Last Saturday was our annual congregational retreat—my first one with this Fellowship. Each year, we take a Saturday in January to focus on some aspect of the life of this religious community. This year the board chose to dedicate the retreat to prioritizing our social justice efforts.
 
Since I started here as minister last summer, I was told that the Fellowship did not have a central focus for their social justice work. In a larger congregation, sustaining many social justice initiatives might be feasible—but not with our small size. The work of the social justice coordinating committee is just that: coordinating events and information and efforts on many social justice issues. So this retreat was a good idea. The social justice team presented four issues for the congregation to discuss and eventually vote on.
 
And it went much better than I expected.
 
In most UU circles I’ve been part of…really, in most groups I’ve been part of, I would have expected more disagreement. I expected that some people would be passionate about issues that were not even among the four presented—and would express their disappointment loudly. I expected that some people would be dissatisfied with the result of the vote, or with the process. Instead, I witnessed robust discussion in small groups among people with diverse backgrounds and opinions. I saw everyone buy in to the process: people trusted the leaders of the meeting and appreciated them for the work they had put in. The votes were counted and the results were announced: UUFCM will focus our efforts on two social justice issues this year: voting rights, and the environment. Then I saw people volunteer to lead the two new committees that will take the next steps.
 
Having a congregation where people can work together, where people don’t block consensus just because their ideas are not the most popular ones, where people compromise and come to agreements on things that matter—this is not something to be taken for granted. Many congregations feature dysfunctional communication, power hoarding, and holding grudges. I’ve been serving here for five months now and I continue to be impressed by this congregation and how everyone communicates. We are not perfect. I know that people in the congregation are sometimes hurt by other people’s words and actions, and I hope that we can grow even greater in love and cooperation. What I saw on Saturday shows me that this is a congregation that can work together to make decisions for the good of all by respecting everyone’s voice.
 
Prayer:
Spirit of life and love, thank you for this Fellowship where people respect each other. Thank you for this group of people dedicated to social justice, willing to work together. Thank you for the imperfections of this Fellowship, showing that we are all human and all can grow deeper in love and respectful communication.
 
May our work for voting rights and the environment be blessed by humility and by passion. May we encourage each other when the importance of the work shows up as despair, and may we celebrate together every small victory.
 
May we see that in working toward the beloved community we dream of, we must act like the beloved community: how we treat each other in the struggle matters.
 
In the name of all that is sacred, to all of the diverse members of this Fellowship, may it be so.
 
Andrew Frantz

Yesterday I spent the morning at the MLK brunch on the Central Michigan University campus. Since moving here in the fall I’ve only been to a few events on campus, most of them organized by the Center for Diversity and Inclusion like this one. I sat with 800 other people, mostly students. We heard speeches by three young African American men, the best of which told personal stories including one about police violence. I saw a Black fraternity on campus perform a step routine and a campus gospel choir sing Christian songs. The president of the university honored Dr. King in his remarks, as did a keynote speaker from the faculty. I felt connected and glad to be part the celebration. As I noticed so many people of color at the event, I reflected what an affirming role model Dr. King was for Black men especially.
 
A few hours later, I returned to campus for the MLK march. The experience of being in a throng of people, hundreds strong, and occupying the whole street for at least two blocks, was moving. The mood was friendly and light, not angry. I spend a lot of my time when I’m thinking about social justice being angry. The students around me were enjoying the march, talking with one another. Some carried signs and banners. The speeches at the city square were also uplifting.
 
My day ended with a late viewing of the movie “Just Mercy,” about the life and work of Bryan Stevenson. Seeing the drama of this lawyer defending death row inmates in Alabama (for free) was very challenging. It showed so graphically the injustice of the justice system, which incarcerates young Black men at such a high rate and allows them to be convicted of crimes falsely. It is tempting to think that this is only because it was in Alabama, but the truth is that racism has thrived, and may be on the upswing, in Michigan as well.
 
Martin Luther King is one of my favorite Americans. He is a role model of courage and perseverance and truth-telling; a pioneer of nonviolent strategy; and a master of inspiring prose. Yesterday I watched a movie that reminded me of the terrible injustice and inequality that Dr. King opposed, and I experienced a brunch and a march that immersed me in a new generation of young Americans learning about and celebrating this man’s life and work. It was a great way to spend the holiday.
 
Prayer:
Spirit of Baptist pulpits in Alabama and seminary classrooms in Boston, spirit of the jail cells where Dr. King languished and the streets where he marched, be with me now.
 
Great spirit of justice and love and fairness, spirit that brother King drew upon in his dark times and in his inspired times, be here now.
 
Spirit of greatness, be with the students of CMU who marched and sang yesterday, the ones who showed up for their friends, and the ones who came out of a desire to do the right thing.
 
Show us the way forward into hope in a world that still has white supremacists spreading hate and violence.
 
Show us the way into love in a world where black and white still feel like totally different experiences in America.
 
Show us that we all can do better, that we can live together, we can celebrate even as we struggle, that we can laugh even as we march. May the spirit of Dr. King and of all those who struggled in his day be with now as we join our voices with theirs and walk our steps where theirs have walked.
 
Glory hallelujah. Amen.
 
Andrew Frantz

As the new year begins, I have new plans for the UU Fellowship of Central Michigan. I want to have a Thursday evening worship service once per month that has a more lively feel than our Sunday morning services – more music and less preaching, more joyful and less solemn. We’ll have worship at 6:00 and a pizza dinner at 7:00, which may appeal to college students and working families. People I’ve talked to about it are supportive. I don’t know if it will attract new people, or give established members a fresh new experience; but we’re going to try it and see what happens. Also, I want to lead a small group for discussion of ideas and sharing of personal stories, because I believe in the power of small group ministry and the connections that are formed and deepened in these groups. Several people have said they are interested. I don’t know if it will bring people closer and inspire new ideas, but we’re going to try it and see what happens.

I’m aware these days of the mix of people that make up the congregation we call UUFCM. In the past month I’ve met people who used to be a regular part of the community but haven’t come for many months; I’ve met people who are new to the area and have heard about Unitarian Universalism—and they come to us to give it a try; and I’ve met people who were already UUs somewhere else and are joining our UU fellowship because they live here now. All of these members, friends, and visitors are alongside the many people whom I see every Sunday (and at meetings during the week)—the regulars. All have something to contribute to the whole.

This thing we call a congregation is always shifting. Who knows who’s coming to stay, and who’s coming once or twice to check us out? Who knows who will move away or stop coming for some reason? As a vibrant, living congregation we are in flux and we embrace the Fellowship just as it is. We also work toward a vision for the future—as we will do in the annual retreat on Saturday, January 25 (focused this year on social justice); as we will do in discussing the budget for next year and tackling fundraising goals starting next month.

Everyone who is part of this Fellowship I see as a partner in the journey. Join me in new adventures like the Thursday evening worship service and the small group that’s forming. Tell me what else we should be doing with our time and energy to engage hearts and minds and strengthen the community. Welcome newcomers and honor long-standing members. Bring all of yourself to this joyful, messy, diverse experiment of covenantal community called the UU Fellowship of Central Michigan. I’m excited to be a part of it with you.

Prayer:
Spirit of love deep within me, felt in my breath, hear my prayer.
Spirit of love between me and every person I encounter, glimpsed in smiles and heard in music, hear my prayer.
Spirit of love beyond me in mystery, seen in the winter sky and rooted in the sleeping earth, hear my prayer.

Bless this Fellowship, all those who have been part of it and all those who have yet to be.
Bless those who have visited, stayed a while, and moved on for whatever reason.
Bless the ones who are getting involved for the first time and hoping that it will be a place of deep welcome for them.
Bless the ones who have been part of this congregation for years and sometimes wonder if they are still getting out of it what they hope for.
Bless the members of this congregation who are so dedicated that they spend hours here every week and plan to do so as long as they are capable.

May every part of this Fellowship be blessed by love: love within us, love between us, and love beyond us in mystery.

May it be so.

Andrew Frantz