I wrote last at my infrequent, long-format blog Rev. Scott Wells that I was cutting back — cutting out, really — my meat eating, and less Google. I wonder what is more difficult.

While I wasn’t terribly clear in my blog post, it boils down to an unwholesome dependence on a company that’s quickly becoming a Data Trust, to rival Standard Oil of old.

Thus I was glad to see Leo Babauta’s Zen Habits post “How I Became (Mostly) Google-free in About a Day“.

The only thing I would add is Archive.org for public-domain book downloads — indeed, it has lots of amazing media pieces — for Google Books (which itself makes annoying claims on what doesn’t belong to anyone.)

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Dear readers — both of this blog, and readers generally — how many of you read long-format documents with a portable text readers in the ePub format? (The Amazon Kindle’s proprietary format does not count here.)

By reader I mean “conventional” tablet-sized readers, phones or laptops? Or even desktop computers.

And what do you read with it?

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The Unitarian Fellowship movement was the most successful liberal church growth program in living memory. It was not perfect, but given how different these fellowships were from what came before, it’s amazing it worked — or was allowed to work — at all.

The Unitarian Fellowships get a bad rap today, which I think odd as there’s no institutional plan for any new church starts. Little wonder what does get developed often looks like these fellowships. Cue the naysayers. “So many failed” — which is even more true of restaurants, but people still establish them. I figure that without a risk of failure, there can not be an opportunity for growth. But I do have misgivings: mainly that the Unitarian Fellowship movement came at a time of great optimism, an unparalleled birth rate and social pressure to attend churches. Those days are over, and I’m not complaining.

But one objection keeps coming up, and few confront it: that the fellowships were anti-clerical. Some were (and are) and some were not. But so what if they were?

A church can uphold its mission without making a false mortgage to unsuited forms. If a congregation said, “we feel be can live our our mission best by renting space, limiting our activity and not calling a minister” then they deserve support for clear thinking and resolute decision-making. Or perhaps this church would say, “we prefer to develop our own leaders — for governance and spiritual care alike.”

More power, I think. If there’s a problem, it is too often a lack of direction and that can be found in congregations both with and without a minister. Churches are not employment agencies for ministers, and if a congregation can find its way without one, it should be supported — or at least respected — on these terms without smirking or derision.

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While it is pretty clear where I stand on some matters related to Unitarian Universalist Association staffing, it’s not to say I’d be happy to leave things as they were had there been no financial crisis.

In a word, I think we suffer from over-consolidation. Apart from the theological schools and camps, it’s hard to find Unitarian Universalist programs that aren’t hard-wired into 25 Beacon Street. I suppose the Unitarian Universalist Ministerial Assocation might count, but I’ve never seen where there was a case when the organized ministerial college might openly fight the UUA leadership for its members’ benefit. (That’s one reason I resigned ages ago; that, and their programs offered me nothing.) Given that there is no other real Unitarian or Universalist denomination in the United States, and that we’re something of a single species in its own genus, there’s also no much opportunity to get resources from “next door”.

So I’ll say it again: much of the value imputed to the Unitarian Universalist Association is its mere existence, rather than the services it offers. And I’m not a fan of monopolies, especially psychological ones.

Despite the doleful demise of the UUA Washington Office, I agree with others in my last post that the bigger problem is the cessation of new church starts. Though, seeing how few new congregations have joined the UUA (and how many “emerging” congregations never get born) in recent years, I wonder if it’s really that much of a change of policy. And that’s as good as denying our future. No earthly thing last forever and some churches must be born just to replace those that die, and new churches must be born to gather people who live in growing areas.

So even if $5 million or $10 million showed up on Beacon Hill tomorrow, I’m not sure it would stir up an action to really build on our future.

And if I had $5 or $10 million to revive Unitarian Universalism’s flagging fortunes, I’d certainly push it into a new organization — a church-birthing institute, say — with its own leadership with a modern ethos and leaner operation. That, or see a change of course from the Morales administration and UUA Board of Trustees.

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• I’ve heard two attitudes that see some good come out of the staff cuts. One which disagrees with the Washington Office — though others will be losing their jobs too — for political, policy reasons and another which thinks the Washington Office shouldn’t exist for polity reasons. I have no sympathy for either argument. The work of the Washington Office comes from decisions, democratically-made, and rejoicing it its loss for financial reasons is cynical and anti-democratic. Also, we’re not in the seventeenth century and the polity reflects centuries of development. Praising this loss as a triumph for an atavistic view of mutual relations is ideologically twisted, and (again) anti-democratic.
• Not to mention these are the livelihoods of people who have served loyally.
• Before people start clinking their tongues about how expensive the UUA is to run, I’ve always thought — based on job listings — that the staff was underpaid. It will be hard to recover that capacity should the economy improve.
• That said, I would be more convinced by UUA President Peter Morales’s upbeat announcement about staff restructuring if (1) it came apart from the staff cut announcement and (2) if this wasn’t a well-worn path for institutions in trouble.
• Would be nice to take down the Washington office job listing.
• So the Washington office space is staying open. Lemonade from lemons, I suspect — hoping for times to get better before the lease runs out, perhaps? (And breaking the lease, plus relocating the UUSC and Holdeen India staff, might be impractical.) The Washington office at 1100 G St, N.W. is in a good location but is Class B. Not terribly expensive (and I doubt the UUA paid $48 a square foot when it moved) and might be a desirable sublet — should it come to that — for a downsizing group. That’s becoming common here.
• The Universalist historian in me thinks, “oh no, not again.”

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Saw this, “oh crap” was the best I could think.

UUA eliminates Washington advocacy office

The Unitarian Universalist Association announced the layoffs of 15 employees February 26 as the first phase of a reorganization of the UUA’s staff.

The UUA’s Washington Office for Advocacy will be eliminated at the end of the fiscal year in June. Four of the UUA’s departments will be consolidated into two: The Advocacy and Witness staff group and the Identity-Based Ministries staff group will merge, as will the Ministry and Professional Leadership staff group and the Lifespan Faith Development staff group.

(UUWorld.org link, Jane Greer, March 5, 2010)

No Monday quarterbacking, but there are a couple of red-flags I might mention later. And couple of questions for which I want answers.

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. . . are the same-sex couples in Maryland. I know: as a D.C. resident, I should be happiest the place I call home, but . . .

Last week, the Maryland Attorney General announced that, barring court action, the same-sex marriages contracted in other jurisdictions would be recognized in Maryland. This is good news (1) because the District of Columbia borders Maryland and (2) D.C. went the recognition route before proceeding with a marriage equality bill. (Admittedly, D.C. action was legislative, and D.C. had to test the waters because the Congress could swoop in and snap away a locally decided issue, but there are parallels worth noting.)

If you have a D.C. domestic partnership, marriage will give you no more rights or privileges within the District, apart from the dignity of marriage. (Which is no small thing, and it would be more if the the so-called Defense of Marriage Act didn’t exist.) D.C. Council has already filled in all the distinctions between domestic partnership and marriage through statute. Marriage becomes more valuable if you leave the District and enter a jurisdiction (Massachusetts, Vermont, Canada, South Africa, Nepal, presumably, as examples) where same-sex partners may marry or be recognized. (Makes for a handy vacation destination list, too.)

So enter the Marylanders, like my friend Terrance Heath and his soon-to-legally-wed-husband Rick Imirowicz, mentioned in today’s New York Times. (In my last pastorate, I dedicated their elder son. Golly, they grow.) This is their easiest shot at legal parity. Well, if you ignore DOMA. Which I don’t.

Don’t worry, Hubby and I will get our license in time. I’ll save you a cupcake.

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To remind my readers: I am an ordained minister with fifteen years’ experience in performing weddings. I have credentials to preform weddings in the District of Columbia.

And, yes: I will talk to same-sex couples looking to marry. (Indeed, I am half of a same-sex couple.)

As you might know, the District of Columbia will start accepting applications for marriage licenses for same-sex couples tomorrow. Quite a happy day. (What many do not know is that you must state your officiant at the time you apply for the license.)

Email me if you would like to discuss options. I hold inquiries in confidence.

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I’m glad to see Speaking Truth to Power — a site addressing clergy sexual misconduct (CSM) resume. In its own words, “its specific focus is Unitarian Universalist processes for dealing with CSM.” Though popularly conflated with child sexual abuse, the risk of clergy sexual misconduct remains and in a congregational system there’s little natural recourse for grievances (or protesting innocence).

It is a part of the larger Safety Net program, designed to address CSM and sponsored by the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashville (Tennessee). This kind of sponsored program — I should add — might be a good model for some of the functions lost by an over-stretched UUA and which might have once been picked up by the now cast-off independent affiliate organizations. Indeed, it looks like a manifestation of the growing fiscal sponsorship movement in non-profits, which should be seriously considered by any group hoping to start something new of a charitable nature.

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I was a little amazed about the idea — from a special UUA Board meeting no less; where’s the fire? — that five regions should supplement and perhaps supersede the current nineteen districts.

Chutney asks who the losers would be. Staff, to be sure. That’s what reorganizations are for. But I wonder who the winners would be.

There shouldn’t be a reorganization unless there’s a good reason. And a good reason would be to devolve some of the functions centralized in the current system. Centralized, and I think unduly inhibited. At minimum, the following services should be decoupled from the center, apart from setting quality standards:

• Admitting member congregations
• Admitting ministers and others to fellowship
• Sponsoring or caring for new church starts

With this, I imagine, comes the spectre of independent fundraising and ministerial development arrangements — with one of the current seminaries, or without — and that needn’t be a bad thing.

But again, where’s the fire, or is this an effort to make lemonade — unwillingly — out of the lemons of feared financial insolvency?

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Still getting my feet about putting longer-format, more-theological works at my RevScottWells.con blog. That’s where I put

“At Lent: less meat, less Google“

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I don’t think I’m reading this incorrectly, but it seems that a religious organization, whether or not it is incorporated (a state I wouldn’t recommend) or has an affirmative IRS 503(c)(3) ruling (that’s a recognition as a public charity by the federal tax authority, for my overseas readers) is eligible to apply for a nonprofit mailing permit. This permit could make mailings quite cheap.

From the USPS (postal service) Domestic Mail Manual section 703

1.2.3 Religious
A religious organization is a nonprofit organization whose primary purpose is to:

a. Conduct religious worship (e.g., churches, synagogues, temples, or mosques);
b. Support the religious activities of nonprofit organizations whose primary purpose is to conduct religious worship; or
c. Further the teaching of particular religious faiths or tenets, including religious instruction and the dissemination of religious information.

This could be quite an advantage to a small church trying to make an outreach through direct mail, or a ministry that makes mailing its main activity, and is small enough to not warrant formal recognition.

Does anyone know if this is actually the case?

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This journey, filmed by Joel Lawson, is my old neighborhood leading to my new neighborhood (and where my office is.)

Sunny today — just as snowy.

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One way to distinguish a well-functioning church from one less well functioning is how it treats its novices — the “noob” or “newbie” — and that includes those entering ministerial life. We were all novices once, and failing to guide and shape the new and inexperienced is no credit to one’s expertise.

A bit of advice from Yehuda Katz, working from a different field where the same phenomenon is alive and well. A good start for Unitarian Universalists: stop the pretense of being so heroic and unique, and drop the frickin’ acronyms.

HT: Luigi Montanez, with whom I work.

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The Chesapeake Bay watershed has been hit by a large snowstorm; indeed, two outsize storms since December, and a supplemental snowfall is due this week.

The sidewalks are a patchwork of the clear and dry — a crown in heaven for those responsible persons who shoveled them — or, when, left uncleared like a wet and rocky beach, with uneven mounds of shifting snow for shifting sand. The main roads are said to be plowed, but compacted and smoothed would be a more accurate description. Ice unseen makes walking and driving a hazard. The side streets are impassible.

Restless workaholics are clamoring to return to their cubicles. Staples foods are running out of the open stores. The fun is wearing off the spectacle.

But certain dangers and inconveniences come with a storm. Having spent much of my childhood in hurricane-targeted New Orleans, you learn how to prepare for wind and flood, but you cannot prepare for the smells or the boredom that follow. Nor, indeed, can you prepare yourself for the hapless mess of oh-so-clever names this winter storm has been given. Let’s review.

• Snowpocalypse. My favorite, if worn. A good use of hyperbole and the construction is little changed from the original word. Tricky to spell. That is, if you’re not cutting-and-pasting it.
• Snowmageddon. Not as good, because it doesn’t map from Armageddon unless you say it with an intrusive R in the first syllable. Of course, native “Warshingtonians” might.
• SnOMG. Unacceptable. When spoken “Snow my God!” it’s dated and twee. To those unfamiliar, it looks like the word smog spoken by someone eating peanut butter.
• Snogasm. Evokes nasty thoughts. And laughable, since we’re now in the fourth day of this event.

Any other constructions (“snono”) means you’re trying too hard. Take that energy and apply it, say, to a shovel and a sidewalk.

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The snow has stopped falling here in D.C., and I’m tired of writing about it. Back to church administration.

Earlier, I wrote that much of the utility of newsletters — not e-newsletters, but the ones handed to you or sent by mail — comes from their physicality, thus providing a connection to the ministry that sends them. I think this is why printed newsletter’s biggest defenders (and backseat copy editors) are the elderly, and not so much because of their age but because of the added difficulties of getting to church. It’s also more than “not getting the technology” — very often they have a vested interest in getting those printed pages. Think how many snow-bound people here will miss church but — perhaps unconsciously — leaf to see what the church news is as a touchstone or connection. (The instinct is akin to bringing and receiving food in times of distress.) For shut-ins and moved-aways, and for extra-congregational ministries, every Sunday is a snow day.

So I think the church and ministry newsletter will survive. But it needs to value the readers’ time and sensibility, be more clever in its production and attentive to quality.

Some thoughts about what I’ve seen next time.

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I had a very nice invitation the middle of last week to fill in for a vespers service for a small church tomorrow. Since I’m not preaching these days, I was happy to be invited but asked . . . “what about the snow?”

They canceled, and I’m getting on the schedule. But it begs the question:

Which religious services will be open this weekend? This list, from WTOP Radio, rules out many of the synagogues and Adventist churches (understandable since the blizzard will be running neatly over the sabbath) but I wonder if other churches are holding out for more news, or have decided and are just not getting the word out. Please be clear about your opening policies, particularly in big, clear letters on your website.

If you’re in a position of leadership and haven’t decided, consider this. Some of my nicest experiences of worship have been at a church I don’t normally attend because the one I would attend is inaccessible, and bad weather certainly counts. Like the time several winters ago when we closed at my former pastorate and so I — living near the church anyway — wandered down a few more blocks and joined the remnant of First Baptist. They even took in two new members that day! Many of the twenty or thirty or so of us — less than 5% of the usual congregation — decamped to a local diner for lunch. A great experience of hospitality and a thought for those thinking, “none of our people will show up.”

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Reports of record snowfall — perhaps the worst since 1996, perhaps 1922, thus the worst I will have seen in my time in Washington, D.C. — have put our buttoned-up city into a tizzy. Snowmageddondc.com says it all. The groceries have been busy, and the nearby Trader Joe’s — always busy — last night was one big line snaking up and down the aisles and out the door. (It was a full loop inside the store on Wednesday, when I was there.) Locals, when facing a snow threat, buy bread, milk and toilet paper. (It begs the question: what do you make with that?) But this time other staples, including whole meat departments, are being cleared out.

Day Job, following the federal government’s lead, closed four hours early, and so we dutiful office-folk ambled home. What food, drink to buy? Or would we have to resort to cannibalism? Seems if you stuck to the smaller stores — even the drug store and convenience stores — you had and have much better luck.

I thought this was an opportunity to drag out the bread machine — even though at my neighborhood market still had bread and milk — so I went out for bread flour and dry milk (for the recipe I use). Oh, and a fifth of sweet vermouth for the Manhattans.

The day had taken its toll on the usually well-stocked shelves, and it was clear what people in my neighborhood would be eating over the next few days. Pots of beans, canned and homemade soup, tuna salad, macaroni and cheese, pasta with red sauce.

Some will bake. Gaps in the flour, but a five-pound sack for me. Packets
of cookie mix and chocolate chips gone. Muffins, perhaps, instead of the more esoteric loaf bread and buns remaining.

Coffee and white wine. Plenty of wine. Fresh cases pulled out, but all hands at the registers, so not on the shelves.

I think we’ll survive. Tuck yourselves in and ride it out.

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I have one, valedictory issue of the Liberal Christian to publish. At this point, I’m looking towards a spring date.

That 2009 experiment was helpful, for me, for a couple of reasons and one was an appreciation of print publications for certain settings. Also my current Esperanto studies, since that community has been heavily dependent on print and web publications. (Liberal Christian is a web-only publication, and I think that was one of its problems.) Contrast the mode of work of a dispersed religious group — say, like one of the former independent affiliates of the Unitarian Universalist Association — and something more immediate, like a conventional church. A church is made real in ways we see and touch. Spiritual realities are manifested in physical gatherings, in a particular space with recognized tools and artifacts. Information — more than just the date of this meeting or that potluck — need not come in a newsletter, though it may, because people will learn what it means to be a part of the church primarily from living in it. A congregation that publishes its news in a RSS feed isn’t too far in my mind that one — as was the norm not many decades past — the announced all its news in worship.

Groups that don’t regularly meet — that appeal to a commonality, by web and mail — must be more intentional about how people (literally) sense them. Some have real-world meetings or retreats. Many send some kind of artifact — televangelist were famous for this — but most rely on a news publication.

One ministry I particularly like is the Saviour of All Fellowship. Universalist in theology, but never structurally a part of the Universalists. Indeed, its readers seem to have more affinity for the Concordant Publishing Concern, with its own biblical translation and theological works. The physical manifestation of the Saviour of All Fellowship is a one-page monthly newsletter. It comes in a long envelope with my bills and fliers, and I’m always happy to get it. Far more happy than if the same content were mailed to me.

The format is simple. A fragment of devotional literature, notices of future in-person conferences, obituaries and the like. One page per month. So simple, but a lifeline for that community.

More on this subject next time.

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The Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office claims to be the only religious voice at the United Nations advocating for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons, or in their lingo, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) work. I believe them and wish there were more sharing in their labor. (Anyone? Please. Or correct me if I’m wrong or misunderstood the claim.)

I’m a member, joining when I was last in New York and impressed by the hard-working staffers in their tightly packed UN-adjacent digs. I think you should join, too. Give generously. The UU-UNO is surely the highest value organization most Unitarian Universalist don’t know about.

But I’m sure there are other vital organizations that support, encourage and defend BGLT/SOGI people, particularly in the Caribbean and the African continent, where so much bad news has recently come.

Do you have a favorite, and if so, what makes them so valuable?

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