Hello and Good-Bye

Was I the only one who felt a sense of shock, who was caught flat footed, when I read about Tim’s passing? Tim, with his eternal optimism and strength of spirit, had me convinced that he was going to be with us for many more years. Stage 4 lung cancer was not going to slow him down. I took great comfort when I thought of him in California with his family, waiting for the birth of his first grandchild, finally having a chance to read as often as he wanted and writing in his blog about his daily adventures and challenges. In the grand scheme of things, he was only with us for a very short time but his effect on our congregation, and on many of us as individuals, has been profound. His challenges and struggles become ours and as we traveled the road together we learned how to live with courage, grace and boundless love. His strength gave us strength. Before Tim joined us we talked about wanting to be a Warm and Welcoming Place but under Tim’s leadership we learned how to walk the walk. Thank you Tim for all you have taught us. You will be missed.

As we say good-bye to our friend and minister I am mindful that he would be telling us to prepare to say Hello to those who will be walking though our Meeting House doors soon. He wrote these words in his last post, “300 Households”, on our leadership blog on June 2^nd:

….we don’t want to grow to 300 households simply for the sake of being 300 households. Rather, we have a duty and an obligation to grow this congregation to whatever size the greater Portland community requires us to be, and 300 households is merely the next easily-defined “plateau” at which we might rest. And I’m VERY confident that there are AT LEAST an additional 200+ households “out there” who would very much appreciate having First Parish in their lives, if only someone would be willing to take them by the hand and show them around. They may not even realize that this is what they are looking for; instead, they may simply be feeling a little discouraged by what they witness going on all around them; they may be feeling discouraged, unfulfilled, angry and frustrated by their inability to make a real difference. We can help them change all that...or at least help them in making a start. Besides, we need all the partners we can find in our own efforts to make this world a better place.

(To read the full post go to firstparishportland.blogspot.com/.) Tim suggested later on in the post that we get aggressive. No, we are not going to be dragging people in off the street! But we are going to practice intentional, dynamic growth. Starting in early September we will run a 3 week advertising campaign on WCLZ (98.9 FM) and a 3 month campaign on WMPG (90.9 FM). We will be broadcasting to our city who and what we are. And I have faith that they will come flocking to our church. Our great challenge is to then receive them with open arms and hearts. If you were at the Annual Meeting in May you will remember that I appointed all present as members of my Transition Team. Now I am appointing every member of the congregation to the Welcoming Team. If we do not all make the effort to welcome the stranger in our midst then it is far less likely that they will put down roots in our community. And that’s the whole point, is it not? If we just bring the newcomer through our doors but do not help them to become a vital, involved member of our community, then we have failed. (If you are interested in more information from the UUA about intentional, dynamic growth check out these two videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/newUUorg ) I am not asking you to teach the New UU class or host a pot luck supper (though let me know if you want to!); all I am asking is for each of us to smile at a stranger. Possibly extend a hand of welcome. Or ask if they enjoyed the service. This is the way the stranger becomes familiar and the familiar becomes friend. If we are all willing to take these simple steps then our dream will come true; the dream of reaching our full potential as Portland’s oldest faith community with a large and vital congregation to fill our beautiful Meeting House.

On a personal note, some of the shock and awe of becoming President has worn off in during the lazy, damp days of summer. One of the reasons I will miss Tim is that I knew if I stumbled that he would have picked me up, dusted me off and then found a way to make me laugh about the situation. My personal goal over the next two years as President is to remember to laugh and to never, ever take myself too seriously.

Off to make dinner for my children. Peace. Ashley