently.
This conversation will focus on building compassionate community grounded in truth, with love as our practice. They will gather all who are wondering how to remain grounded in morality while the US descends into a political, economic and constitutional crisis. They offer an opportunity to be around others who strive to live humanely in the midst of inhumanity. The meeting will have opportunities to share anger and hope, to discuss concrete actions preparing for coming economic and political hardship, and to learn techniques for resisting forces that seek to divide, isolate and dehumanize us.
People of all faiths and no faith; people of all ages, races, ethnicities, towns, abilities, sexualities and gender expressions are welcome, along with their kids. Childcare is provided.
And last of all they add: fascist governments hate strong, loving, joy-filled communities with good food. Bring snacks to share.
I am particularly interested in hearing what "purple" congregations are doing in these times. How do you keep conversation going, rather than shutting down, in the face of political differences?
Reply to this email to let me know what's happening.
This lovely video (4:51) from 2017 tells you more about what First Church in Sterling has been doing over the years to keep talking to each other, and to the world. They call the video "heart surgery."
This blog post about a building shared with an immigrant congregation gets at the idea that it is quite radical to stop what we are doing and just listen to others.
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