The View From Here
by Rev. Adam Blons, Lead Minister
What an Annual Meeting Sunday! Thank you to everyone who stayed for the meeting, to those who led and presented, and to those who did all the preparation ahead of time. It takes all of us to do the work of the church! As this year unfolds, we have important work ahead together as we discern God’s call and renew our mission as a church.
For those who weren’t there, things got complicated during the discussion of the ceasefire resolution. This important discussion challenged our individual and collective understanding of how to use Robert’s Rules of Order. Robert’s Rules, written by US Army officer Henry Martyn Robert in 1876, arose after he was asked to run a church meeting a few years prior and quickly realized he was in over his head. Robert’s Rules were modeled on those used by the House of Representatives, but adapted for use in other organizations, especially volunteer organizations. The general idea is the rule of the majority with respect for the minority.
As your pastor, one of my responsibilities and highest priorities is to support congregational discernment. This includes our spiritual attentiveness as well as our practical decision-making. On the practical side, Sunday revealed that we don’t all know and understand Robert’s Rules (including me). This creates a power imbalance, with some people feeling confused and left out of the process. Confusion about the practical side makes it hard to do the spiritual discernment about what is underneath the words and how God is calling us. As I look ahead toward our discernment of a clarified mission and vision for the church, we need to create a more supportive space for discussion and decision-making, especially if we hope to hear from new voices and divergent perspectives. With a heaping spoonful of God’s grace for one another, I know we can do this!
I am looking forward to this coming year and all that God is doing in our midst. May we continue to cultivate courageous and faithful spaces together where we can grow to be the people God calls us to be.
