Pacific Northwest District of the Unitarian Universalist Association
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Knowledge, Compassion, Commitment
by The Rev. Dr. Douglas Wadkins
From: November 2006

We have asked the Rev. Doug Wadkins, in his eighth year of service as Minister of the Bellingham (WA) Unitarian Fellowship, to offer a pastoral message as we embrace this Holiday Season and prepare to greet a New Year. Rev. Wadkins invites us to consider the theme of our Annual General Meeting in February and reflect on our lives as religious people acting to care for our selves, families, churches and larger communities. The District staff and board join Rev. Wadkins in wishing you and your loved ones joy, peace and times of Sabbath during these busy days.

It’s always a little scary for a minister to say something from the pulpit and to have the congregation actually listen. Actually, to do more than just listen, but to truly think about it and act. At times, even if I have preached a really good sermon and people have proclaimed it nice, it seems that then they have simply gone their own merry ways, message forgotten, action not taken.

So I imagine my delight when I am able to see that my urgings are making a difference! Not long ago, I preached, “We are a community of faith and we need to work together as a community to make a difference to the people around us. We tend to think of poverty in very abstract terms, but the results of poverty make a difference to the people in this city, it makes a difference to the people sitting around you here today. We must do something.”

When my congregation responded, it was not because I asked them to, but, I believe, it was because they sensed a growing need in themselves to DO something about the mounting frustration of feeling powerless and overwhelmed. So folks in Bellingham have been exploring the root causes of poverty in our county and beyond. They’ve thought about such vexing realities as the fact that by merely utilizing less than 1% of what the world spent on weapons, we could put every child on the planet into school.

As a result, some folks decided to look at how to simplify their lives, and free up resources. Some members of the congregation even moved to locations in the city that allowed them to be centrally located and downsize their living space. There were congregants who were courageous enough to begin telling their own stories about struggling to make ends meet. Now, we are looking at ways to sponsor another emergency housing site for homeless families and how to deepen our connection with the meal program that we have hosted for years.

I have been a UU minister for many years, but experiences like this remind me why I still believe deeply in our religious community. It is because it makes a difference. It makes a difference, if nothing else, in the lives of those who gather Sunday after Sunday. Through our communities people encounter new ways of thinking. They have a chance to commit to living lives filled with more meaning and connection. Together we have so many opportunities to show great kindness to each other and the world. It allows us to be part of something larger than our own lives, something deeper than our solitary resources can fathom.

It’s easy sometimes to take the deeper possibility of our communities for granted, but our journey together in our UU congregations really matters. Through faithful community we link our resources, renew our vision, open our hearts and our lives. So, as we journey through the holidays and into the New Year, I hope for you profound experiences of faithful community and deep peace.