Sharing Our Faith

Introduction

Good morning. Earlier in the service, Bonnie informed us about the purpose of this Sharing Our Faith Sunday - that it is a Sunday when UU Congregations across Canada contribute their offerings to a national fund managed by the Canadian Unitarian Council (the CUC) which distributes the money back to congregations when they submit a request for a grant from the fund and are approved. As Bonnie said, Westwood has benefited from this fund and hopes to do so again.

In addition to this financial aspect of the Sharing Our Faith service, the CUC also suggests a sermon, or presentation, topic for Sharing Our Faith Sunday. This year, the CUC's suggestion is that congregations learn about a new strategic planning model the CUC has recently adopted. The model is called "Go-4-It!" and the symbol for the model is shown on the poster (here) which Bonnie created for this service. (Thank you, Bonnie.) The poster shows that there are four major components for the Go-4-It! model: "Go On!" "Go Deep!" "Go Out!" and "Go Big!" What the symbol does not show is that the model can be used at a personal level, at a congregational level, and at a national UU movement level.

So what is the purpose of the model? Using the model is intended to (and I quote from the CUC materials) "create a space and a vocabulary for dialogue among the stakeholders of our Canadian movement" (end of quote). In other words, the model will be used to engage UUs across Canada in a national conversation about Unitarian Universalism in Canada. Our mission today, should we decide to accept it, is two-fold: first, to become acquainted with the Go-4-It model and its four components, and secondly, to apply the components of the model at the personal level in a confidential, guided, writing meditation exercise for your own personal enrichment. Then a couple of months from now, you will probably see this model again when there will be a service to use it at a congregational level, the output of which can be used in a Westwood Right Relations project and also as input to the CUC national conversation for Sharing Our Faith among UU stakeholders in Canada.

So, how many of you feel ready to accept today's mission?
Great! Let's go for it!

The first component we are going to look at is the "Go On!" component. This component asks us to think about what is going on right now, and is going on very well, and should therefore continue? The answer to this question could be many things at the personal, congregational, or national movement levels. So part of "Go On" is naming what we want to continue. Another part that needs to be included in "Go On," is the flipside of what we want continued. In other words, what do we need to stop or alter because it is not going well? Again this consideration can be applied at the personal, congregational, and national movement levels.

The second component is "Go Deep!" This component asks us to think about what is deeply meaningful, or spiritual, to us. In his book, The Evolving Self, Robert Kegan says that human beings are meaning-making organisms. I think that individuals, congregations and national religious movements are all meaning-making organisms. To reflect on "Go Deep" at any of these levels is to consider what is meaningful to us - reflecting on our values, experiences, behaviors, rituals, sources of joy, intuition…(dot, dot, dot).

The third component is "Go Out!" This component asks us to think about what we want to communicate to others, and what we want to model for others. I spoke last Sunday about UU Community Ministry, and I hope you heard "between the lines" that your participation out in the community, in whatever way, is always ministry. It may be "good" ministry or "not-so-good" ministry, but every interaction - verbal or otherwise - tells who you are as an individual, as a member or friend of Westwood, and as a Canadian UU. What do we want others to learn about us?

The fourth component is "Go Big!" This component asks us to think about our "growing edges." I learned the term "growing edges" a number of years ago when I was one in a group of Chaplain Interns at a downtown Boston hospital. We were required to fill out "Verbatim" forms for the Supervisor. On these forms we described exactly what was said by each person present in a specific hospital visit we had made. We also answered questions about how we felt during the visit, what we learned about ourselves from the visit, and what we would do differently in the future. Then we would meet with the supervisor who helped us identify our "growing edges," what we needed to recognize, and understand, and work on to evolve into better "being" and "doing" as chaplains. "Go Big" is about growth and evolution.

Inquiry

So now that you are all experts on the Go-4-It model, we are going to apply the concepts of the model in a guided, written meditation that focuses on the individual level. Bonnie and Carl will now distribute a pencil and a form to each of you. This form will be yours to write on during the guided meditation and then to keep. The meditation is intended to acquaint you with the Go-4-It model and to also provide you with an enriching, personal, reflective experience. Although we will not collect the forms at the end of the service, we do hope you will leave the pencils in the basket on the front table before you leave the building.

Guided, Personal, Written Meditation

Let's start by looking at the "Go On" section. Remember that the "Go On" idea is about what you want to have continue. So the first question is, "What in your life is working well for you and you want to continue?" Please write your answers to this question now and then look up at me when you are ready to continue.

Next, reflect on the second question in the "Go On" section, "What is not working for you?" You may want to note in your answers to this question which items need to be stopped and which need to be altered.

Now please look at the "Go Deep" section. There are three questions here. Let's look at all of them together and then you can work on all of them, looking back up at me when you are finished. "What in life is deeply meaningful to you?" "How are you enabling that meaning to be actualized in your life?" "What else could you do to enable it?"

Please look next at the "Go Out" section. This section is about what you want to communicate about yourself to others. The first question is, "What about yourself would you like others to know?" The second question is, "When, how, and to whom might you communicate about yourself?" Please answer these questions and then look up at me.

And the final section is "Go Big." The first question is "What 'growing edges' do you have?" In other words, in what areas do you need to evolve? The second question is "How might your growth be facilitated?" This is about what you need to do to create, or to co-create, positive evolution for yourself. Please look up at me when you have completed your answers.

During our musical meditation, perhaps you will want to ponder the written reflection you have just done and see if a theme or a new truth for you is trying to break through from your inner wisdom. In any event, do rest now.

The offertory for this service, was contributed to the Canadian Unitarian Council's "Sharing Our Faith" Fund, totalling $609.

We believe that everyone has the right to seek truth and meaning for themselves. The fundamental tools for doing this are your own life experience, your reflection upon it, your intuitive understanding and the promptings of your own conscience.

added March 19, 2007.