This month our theme is this: What does it mean to be a people of Sanctuary?
In worship, on Oct. 7 we’ll explore the contemporary “Sanctuary movement” to protect vulnerable immigrants. All are encouraged to come to a café conversation after the second service to learn about how WUUs can help. Then on Oct. 23 we’ll consider ancient spiritual teachings on creating “sanctuary” for ourselves within our own minds and hearts.
And we are beginning a new and important conversation about the Sunday morning experience of being in our own WUU sanctuary and religious education classrooms. Right now, our 11:15 Sunday service is pretty crowded. Many of us love the energy of so many people coming together. As your minister, it’s wonderful to look out on a “full house” each morning. But in some ways, we are a little too crowded. Sometimes latecomers have trouble finding seats together in the sanctuary. And even in our spacious new religious education classrooms, we’re starting to experience some crowding.
At our 9:45 service, on the other hand, average attendance is hovering around 15 people. While some visitors enjoy the intimate, quiet feel of the service, others are put off by the small size of the group.
Meanwhile, it typically takes two professional staff (me and Dave Robbins) and upwards of 10 volunteers (worship associate, AV tech, ushers, greeters, other hospitality volunteers) to pull off the service. I am not convinced this model is sustainable.
Our board and I believe the time has come to get creative! We want each service here at WUU to be vital, sustainable, and welcoming to newcomers. In that spirit, we have convened a “Two-Services Task Force” to study what’s working well and not so well on Sundays, to explore ways of making things better, and ultimately to recommend changes in our Sunday-morning model to the board and me. The members of the task force are Eva Burke, John Chowning, Lesa Craig, Rachel Delbos, Paul Luchsinger, Austen Petersen, Janna Roche, and me.
And we will need your help! This fall, the task force will be setting up focus groups, one-on-one interviews, surveys, and congregation-wide conversations about the Sunday morning experience. Please participate as you can. We need everybody’s feedback to make the very best decision about how to move forward. With your help, we will make our own WUU sanctuary even more welcoming to the countless people who need our message of love and justice, and the community of belonging that we cherish so much. May it be so.
In faith, Rev. Laura