June 15, 2003
Rev. Dr. Frank Carpenter,
D.Min.
St. John's Unitarian Universalist Church, Cincinnati, OH
Creative Love, source of our hope and courage, we are grateful to be called here together today. We give thanks for this place of caring and support. Each day brings its challenges and we would ever know where we may turn. May we always face each day positively. May we always be reminded that we are held in love by family and friends.
On this Sunday with its summer light and air, we give thanks we are children of this bright blue planet. Flowers bob. Birds sing. Rain patters. Friends gather. People play ball and listen to music. We give thanks.
We are grateful for those who lead our congregation. Often making decisions is a thankless job and we would like to say thank you. Leaders do the small things that make our great hopes possible. For the little things, the times of meeting and consideration, we give thanks.
Our high idealism, our wide diversity is a constant call to us. Here disabled and artist, transgender and lesbian, African American and Caucasian, pagan, humanist and Christian gather to support our mutual spiritual journeys. Ever-Renewing Hope, may our hospitality be hindered by no categories. May we learn new lessons about one another. May we take the risks growth requires of us.
Let us abide in the purity of silence:
May you walk this day in the true light. Amen.
Last Sunday, Board Vice President Judy Buxton had an early morning meeting. As she drove up to the church, she saw something written on the sign on the front lawn. Someone had marked, "Fags only."
She came into the building, found some Spic ‘n ‘Span and tried to wash it off. To no avail. She called Cliff Shisler and asked him to bring some material to take care of it. Cliff tried mineral spirits but they did not good. Finally he applied a number of layers of white spray paint.
What do leaders do? Why do we need to praise them? Being a leader is often a thankless job. They do lots of little things, all the little acts which make it possible for us to gather Sunday morning for worship. Much of it is unknown, getting bids for a new boiler, working on budgets, and, yes, they spray paint signs to rid us of the wounds of vandalism. Let us praise our leaders for the little things they do.
Leaders make it possible for people who are discriminated against and alienated to have a home, a sanctuary. We know that GLBT people are discriminated against in Cincinnati because there is law, Article 12, which says you can’t do anything about it. We know African American are discriminated against.
Some artists feel alienated from the city. While last Sunday’s New York Times described the Center for Contemporary Arts, "The most important American building to be completed since the Cold War," some artists are experiencing prejudice. A play has opened at Know Theatre Tribe on Sycamore Street in Over-the-Rhine. Corpus Christi is no stranger to controversy. The play, written by Terrence McNally, suggests Jesus was gay; not a new concept. But the protesters are out, many wanting it closed down. Another example for some of an anti-art bias was a recent police raid on a gallery citing them for alcohol violations. From what I have read, it looks as if most non-profits would be in trouble for serving alcohol in Cincinnati if this is the actual policy of law enforcement officials.
The leadership of St. John does the little things, often the unheralded things that it possible for St. Johns to be here, and indeed known as a haven for GLBT people, for creative artists, for pagans, for the disabled. The commitment to being a place free of bias is expressed in our Mission statement which we read together a few moments ago as our morning’s Affirmation.
We understand that our commitment is expressed in the Principles and Purposes of the UUA, found inside our hymnal. The first principle lifts up the central concept of human rights. We read that we affirm and promote ‘the inherent worth and dignity of every person." We don’t understand that there are exemptions to this because a person is black or yellow, because they are gay or transsexual, or because they are artists or pagans. Its about every person, its about you and me, its about beggars down town.
St. John’s leaders do the little things that make this place possible. That’s not always easy, to be a leader in a diverse group. Different people have different expectations, and we say that is good, but it isn’t easy. This is a home for gays and lesbians. Pagans have a home here, Christians and humanists are welcomed. Families with two moms are welcome here as well as families with a working mom and a stay at home dad. Our hospitality knows no categories.
Last Sunday when Judy Buxton arrived and saw the desecration of our sign, her feelings were of pain and fear. She felt slapped, threatened and hated. St. John’s is about overcoming those experiences. We are about being a haven in the midst of negativity and meanness. We are about creating a city where you need not be deceptive about yourself. We would build a world where none need hide from those they love their inmost truths. We are about building our personal lives not on fear but trust. We are about hope, not hatred. Here at St. John’s we are about strengthening liberal family values.
That’s what we say we are about. Diversity is our talk. When gays or pagans, Christians or disabled call upon leadership to walk the talk, it promotes new learnings and new tasks. Leadership in a congregation celebrating diversity requires a commitment to personal and congregational growth, a deepening of the appreciation of what it means to be human.
Leadership is, I think, always about growth. We cannot lead unless we are ready to take risks. Leadership needs ever to keep its eyes on the prize. Leadership understands that our job is to close the distance between the ideal and the real. And it means knowing we will be challenged because there is that distance, and we are not yet at the promised land.
I suspect that one of the areas of diversity here at St. John’s is on the question of leadership. I myself tend to be anti-authoritarian. As a liberal, I am suspicious of power, ‘power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.’ On one hand I feel that I need to take into consideration what every one concerned feels is right. On the other hand, I feel that a leader must do what she feels is right. Being a leader does not absolve me from having to live with myself.
And I think that there is ambivalence amongst you about leaders, which goes beyond different leadership styles. We bring together here people who are libertarians as well as people who have a lot of experience in management. Some people want leaders to solve our problems and others are cynical about leaders because they haven’t solved all the problems. We live in a country which has a strong tradition of being suspicious of government, yet looks to it for support. On one hand, we Americans believe in due process leadership based in human rights; on the other hand, we want a vigilante leadership to rid us of suffering and evil. Americans are ambivalent about leadership.
Yes, I suspect that there is some diversity of feeling here about leaders, about leadership.
But leaders do the little things; there are rarely any heroics.
One of the great spiritual leaders of the last century, Mohandas Gandhi, remarked ""Almost anything you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it." Leadership looks to the bright side. It thinks positively. It places the details in the larger picture, always knowing that any action we take seems like a small one, but it is important. The fundamental responsibility of leadership is to hold close to the vision of the group, of the people.
In our responsive reading this morning, we talked about people sharing a common direction. Always we need to be sharing what that direction is, what is the mission, the vision. Here we say
We, the members and friends of St. John’s Unitarian Universalist Church, do endeavor to create a safe and caring community together with those who seek and cherish worship without creed, a free and thoughtful search for meaning and a responsive outreach to the wider world.
But it is always a matter of doing little things, taking small, perhaps thankless steps. It is good to keep in mind Margaret Mead’s remark, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it’s the only thing that ever has."
When I think about leadership, I often recall an experience I had at one of our Unitarian Universalist summer camps, Star Island. Star Island is ten miles off the coast of New Hampshire in the Atlantic Ocean. My task for the week was to talk with the Island management about doing a job that would improve life on the island.
Off I trooped and talked with the Island Manger. What he wanted done was to have the rocks removed from the beach. While Star is an island in the Atlantic, to speak of it having beach is somewhat misleading. There was about a twenty foot wide area next to the dock leading down to the waters edge, the water usually being in the mid-fifties. And it is mostly rocks, on a little sand and a lot of ledge.
‘No guts, no glory here,’ I thought.
During lunch the next day, I made an announcement to my 200 fellow UU’s about the Island management’s hope and that I would be down at the beach after lunch moving rocks.
I went down and starting tossing rocks from the beach. Soon another person came along. He said he had forgotten about the task until he saw me. He started throwing rocks. ‘Leadership by example,’ I thought to myself. Soon another person joined us, tossing rocks off the stony beach. A couple of kids and a youth soon joined.
Soon a person came along and suggested that we get rakes to help us. "Great!" I said. We soon had a couple of rakes. Then someone suggested that instead of randomly tossing the rocks off the beach we create a two foot wide path down to the water. ‘Great!" said I.
Within an hour or so, we had a twenty foot long path to the water. Children, and more to the point their mothers, could get to the water without a perpetual balancing act to avoid twisting ankles and cutting toes.
I spent most of the time tossing a random rock and admiring the good work of the others. I knew that we had accomplished a small act, we did it together; but that if I had not come down and, like Higgins in our story, started all by myself tossing one rock at a time, it wouldn’t have happened.
Leadership is about doing the small thankless things.
In our responsive reading we said, "We need to make sure our honking is encouraging. In groups where there is encouragement, the production is much greater. The power of encouragement (to stand by one’s heart or core-values and encourage the heart and core of others) is the quality of honking we seek."
I am asking you to praise our leadership. They do the little, thankless things, week after week, that make possible the things we all want. Think of it as encouragement, as honking. That way we will be the caring community we seek here in Cincinnati. That way we will transcend the hatred and meanness of everyday life.
Please, keep on honking!