Ministerial Record

The Rev. Dr. Cathy Harrington  

 cathy.harrington@icloud.com  231-301-3177 “ https://revcathyharrington.com
Last Updated: May 1, 2023

Experience & Preparation Preliminary Fellowship: Full Fellowship: 2008

Ordination: 2004
Seminary: Starr King Mdiv 2004; Meadville Lombard DMin 2012 Congregational Ministries Served:

Other Ministries and Work Experience:

Other Education:

Professional Certificate in Conflict Analysis and Engagement 2010Advanced Mediation Training Oakland Mediation Center

IMN Interim Training, Fundamentals of Transitional Ministry: the Work of the Leader August 2014IMN Interim Training

The Work of the Congregation 2015

Lead Facilitator Training for the Institute for the Healing of Memories North America

I am a life-long learner and am enrolled at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga from 2014-present. Classes have included; Creative Writing, Elementary Spanish I & II & Spanish Conversation I, Latin American Studies, African American Literature, Crisis Intervention & Trauma Response, the History of Film, the History of the Death Penalty, Literary Analysis, etc.

Dr. Edwin Murillo, my Spanish and Latin American Film class professor, spoke at church in April. His presentation, The Eternal Immigrant; Life on the Hyphen, was a brief history of Latin Americans. It was his first experience with UU’s, and he has offered to continue to be an ambassador for Latin American in my anti-racism work with congregations. If you are interested in seeing his presentation, let me know and I will send you a link.

Other noteworthy work experience outside of UU ministry:

Victim Outreach Specialist; contract with U.S. DoD 2012-2014

I worked as contracted victim liaison for the U.S. Department of Defense for families of murder victims in a major death penalty case, and for the Legal Defense Fund/NAACP on a Juvenile Life Without Parole case in Mississippi. I have also assisted the ACLU of Michigan as an expert witness and public speaker in their struggle to eliminate the Juvenile Life Without Parole mandatory sentence in Michigan declared unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court.

Police Chaplain with Chattanooga Police Department 2016-present (International Conference of Police Chaplains trained and certified)

Lead Facilitator/Regional Coordinator for The Healing of Memories Institute North America 2016-present

Denominational and Community Activities:

* Served on the Heartland District Board of Directors 2008-2012* ICPC trained volunteer police chaplain 2016-present

* Established Tennessee as a Healing of Memories North American region with the aid of grants from Veatch and Faithify. Founder of the Healing of Memories Institute in Cape Town, South Africa, Father Micheal Lapsley has facilitated three workshops in Chattanooga and we have trained five facilitators who are working toward certification.

I have recently been asked to join the UU Trauma Response team and will be taking the Critical Incident Stress Management Certification course to fulfill their requirements.

Background

Give a story that embodies your ministry:

Several years ago, when I was working with the Faithful Fools Street Ministry, I was charged with shadowing a high school student on a day- long street retreat in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco. As with many religious organizations, youth are given the opportunity to serve meals to homeless people in soup kitchens, but the Faithful Fools offer the experience of bearing witness by spending a day (or a week) with no money, no cell phone, and nothing to do but be fully present. I had been on many retreats before but never had I been solely “responsible” for a teenager as he experienced for the first time the foreign and dangerous world of poverty and oppression. I followed him nervously trying not to intrude on his experience until time for lunch. As he found his way to the food line at Glide Memorial Church, I stood directly behind him protectively because of a group of men who were hanging around a parked car drinking and smoking. In a matter of minutes, the men noticed me and the boy standing in front of me. One of them said to me, “I can’t believe what I’m seeing! What are you doing here? You look like you have a job!” I responded honestly telling him that I was a seminary student and that I was studying to counter oppression in the world. I was relieved when he seemed content with my answer but then he said, “So what is HE studying?” referring to my young charge. Without hesitation and not knowing where the answer came from, I said, “He is studying to be a human being.”

Why are you seeking ministry now?

My work with the Unitarian Universalist Congregation Asheville will be completed June 30, 2023, and I am looking forward to helping another congregation navigate the challenges of the transition process while finding joy and inspiration as they look forward to their future ministry.

What ministry do you hope is ahead for you?

My wealth of experience and training have well prepared me to do transitional ministry with UU Congregations as both a Developmental and Interim Minister. The transition process can be filled with anxiety and self-

exploration for congregations, and I feel that much my ministry is to rebuild confidence and trust, bring joy into their lives and walk with them in love.

Describe your call to ministry. What life events have led you to this moment?

My call to ministry first appeared when I was in the first grade and I witnessed the almost daily paddling of a boy who was developmentally disabled. It was a cruel and discriminatory and all I knew was that he needed love not punishment and that I wanted to help him. I had an experience that I consider an epiphany many years later while doing volunteer work at the Whitten Center, a state home for adults with complex and severe disabilities. I recognized the inherent worth and dignity of the residents and volunteered to give free haircuts at the Center one Sunday a month for almost ten years and I took my children with me every chance I could. I wasn’t a UU at the time, but I wanted my children to grow up to be compassionate and loving adults with a sense of responsibility to make the world a better place.

I opened the Miller’s Daughter Bakery/Café, my dream come true, in Seward, Alaska in 1997. The bakery was born of my desire to create a space for people that would feed their souls as well as their bodies. I discovered later that my call to feed people was a call to ministry after co- founding a UU Fellowship in my community and working closely with UU minister, Beatrice Hitchcock. It was from there that my path led me to Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley where I spent five years preparing for Unitarian Universalist ministry. Thankfully, I had the wisdom to take a class with the Reverend Kay Jorgensen and Sister Carmon Barsody during my first semester at Starr King and became a devoted Faithful Fool forever. I traveled to Nicaragua with them four times and went on many street retreats. My ministry has been shaped and informed by the work of the Fools and Kay’s mentoring.

After serving four congregations in transition over the past nine years, I have recognized that one of my strongest gifts is helping congregations in the throes of conflict. My first task is to build relationships, trust, and enthusiasm while injecting joy, hope, love, and fun in all that we do together.

Ministerial Roles & Functions

Share your ministerial presence and leadership style:

If the congregation is looking for a priestly figure, they would be disappointed in my authentic style. I tested as an INFP at home and an ENFJ at work. I love coffee hour but am exhausted on Sunday afternoons. I don’t normally wear a robe for regular Sunday worship, reserving vestments for weddings, funerals, and vespers but don’t object if vestments are a part of the culture of the church. I wear a clerical collar when I attend public protests, marches, and vigils. I have been told that my presence is authentic and comfortable. I have no problem being in difficult situations, and I’m comfortable showing up for people dealing with illness, grief, and death. I love weddings and encourage the couple to do pre- marital counseling (Prepare/Enrich) with me because I think it is a valuable beginning to their marriage and we get to know one another prior to the ceremony.

How do you function with church staff? What are your thoughts on staff relations and supervision?

I have been supervising staff since my first management position with Regis Hairstylists in the early 1980’s. I owned a bakery/cafe with 10-15 staff members and have served four congregations.

My style has always been an atmosphere of openness, respect, and trust. I’ve had to fire a few people in the course of my career, but I recognized that it is in everyone’s best interest to be held accountable for their actions.

I would add that I lose some sleep when a tough decision such as letting a staff member go is on the horizon. I also believe in transformation when difficult situations are handled with care and in accordance with our first principle.

If expectations are known and respect is mutual, wonderful things tend to happen.

I believe having a good relationship with the church staff is integral to the success of our church as a whole. My supervision style is to be respectful of their gifts and invite them into collaboration and creativity as we strive together to achieve the mission and vision of congregation and its members.

Regarding shared ministry what do you see as your work as minister? What do you see doing in partnership with the congregation? What do you see as the work of the congregation?

I believe that my work minister first and foremost is to get to know them and love them while reminding them of their strengths and accomplishments. It is also my role to help them understand their congregation’s cultural and communication system in order to identify areas that have become rote or unconscious. It is important for the minister to assist the congregation in articulating their mission and vision.

As a transitional minister, I want to be sure they have processes in place to engage effectively with disruptive behavior as well as being intentional about appreciating one another through joyful celebration and affirmation. The transitional minister will look back at the congregation’s history, cycles of growth and decline and help them tell their stories. In the first few months, I will do a lot of listening. In some instances, it is a matter of reframing their stories of failure and owning responsibility when things didn’t go well.

With appreciative inquiry, I will assist them in articulating their mission and vision. As needed, we will take a look at their governance policies and procedures, leadership development, hospitality, path to membership, and communication practices.

I love working with Worship Teams and staff in creating meaningful worship services and opportunities for faith development or spiritual growth.

What role would you see yourself playing in the larger community?

Social justice and community outreach are important aspects of my personal call to ministry. I believe that it is important for the minister to be active in a multi-faith clergy group and to show up for vigils, protests, and community justice actions.

In the past, I was trained by the International Conference of Police Chaplains and served a a volunteer Police Chaplain for two years while in Chattanooga. I found the experience challenging and rewarding.

I am also a lead facilitator for the Institute for the Healing of Memories and find meaning in working with Veterans with PTSD, victims of violence, and more recently Health Care workers. This is volunteer work that I do once or twice a year during personal time. To learn more about the Healing of Memories, see their website: https://healingmemoriesna.org.

How have you seen change happen in a congregation or community? What role would you see yourself playing in congregational change?

Change is always happening in communities and congregations as with life, but congregations and ministers often delay dealing with or accepting change for too long. One congregation I served was reluctant to change the long-standing practice of keeping the moveable doors closed to the sanctuary until ten minutes before the service on Sunday mornings so that a small group could meet for candles and concerns. The problem with this was that the social area was over-crowded and chaotic as people arrived for worship and visitors were lost and confused. After careful consultation

with the people most affected by the change, we experimented with moving Candles and Concerns to a RE room and opened the doors permanently giving the church a more spacious look while showing off the beautiful sanctuary. It also provided more room for the overflow chairs when attendance exceeded the norm.

In one of my interim positions, the Sunday Services Committee was still operating much as they did for the 44+ years of being a lay-led fellowship without understanding the role of professional ministry. It took some patience and time, but we now work together collaboratively and creatively with mutual respect for theirs and the minister’s roles and responsibilities. The multiple talents and gifts of people on the worship teams I’ve worked have provided a rich spiritual experience for all involved. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

The Asheville congregation had some much needed changes made to their communications and in streaming their services to those beyond the inner circle. Their attendance and membership was dropping off radically. I advised them to purchase the appropriate music licenses and bite the bullet by putting the link to Sunday Services on their website. This didn’t happen overnight because of fear and resistance. Their search process is now complete with the culmination of Candidating week and a 99.6% call of their new lead minister, Rev. Dr. Audette Fulbright Fulson on April 30, 2023.

Describe how you handle being in a conflicted situation:

I’ve been a minister long enough to have been in a few conflicted situations, after all conflict is normal and when handled well need not escalate. We are taught in seminary to be self-differentiated as ministers which sounds reasonable when reading about it in a book, but in real life situations, I’ve learned, requires self-awareness and the ability to step back and not get triggered. There were times when I was triggered and needed to check in with a colleague to get feedback. I have learned ways to avoid unnecessary conflict through good communication, effective policies, and building relationship, but when conflict is unexpected I am wise enough to know that the problem is rarely the problem; look beneath the obvious and take time to listen to all involved so that I can try to understand what is really going on. And, thank goodness, I can check in with a trusted mentor/colleague as needed, and I know when to seek the assistance of outside help such as Congregational Life staff or Good Offices.

Tell a story that deepened your understanding of what ministry is:

When I was in seminary, I worked part-time at the Center for Attitudinal Healing in the Home and Hospital Program which was similar to Hospice. My first solo experience with death was a call for help from a young woman whose mother was dying of lung cancer. Anna had called the Center for Attitudinal Healing for help and we had tried to arrange a visitor for her mother, but because she lived almost an hour away we didn’t have any luck. I sent her some referrals for other services and two tapes of peaceful music to play for her mother. Anna had taken her mother into her home to care for her in the last months of illness and in addition to caring for her dying mother she was taking care of her three-year old daughter who was ill with leukemia. This tough young woman was coping with a lot and when she called to say that hospice told her that her mother could die at anytime, she sounded frightened. I asked her if she wanted company, and she was so relieved when I said that I was on my way. I had almost an hour to worry about what I would say or do.

When I arrived, Anna took me into her mother’s room where a tiny figure that used to be a vibrant woman was curled up on the bed. She appeared to me to be very close to death. Anna climbed up on the big four-poster bed and cradled her mother’s face in her hands. She told her mother that it was ok if she was ready to go to be with Jesus, a friend had come to stay with her. Anna’s mother was a deeply religious Christian and I agreed to sit with her and read Bible passages to her.

Anna took her little daughter in the other room to spend some quiet time with her and calm her down while I sat beside the bed and began to read the Bible aloud. As I read the passages underlined and dated, I found myself editing because some of those verses were frightening, judgment and hell-fire. As well-worn as that Bible was, I figured Sara knew what I was doing if she could hear me, and I hoped she would forgive me.

Sara passed away died within a half hour of my arriving, and shortly after her passing Anna’s best friend arrived. The three of us sat beside Sara’s bedside and the girls told me stories about Sara and their years growing up together. We laughed, cried, and prayed. They hugged me goodbye and thanked me for being there. It felt like an honor to have been invited into their sacred space.

I will always be grateful that I had to wisdom to answer Anna’s call for help that day. It was the first time that I fully understood the meaning of ministry; showing up with love, courage, and humility.

Tell about a mistake you’ve made in ministry and what you’ve learned from it:

I worked very hard to establish a second service at People’s Church (my first settled ministry) obtaining a Chalice Lighter Grant and engaging a wonderful church liturgist to assist. We called it the “Evening Celebration” because it was to be held on Sunday evenings at 5 PM. It was beautiful! For years, I tried to solve the problem of our crowded sanctuary by introducing a second service, but received no cooperation from the choir who practiced once a week on Sunday mornings at 9:30. Long story short, my mistake was not involving these folks in the planning or decisions around the second service. It failed after a few months and I accept responsibility for that failure. It was my vision, my passion, not theirs. I learned about the importance of process, patience, and communication.

What needs do you have to strengthen your ministry and how might a congregation assist you in this?

As we work to understand white supremacy and the hidden layers of privilege and denial, I appreciate a willingness from the congregation to work and learn together on this critical issue. Since the murder of George Floyd, the congregation I am serving and I started studying together books and resources that might guide us. We are learning together, and their willingness to show up for this difficult work with humility, honesty and vulnerability moves me deeply and makes me proud to be their minister.

The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Gainesville worked together with me to present an entire month of sermons for Black History Month. Contrary to typical concerns, attendance was above normal for all four Sundays in spite of the fact that the services ran long. We are reading and studying Robin DiAngelo’s book, “White Fragility,” and the participants are working on a grant from the UUFG foundation to be able enhance next year’s Black History Month with artwork, African musicians, and outside speakers.

The Guide to UUFG Black History Month
Feb 3 ~ A History of Race & Racism 1619-1876

This week we will focus on the stories of enslaved people and the inhumane conditions they were forced to endure. We will also share stories of courage, resilience, and hope.

Feb 10 ~ TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION: The Power of Restorative Justice by Commissioner Robert Hutchinson

Commissioner Richardson will share the history of Truth and Reconciliation and how it is being developed in Gainesville.

Feb 17 ~ A History Race & Racism in America 1876 to Now

This week we will look at the Reconstruction Era, followed by Jim Crow, and the Civil Rights Movement. How were lives affected in Florida?

Feb 24 ~ A Way Forward Guided by Our UU Principles

This week we will honor African Americans who have changed the world. We will celebrate those African Americans who have enriched America through their art, literature, music, and courageous leadership. We will also explore the racism impacts People of Color today. What will it take to put an end to the illusion of race? What does our commitment to the UU Principles require of us?

Working with these folks from both of these congregations have made me a better minister and a better person.

Describe briefly your ministerial approach to the following:

Worship and preaching:

Sunday worship is crucial to the life of a congregation and I take seriously the responsibility of making worship a meaningful experience. Preaching was probably the reason I abandoned my path toward hospice chaplaincy in seminary after taking a preaching class with John Buerhens who encouraged me to do a parish internship before deciding. I interned in Austin, TX where they had three service on Sunday. It was a preaching internship because when I wasn’t preaching there, I was guest preaching in congregations all over Texas. Dr. Davidson Loehr, my mentor was a brilliant preacher, and he critiqued and challenged my sermons forcing me to stretch and grow. My best sermons are the ones that include humor and stories from life experiences. I think Sunday’s should be joyful and enlivening so that people leave feeling hopeful and inspired to show up for life and make a difference. I also believe that making time for silence, meditation, or prayer and candles is essential in worship.

I’ve been lucky that the churches I have served have given music a priority and it makes all the difference. Even a small church can have a good choir. Music is a language that touches those parts of us that words cannot.

I love having children in worship and was fortunate to have a creative and fun DRE to brainstorm with at UUCC. I saw on facebook, a Lutheran Church that used colorful kid tables and chairs from IKEA to create what they called a “Pray Ground” in front of the sanctuary. They had spent a lot of money creating the space with colorful rugs and play stations, but we just bought the tables and chairs and each Sunday the DRE had something new for them to color or create with pipe cleaners, etc. It’s has added an element of joy and wonder to the service. They leave for their classes following the story for ages.

The story for ages is an important part of the worship experience in my opinion. I shamelessly borrow the parabolic wisdom of children’s books authors, my preferred theologians, to introduce my Sunday morning message because it is a proven way open the heart of the adults before attempting to open their minds. There is a song in our Unitarian Universalist hymnal called, “I Seek the Spirit of a Child,” and it reminds us that life is a gift to be lived with openness, courage, hope, and faith. This is the great gift of children’s books to our weary world. I scan the pages so that everyone can see the beauty and clever creativity of the illustrations.

Pastoral Care / spiritual guidance / counseling / home and hospital visitation:While I was serving in Chattanooga, we lost a beloved congregant to ALS and during one visit she wanted to talk about her memorial service. She had lost the ability to speak by then and was making use of a computer voice. We were in her office and I noticed a calendar on the wall that marked Feb 18 as her birthday. It was the middle of January, and a light bulb when off in my head, “Maureen, wouldn’t you like to have a celebration of your life while you are still here?” She gave me a big smile and a thumb’s up. We didn’t have a lot of time to plan, but the congregation pitched in and we had a lovely birthday party for her with guests coming from across the country. It was as good as it gets, and we learned something valuable. I hope to encourage people to celebrate life with loved ones and friends before its too late. There are photos of Maurine’s celebration of life on my website.

Covid has made home visits impossible until recently, and I learned that hand-written notes and cards go a long way to keeping connected. A group of congregants loved my Candlelight Peace Vespers services, so I started doing them every week during the pandemic with time before and after for fellowship. 

I consider it a great privilege to be invited into people’s lives and their spiritual journey. In addition to my chaplaincy training, I have honed my listening skills through the Institute for the Healing of memories Facilitator training and Defense Victim Outreach training. Holding sacred space by listening and supporting someone as they process the pain or deep questions in their lives is something I know how to do well.

Children’s religious education:

One Sunday, I was leading the worship that day and the choir had prepared a stunning piece that was almost fifteen minutes long. We always had two morning services, 9:30 and 11:00, with a children’s story during the 11:00 service only. The children story was scheduled before the choir, as usual, and when I heard the choir sing, I knew I wanted the children to stay to hear it. When I was in Christian Science Sunday school, we weren’t allowed to attend church until age 21. Every Sunday there is a professional soloist and we were never invited to hear it, something I never understood. I quickly spoke with the RE Director about my idea and she concurred. We dropped the children’s story and invited them to stay to hear the choir before going to their classes. If there was any squirming, I didn’t see it. The children were mesmerized.

We had a Vespers service immediately following the start of the war and invited children to participate. There was a time when everyone was invited to speak a prayer and the words spoken by our children moved most of us to tears. I would like to have more worship services that allow children to attend and participate in the service.

Youth work:

I’ve used my skill as a baker to bond with the youth by teaching bread and bagel making classes. With a strong DRE, I have found that the youth program has been active and successful. There has been a vibrant youth and teen program at UUCC for many years.

When I first arrived at UUCC, it was my job to analyze the system and discover all that was going well. The DRE was half-time and overworked and underpaid. I suggested that we raise her to 3⁄4 time and give her a salary increase. After much anxiety, it was agreed that this would be our goal for the stewardship campaign. Not only did they raise more money than they asked for, but we also had a special collection to replace the 60+-year-old carpet in the RE space and paint the entire downstairs. Since then, the sanctuary, social hall, kitchen, and offices have had new carpet as well.

Bagel classes and Sourdough Waffle Brunches,”HOT” items at UUFG’s Auction were opportunities for relationship building and joy.

Adult religious education:

Small Group ministry is an important part of congregational life. UUCC made it a requirement for new members. UUCC has a forum on Sunday mornings that is educational and appeals to the older humanists in the church.

Other adult offerings have been Harvest the Power, Evensong, a course on Karen Armstrong’s book, Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life and offerings from the UUA Lifespan Curriculum. I have taught classes on bereavement and compassionate care, bread and bagel classes, a Bible for Skeptics class, “White Fragility,” “Serving With Grace,” Evensong, and more.

I love getting to know the older members of the church by learning together outside of Sunday morning.

In Traverse City, the Adult DRE and I created two different six-week classes we call Reading & Writing Whiteness. We started with Robin DiAngelo’s book, White Fragility and moved to Ibram X. Kendi’s book, How to Be an Anti-Racist. We encourage folks to get out of their heads and speak from the heart. The writing element of the class helped us all move into deep reflection that we then shared with one another in a safe and confidential space.

Reading novels by BIPOC authors in tandem with the two anti-racist classes further deepened our understanding and learning. I am a believer in the power of film and literature to educate and shift our perceptions.

I have used the Harvest the Power curriculum to encourage leadership development and have found that the revised version is an excellent resource edited from 12 sessions to 6 making it more accessible.

I have used different “New UU” curriculums but love the Soul Matters Starting Points version and have used it two times at UUCGT.

Incorporating music, the arts, and creativity into congregational life:

A group of women in the Austin church hand embroidered a stole for me that displayed all of the colorful Texas wildflowers. It is a treasure. While I was in Austin, I started a Caring Quilt group and we pieced lap quilts to give to people with illness or needed comfort. Last year, at GA, I ran into a woman from Austin whose young daughter had been a recipient of a quilt when she was suffering from life-threatening illness. The mother told me how much that quilt has meant to her over the years even though her daughter doesn’t remember much about that difficult time. When I lost my daughter in 2004, I received a large package from the Austin church that contained a beautiful queen-sized quilt with over 300 signatures of members. Around the edges of the quilt, the seamstress stitched the chorus of Come, Sing a Song With Me; …and I’ll bring you hope when hope is hard to find, and I’ll bring a song of love and a rose in the wintertime. I wrapped myself in that quilt every night during those dark and depressing winter nights following Leslie’s death and I felt embraced with love. It was like being wrapped in a prayer.

UUCC has Art of the Walls. A dedicated group of people use the walls of the sanctuary to display the artwork of local artists for two months. It is a gift to the community. Another artist in the church offers a Saturday art workshop with the teens every year and their artwork is then displayed on the walls for two months. Congregations can host concerts, Coffee Houses, plays, engaging speakers, knitting and quilting groups, painting classes, yoga, etc.

Community building / facilitation skills / coffee hour and social times:
Congregations need to take time to have fun together. I find that it’s not hard to find volunteers to make these events happen. Community building is an ongoing process and I find that it pays off to spend my first year making this a priority.

Ministers need to be available during coffee hour and this is why I encourage churches to avoid having meetings immediately after the service on Sunday mornings. I also encourage congregations to make an effort to have more than coffee and break a little bread together.

Committee / Task force work:

I like to attend committee meetings as much as possible to offer positive support and appreciation for lay leadership and to keep informed about how I can assist them in their efforts. In the developmental process at UUCC, there was a need to clearly define committee roles and responsibilities. In the past there had been conflicts due to committees overstepping their bounds.

Leadership development:

I have been hands on in this area and have used successfully the Harvest the Power curriculum and other resources such as Erik Walker Wikstrom’s book, Serving With Grace and Governance and Ministry by Dan Hotchkiss.

The Harvest the Power Workshop 2 is an excellent resource that I am using in Traverse City. There is a session on Covenant that proved to be enlightening for the participants. They were able to come to the realization that the covenant was not inclusive and had been written as a reaction to a painful conflict that divided the congregation. I had been trying to guide them to this realization but for them come to recognize this on their own is so much better than my telling the.

I make good use of the UUA consultants and Congregational Life staff to lead workshops and board retreats because they bring new insights and can help highlight the importance of an issue when my efforts failed to get their attention.

Long range planning / mission / vision / covenant:

At UUCC, as their developmental minister we began with covenant. I led five group meetings over an eight-day period staggering the times so that as many as possible could participate. We used the process that was presented at GA several years ago by Victoria Weinstein for creating a new covenant. From each group, I asked for a volunteer to join a team to craft a new covenant from the words and phrases that were inspired by conversations in the meetings.

The five team members and I met regularly to begin the work. After three months of meetings and working together, we were ready to present three options to the congregation. There was an obvious favorite when it came time to vote and the covenanting process was as important as the final product:

We journey together bound
in the interdependent web of existence.
We embrace diversity, own our conflicts,
and assume good intentions.
When we fail, we begin again in love.
Justice and compassion shall be our watchwords and beloved community, our goal.

The next thing I tackled was mission. It occurred to me that if I could guide the congregation through a process of writing an individual mission statement and then condense it down to one word, we might be able to discern the collective mission. I spent six months working on this with them and held a final luncheon/working meeting where they wrote their personal mission statement and then wrote their essence word on polished stone and placed it in a large bowl. Another small team of volunteers from the group worked with me to gather the words and put them together. I used the word salad app to create a colorful and artistic

visual of the words that stood out. I think we had over ten to share with the congregation. They were able to vote on the one that they like the best. After that, we took the top three and went to work. Here’s the final product:

Our Mission at UUCC is to CARE:
Creating beloved community.
Awakening hearts and minds.
Resisting injustice and acting with compassion. Embracing life and caring for the earth.

The visioning process has been taken seriously by the present board and they spent a Saturday together sharing ideas. The present stewardship campaign has been created around the outcome of that meeting. The theme is Tending the Flame; Gratitude for Our Beloved Community. The board has shared their hopes and dreams for the church’s future and the goal of ensuring that the church will be here for generations to come.

Membership and membership growth:

Membership programs like Faith Forward are an extremely useful tool to help visitors move comfortably into the life of the congregation toward membership. It is worth the effort to coordinate leaders and staff to lead a one-hour session every Sunday following the service. We offered good snacks and almost always had a good turnout. If there are children, they have snacks and lots of fun stuff to color or play within the “pray ground.”

UUFG also adopted the practice of having tables up front for the children, and it has been welcomed by the congregation.

Following the 8-wk session, they can join the church but are required to join a small group and attend a new member class.

Anti-oppression work:

We have offered workshops on anti-oppression works, participated in UUA Common Read and there is a forum every Sunday before the worship that addresses social justice and anti-oppression work.

I was a volunteer police chaplain because I wanted to be actively involved in the healing the deep and painful wounds of systemic racism in Chattanooga. I make an effort to be visible at events that bring to light the inequality and past injustices and cruelties. When I first arrived in Chattanooga, I was struck by the number of gang murders of young black men and women. Having lost a child to murder but being a white woman, the only thing I knew to do was to go to their funerals and send notes of solidarity and love. Members of the church and other people in the community against gun violence started to join me. The problem of gun violence is being addressed with community policing–relationship building with police officers and chaplains–but it is far from resolved. Eventually, I was invited by a mother walk with her through her grief and the very painful judicial process.

With the support of the congregation and the Veatch Funding Program, we brought Father Michael Lapsley, a former freedom fighter during Apartheid who lost both hands when he received a mail bomb. Father Michael worked with Desmond Tutu during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and he founded The Institute for the Healing of Memories in tandem with the Commission so that more people could be reached. His work has spread around the world and is now in six regions in North America. Tennessee has just been made the sixth region and we have trained five facilitators to do the work here. The Institute has been working with veterans and families of 9/11 victims and will soon be offering a project called Restoring Humanity in the schools. I am a lead facilitator and am on the Program Council of the Institute for Healing of Memories North America. We would like to offer courses and workshops in seminaries and for ministerial continuing education. The churches that I have served have all be fair-share congregations and I make a point to commend them and help them recognize that their commitment to paying their fair share is an act of justice while supporting our UU movement and its ideals and contributions to creating a better world.

Social justice / social action:

My social justice/social action commitment guides my personal ministry, and I am pleased when a congregation is committed to making it an integral part of their spiritual growth.

Too often, a congregation will be content with a small group of people doing the work of social justice. As a minister, I like to encourage congregations to share their energies to make a greater impact. In today’s world, there is no shortage of causes to adopt. After the Parkland shootings, I printed copies of letters to send to our senator and state representative that people could sign and mail. We even provided envelopes and postage.

Interfaith / community work:

Multi-faith work requires building relationships within the community not just with local minister but with members as well. My first congregation was in a very conservative part of Michigan and a small town. I was ostracized by almost all of the clergy in town. It took time and intentional work of being visible and consistent and over time, I won the respect and support of many other clergy leaders and their congregants. We were able to share educational events, worship, and social action projects. We created an interfaith group called LIGHT: Lakeshore Interfaith Growing Hope Together.

Denominational activities:

I served on the Heartland District Board for four years and have only missed one General Assembly or UUMA Institute since seminary.

I attend Accredited Interim Ministry Seminars and cluster meetings whenever possible.

Stewardship:

As the minister, I attend the Finance Committee meetings and have been on the Stewardship planning team. I have designed campaign literature and worked creatively with the team to come up with a theme and talking points.

My role is to educate the congregation about the importance of stewardship and the critical need for our UU faith in our world today. Year-long stewardship takes time to develop, but I believe it is worth the effort.

Finances:

I take an active role in Finance meetings and have attended workshop on Church Finance and Stewardship. I believe the minister should know everything about the church finances and understand the policies and practices that have been used in the past.

Finance Committees have a tremendous responsibility to the congregation and I appreciate their diligence and integrity. I have experienced congregational boards that don’t do their work of articulating the mission and vision leaving the Finance committee with the job of telling the board how to lead the church, and I’ve experienced the opposite where Finance Committees are too hands off. I have found that spending time revisiting the mission statement as well as the roles and responsibilities of the board and the finance committee is critical to creating the miraculous synergy that happens when boards and finance committees are in alignment.

How do you build trust with a congregation and individuals?

Trust has to be earned by building relationships and doing what you say you are going to do. This takes time. I devote a lot of time getting to know the members, leaders, staff and I love to get to know the children and youth in a congregation. I make time for one-one meetings, open office hours, attend social events, coffee hour and create other opportunities for conversation, like afternoon tea or social time before mid-week Vespers.

I am a big believer in breaking bread together.

Describe your theology and the role of the ministry in a congregation that has multiple theologies:

My dominant theology these days leans more towards agnosticism with Buddhist meditation, music, walking in nature, and poetry as my spiritual practices. Having been raised somewhat lackadaisically in Christian Science, I entered seminary thinking of myself as a Unitarian Universalist Christian. I loved the common sense theology expressed by William Ellery Channing in his famous sermon titled, “Unitarian Christianity.” I’ve grown since then in my understanding of what it means to be a “Christian” and how the usage of theological language is misused and misunderstood. My mentor, Davidson Loehr taught me to speak of the ultimate concerns of being human in ordinary language. He said something to me that I never forgot, “Cathy, if you can’t say what you mean without using religious language, you don’t know what you are talking about.” That said, I love ritual and beauty in worship. I think we impoverish ourselves when we reject the religious beliefs of those whose beliefs differ from our own. I love serving a congregation that understands that they are a congregation with multiple theologies and acts accordingly. The minister’s role is to remind the congregation of our sources and the roots of our faith as well as our principles. 

What questions do you hope our congregations are asking themselves and discussing?

I hope our congregations are asking themselves how they can decenter our dominate culture of whiteness and privilege. UU’s have enjoyed their image of being highly educated and independent of supernatural Christianity. Not shopping at Walmart is not engaging in social justice. Actually, showing up at a Walmart might give UU’s a better understanding of how our country created a Walmart culture. In Ludington, Michigan, Walmart might be the only place where diversity is actually visible. I also think UU’s need to understand is that the newcomers on Sunday morning are not running away from religion, most are unchurched and are searching for something meaningful and greater than themselves. They want to be a part of a safe and loving community and a movement that seeks to make the world just and equitable.

How do you give and receive feedback?

As hard as I have tried to be what others expect me to be, I can’t seem to develop the skills to be anything other than my authentic self. I prefer gentle honesty even when it might be painful. I have faith in humanity and try to meet people where they are with a strong belief that transformation is always possible. I appreciate feedback that is offered respectfully, but I am able to hear even when someone is angry or upset. I prefer openness when there is a problem, and I don’t accept anonymous criticism, but it will often keep me up at night.

How do you suggest your ministry with the congregation is evaluated?

Regular evaluation of the minister and the ministry of the congregation by the Transition Team and the board. The UUA Transition’s office has a template for evaluations of Interim ministry that also includes evaluation of the congregation’s active participation in the process. Monthly meetings are the best time to bring up issues and brainstorm solutions before things go amiss.

What do you hope for the future of Unitarian Universalism?

I believe that Unitarian Universalism’s life-saving message is needed more than ever. It’s no longer enough to profess what we don’t believe. The time has come live up to the “wind we inherited” and use our gifts and our faith to resist injustice and offer sanctuary to the oppressed.

The pandemic has opened our eyes to the many ways white supremacy system that disadvantages BIPOC and the poor. Coming out of the pandemic, we have an opportunity to rethink how we understand Unitarian Universalism’s role in the larger world. I just bought a book of poetry and readings title, How to Love the World. The readings speak to the need to open our hearts and minds and see with new eyes, to stop moving so fast that we miss our lives and unconsciously participate in an unjust economic system. We must pay attention to what really matters, and we learned that we need to be with loved ones more than we needed material things. We now know the value of a simple hug.

We have an opportunity to open our UU Churches to people who don’t look like us, sound like us and may not always agree with us. When we can embrace our nation’s diversity fully, our lives will be richer and fuller. We can save our planet and ourselves by coming to terms with our nation’s history and by truly livingUU principles even when it is inconvenient or hard.

With humility we must accept that we have our own work to do to dismantle white supremacy before we can create a just society for all.

What else would you like to say about your ministry and ministry skills?

I feel that interim ministry suits my particular skill sets that have been growing and changing over the years. At times, I have considered giving up parish ministry for chaplaincy or counseling. I tried full-time victim outreach work for a couple of years and found I missed the long-term adult relationships and the inspiration of interacting with children and youth. I love weddings, pastoral care, memorials and funerals, and writing sermons. I find myself singing hymns from the previous Sunday in my head all week long. I would miss the sacred gifts that are ever-present in the life of a minister.

I have also learned some hard lessons along the way and experienced the tragedy of losing a child. I understand grief and trauma from that experience and since have dedicated my ministry to learning to understand what leads people to commit violent acts and how to respond with love and compassion to those who have been harmed. I am passionate about the volunteer work I am doing as a Lead Facilitator for the Institute for the Healing of Memories founded by Father Michael Lapsley in Cape Town, South Africa to work in tandem with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The Institute now leads Healing of Memories workshops in many countries around the world.

This will be my retirement ministry https://healingmemoriesna.org. But in the meantime, I am invited to assist the Institute co-facilitating workshops with veterans and healthcare workers. In June, we will be facilitating dialogues for the University of Oklahoma’s Building Bridges/Dismantling Racism for the Common Good Conference. It has been a privilege to be invited to work with this global non-profit dedicated to healing the world, one story at a time.

Personal

What should a congregation know about your family situation?

After caregiving for my older sister (she passed in 2014) and co-caregiving for my 99 year-old mother who also passed away in 2022, I find myself adjusting to having more free time. My husband has been holding down the fort in our home in Ludington, Michigan and is patient and supportive of my call to transitional ministry and its unconventional nomadic path.

What should a congregation know about your health?

I am deeply fortunate to be healthy and physically active at age 71. I have a regular exercise routine that keeps me flexible and pain-free, and I spend many hours a week walking my dog in beautiful settings.

How do you take care of yourself so that the congregation does not have to?

I meditate, exercise, spend time with family and friends and write poetry and creative non-fiction. I take creative writing and literature courses for enrichment, love to knit, quilt, read novels, and enjoy watching films and documentaries. I love to attend concerts and listen to music.

How long do you hope your next ministry lasts? What’s the minimum commitment you would make?

I use to say that I’ll be a parish minister until I’m 72-years old and then join the Peace Corps, but as long as I am enjoying nterim ministry and am doing meaningful work with congregations in transition, I will continue to serve. It is a deep honor to serve our Unitarian Universalist faith by accompanying our congregations through the joys and the challenges of ministerial transitions.

Additional Information
Sermons can be viewed on the uuasheville.org website in the Youtube archive.