by Carol Taylor | Jun 3, 2015 | DRE Blog
June 14 marks our annual Transitions and Bridging service, where we honor the transitions of our children and bridge our youth into young adulthood. Bridging is an interesting word, as a bridge implies that there is solid ground to land on when you reach the other side. Yet, many of our youth leave our congregations and feel lost in an adult world that doesn’t quite know how to include them or doesn’t respect the skill and creativity they have to offer our congregations at age 18, 19, 20… They often don’t find a congregation to land in until they are in their late 20’s or begin a family, if at all.
I wonder if the youth who bridge can ever really know the magnitude of the moment. The adults in your faith community – the ones who have watched you grow, taught you RE, covenanted at your child dedication – they are there urging you to cross into the next phase on your life. Like a proud mama bird, they are pushing you out of the nest. They are telling you “Now is your time, fly! Go discover yourself and the world.”
Whether it is a bridge to a set path you have determined or a nest high in a tree that you fling yourself from with abandon, don’t rush to land. Take time crossing the bridge, rebuild it if necessary. Find a new way. Make this time an adventure and alight when you are tired or need sustenance or find yourself lonely. After all, you will be busy, your life will change drastically if you leave home to go to school or to work. There are new responsibilities to take on and the excitement of being on your own. The changes you experience will come fast and furiously. Remember you have a faith home that loves you and wants to include you, even as we struggle with creating space for the fledgling adults in our communities. And when you do return, I know that with your help we can change our ways and learn how to better include you in our worship, work and play.
Safe journeys to our bridging youth!
by WUUC | May 27, 2015 | Minister Blog
Transitions. That stage where everything that was is being let go of and what is to happen or be next has not yet happened. Moving from what is known or familiar into a new way of being or doing. An interstitial time.
Transition means change and change can but does not have to mean conflict. But it can mean some discomfort, confusion, and chaos for a certain period of time. Times when we forget to breathe. Or as Mark Hopkins shared with us from his Buddhist group, “Don’t just do something- sit there!” Sit there and be with all that is happening and comes up for you when in the midst of transition and change.
When I first picked the theme of “transition” for WUUC, I was thinking of the fact that June is the month when we celebrate the transitions that our children and youth make: the children moving up a class and the senior youth bridging from youth into young adulthood. I had no idea that we would be having such massive staff transitions. We have hired a new Member Coordinator (Karen Hyams) and are working on how to get the work of the Director of Lifelong Learning done. We were not successful in finding a candidate for the position. And we will be looking for an accompanist.
On top of that, we are shifting our governance structure to try and increase member involvement while not overburdening or burning folks out. Right now there are more questions than answers when it comes to the governance transitions. There maybe confusion and some chaos for a while as we figure it all out. But I am excited about moving away from committees to teams that are task oriented. We are looking at the “work” of church as “ministry.” Congregational consultant, Dan Hotchkiss says that “Governance is about mission, the strategy for getting there, and protecting people and property from harm. This is the work of committees. Everything else at church is ministry and that is the work of teams.”
So, transitions are us here at WUUC for some months. Buckle your seat belts and hang on for the ride…
Rev. Lo
June 14 marks our annual Transitions and Bridging service, where we honor the transitions of our children and bridge our youth into young adulthood. Bridging is an interesting word, as a bridge implies that there is solid ground to land on when you reach the other side. Yet, many of our youth leave our congregations and feel lost in an adult world that doesn’t quite know how to include them or doesn’t respect the skill and creativity they have to offer our congregations at age 18, 19, 20… They often don’t find a congregation to land in until they are in their late 20’s or begin a family, if at all.