What is community ministry?
The Unitarian Universalist Association website describes community ministry this way:
Community ministers serve our movement in many ways. Some community ministers work independently; others serve in an organization outside a congregation; some form a bridge between congregations and secular organizations. Service sites may include chaplains in hospitals, in hospices, at prisons, on campuses, in police departments, or in the military; spiritual directors, pastoral counselors, street ministers, social justice advocates, UU legislative ministers; educators, journalists, UUA field staff, arts ministers, and nonprofit administrators.
Why does Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship have community ministry connections?
While Sunday morning worship is a very important part of congregational life, there is other ministry to the congregation that can be shared with the Developmental Minister to strengthen the congregation and contribute to its flourishing. In this instance, Rev. Theresa will contribute to pastoral care, deep listening, and to small group ministry specifically designed to support people of color in the congregation and community in spiritual and ethical strengthening and nourishment.
How much will the cost be to the congregation for this additional ministry?
There will be no specific ongoing (salary) cost to the congregation for Rev. Theresa’s ministry. What is more important than money at this time to Rev. Theresa is being connected to a faithful Unitarian Universalist community. To that end, there will be a committee that partners with Rev. Theresa to dream about the best possible ministry, to offer feedback, and to prepare evaluations to submit to the Unitarian Universalist Ministerial Fellowship Committee (MFC).
The MFC grants and renews ministers’ credentials. Providing a committee that assists with credentials is an important act of partnership and contribution to Rev. Theresa’s ministry that will create equity in their relationship with the Rogue Valley UU Fellowship (RVUUF).
There may be some minimal costs, especially related to hospitality and hosting, for Rev. Theresa’s ministry. Rev. Theresa will not be incurring expenses without collaboration of various accountability partners, such as Rev. Theresa’s committee, the Committee on Fellowship Ministry and Rev. Sean.
For whom is Rev. Theresa’s community ministry?
Though the ministry Rev. Theresa will undertake with RVUUF has a specific description, it is also for the members and friends of the congregation at large. When the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. taught about Beloved Community, he wanted Black folks to have a very certain sense of “being somebody.” In that same way, members and friends of RVUUF can understand themselves as somebody and offer the space to experience that somebodiness without filtering it through white culture to Black folks and other folks of color in the RVUUF community.
What else does Rev. Theresa’s ministry encompass?
Rev. Theresa is the co-chair of a denominational committee called the Journey Toward Wholeness Transformation Committee. The committee is charged with monitoring and assessing Unitarian Universalism’s progress toward being an anti-racist and anti-oppressive movement. This committee meets monthly and in-person, twice a year.
Rev. Theresa is the co-vice-president of Diverse Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries (DRUUMM), the organization in Unitarian Universalism for people of color. It provides resources for resilience and experiences of Unitarian Universalism that are not filtered through whiteness.
Rev. Theresa is a movement poet. They share their work through social media and a Patreon for subscribers. Rev. Theresa also has a meditation manual on hope and resilience in publication with Skinner House. Paper copies of the book will be available around the the time of General Assembly 2019.
Rev. Theresa is a preacher and teacher on a variety of subjects. They have preached or presented poetry at ordinations. They are frequently asked to speak on ableism (a bias against disabled folks and their bodies). They are also asked to teach on intersectionality (noticing and acknowledging the ways that folks of different identities have different lived experiences).
Rev. Sean and Rev. Theresa