Ministers' Letters

Letter from Scott

March/April 2010

The last weekend of March, forty of us participated in our “Making Peace with Our Past” weekend. This was the third step in our work of “Building the Foundation for Our Future.” I want to thank everyone that participated. I, for one, was blessed with powerful insight that I would not have gained without the participation of all. Inevitably you will hear about some of our findings in future communications and meetings but I would like to reflect on a question that struck me.

Why are you in community? This was a question that was posed during the weekend. Two things came to my mind and they came to me in this order: “Because it meets my needs,” followed by, “To come together to create something greater than any one of us could create alone.” Now I believe that both of these are true, but to create true community, the primary focus has to be on coming together and creating something greater. I believe this means putting our needs in second place to the bigger question of what is best for the community. Considering what is best for the community, therefore, requires that we have some awareness of our own individual needs. Bringing this awareness is actually a powerful spiritual practice. We all have needs and there is nothing wrong with having needs. However, when we are unconscious of those needs, we are unaware of all the ways that we are working to get those needs met and the ways that we expect the world around us to conform to our needs. In this unconsciousness we can join in ccommunity, even be powerful contributors to the community, but our underlying motive will be focused on what we are getting from the community. From this perspective we can act in ways that are actually counter productive, even destructive to the community.

In contrast, as we become aware of our needs we find that we have the capacity to hold our needs and to meet those needs in more conscious and direct ways. When we engage in community we bring ourselves in service to the potential of what can be created when two or more are gathered. Our intention and energy are free to focus on the objectives of the community. Ironically, the resulting manifestation is often deeply satisfying.

What are the signs that we are putting our needs before those of the community? Often it’s the little things. Here are a few that I witness in our community: bringing tea or coffee into the sanctuary even though we know only water is allowed; an unwillingness to follow directions, instead insisting on doing it our way; on high attendance Sundays, not parking in the overflow lot so that visitors can have access to the Church parking; complaining instead of helping to bring solution.

The great red flag of an unconscious need is reactivity. An unmet need, even the threat of a need not being met, causes anxiety and often brings up some kind of reaction. Furthering the community, then, requires a willingness to investigate our own reactivity. As the underlying needs are revealed, we find that we can hold them without needing to act out of them. The resulting sense of calm and space allows us to focus on the bigger picture and consider what is best for the whole.

By understanding and holding, I do not mean that we suppress our needs. Part of community is that we express what’s important to us and what we hope to get out of the experience of being in community. This helps to direct and formulate the community vision. Once we have shared our preferences, we then have the opportunity to focus on the larger good. No community or relationship can meet all of our needs all of the time. But with an understanding of our individual needs, we will be able to assess whether enough of our needs are being met. If not, we can consciously explore options for getting those needs met through other avenues. Our self awareness gives us the ability to make choices about healthy participation in all areas of our lives.

With much appreciation and love,
Scott

Letter from Wendy

January/February 2010

The New Year always calls me to take a fresh new look at my life and reflect on the desires of my heart. Desires, dreams, and visions are Spirit’s way of calling us forth to new avenues of expression and new demonstrations of our Greatness within. During this time of reflection, I always enjoy creating a new theme for my year. This year the theme that is ringing in my heart is “Inspired Within in 2010!”

As most of you know, this year will literally bring a birth experience for me. I am due to give birth to my first child (a boy!) on March 8th. As I prepare for this birth experience, I am acutely aware of all of the birthing processes that are happening in my life and in the life of this church. I am very excited for all the ways I will be “inspired within in 2010” to give birth to new ideas, programs, clarity, and, of course, a baby boy.

As the maternal “nesting” instinct has kicked into high gear the last few weeks, I was reminded of something I heard Lynn Twist say at a New Thought conference. I may be paraphrasing, but the words I remember hearing were, “We must hospice out that which no longer serves us, and be spiritual midwives for the new.” That doesn’t mean getting rid of everything, but rather it is a process of honoring that which has been, using spiritual discernment to see what isn’t working or necessary in our lives, and being willing to release it so that we can consciously give birth to the new.

As I’ve been sorting through things in our home to create a sacred space for our baby, I’ve found myself giving thanks for what has served me previously while allowing the inspiration within to guide me in making choices that support this next chapter of my life. As a spiritual community, we have embarked on a similar journey in our “Foundation for the Future” process. This is a sacred journey that requires all of us to bring our conscious participation to it in order to discern the highest good for Columbine Unity. My intention is to be a part of this process through the Feb. 26-28th weekend process with Rev. Stephanie Seigh and then be on Maternity Leave through the months of March and April.

Although I won’t be physically available via email or voicemail during my maternity leave, I will be holding you all in prayer daily and knowing that we are giving birth to something very powerful at Columbine Unity that will make a difference in many people’s lives. May we continue to honor and call forth the best in each other and in our church as we live “inspired within in 2010!”
Love,
Wendy

Letter from Scott

January/February 2010

In Unity we talk about abundance and the fact that the Universe provides for us in unlimited ways. Last spring at the Unity People’s Conference, I was introduced to the work of Lynne Twist. Lynne’s premise is that if we don’t consciously explore the question of what is enough then we never experience the satisfaction of true abundance. In her book, The Soul of Money, Lynne writes: “So often we think of “abundance” as the point at which we’ll know we’ve really arrived, but abundance continues to be elusive if we think we’ll find it in some excessive amount of something. True abundance does exist; it flows from sufficiency…”

Of course we need to be able to provide for our basic needs in order to survive but Lynne makes a compelling argument that most of us have gotten lulled into thinking that money is the source. We think that money will bring us happiness and because we are not particularly happy as we are, acquiring more money will be the answer. Put that way, it becomes clear that a far more effective way to approach the issue would be to begin by looking at our happiness. True happiness will be found by exploring what makes us tick. What is it that we value? What do we want to experience in this lifetime? What do we want to bring to the world? Positioning ourselves to align with our truth brings satisfaction and happiness to life.

Aligning myself with what feels true for me led me to leave my corporate life and become a minister. It has also resulted in a significant decrease in my income. At first that left me feeling like I was not abundant. However, as I have brought my spending down to the level of my income, a powerful transformation has happened in my life. For instance, now that I have less money to spend, I have had to be clear about how to best use those resources to support the life experience that I want. I don’t get to do everything that I want, but I feel the satisfaction of being on purpose with the things that I do. Ironically, I find myself content with what I have.

Another surprising benefit is the continual reminder that God is my source. With some regularity my life throws financial obligations at me that logic tells me I will not be able to meet. At my old income level I simply paid these bills without much thought. Today, however, my opportunity is to surrender them to the Universe. Some don’t get paid but in retrospect the Universe was telling me that those things were not mine to do. Most, however, do get covered in fully explainable and yet miraculous ways. As a result, I have far more trust today that God is my source and that everything is going to be OK.

Beginning Sunday, February 21st, I’ll be doing a five week series on The Soul of Money. In the series we will explore such topics as lack, abundance, sufficiency and purpose. Coinciding with the series, I’ll be offering a Tuesday night class that will blend exercises and process with an intention of revealing those beliefs that may be limiting us as well as to open us up to the potential of our lives.

Please join me as we explore the power of sufficiency in bringing us to both the realization of true abundance and the trust in God as our source.

Love,
Scott

Letter from Scott

September/October 2009

I have just returned from a teaching retreat on the soul. The information presented expanded my understanding of change and the value of being open to change. I thought you might find it helpful also.

Our soul is our consciousness. In Unity we talk about the need to develop and grow our consciousness. Because of that, prior to this retreat, my perception was that my consciousness was basically static unless I was focused on developing it. In truth, however, our soul is alive and dynamic. Of course this makes sense when you consider that it is our soul that enlivens and animates our body. One of our soul’s many purposes is to serve as an organism by which God experiences itself. It is, therefore, an organ of perception. In fact, our soul is highly impressionable. It is constantly impacted by both our inner and outer experiences whether we want it to be or not. As a result, our soul is always changing and growing.

While our soul is vast and, in general, very malleable and adaptable to whatever situation it finds itself in, every soul also has areas that have become grooved or structured. This structuring happens when our lives reinforce that we need to show up in a particular way in order to be acceptable and loved…to survive. These structures make up our sense of self, or ego. We all have and need an ego. When used properly, it is a powerful tool in which we interact with the world. However, with its orientation on survival and keeping things safe, our ego doesn’t let us see the level of change that is taking place in our consciousness. In fact, our ego has most of us convinced that we get to control change in our lives and, as a result, we can feel threatened and victimized when change happens outside of our plan.

Our soul has potential beyond our wildest imagination; all the potential of the Universe. Charles Fillmore, co-founder of Unity, understood this potential. He taught about the flow of divine ideas, the power of our imagination and the importance of taking action according to guidance, not fear. In the areas of our life where we are identified with our ego, that potential is channeled into limited, often repetitive behavior and responses. Because our soul is always changing and growing, these usual ways of living our lives become progressively less satisfying. However, the thought of real change is often terrifying to our ego structure. In fact, when our ego is triggered, it usually digs its heals in and aggressively resists change. The potential to both interact with something new and show up in fresh and creative ways are lost. We often recognize this pattern in others but the real question is do we recognize it in ourselves.

One of the ways that the potential and dynamism of the soul expresses is through our sense of aliveness. For our familiar sense of self to feel safe, it needs to maintain consistency and repetition in our life. Yet it is a part of a living consciousness that is always changing and growing. In order to maintain our focus on keeping things the same in this sea of change, the structures of our ego within our soul must continue to rigidify and thicken. This has the effect of restricting the flow of our energy; or our aliveness. In our culture we generally attribute this to aging. At this retreat, however, several examples were offered of people who continued to demonstrate youthful aliveness right up till the time of their deaths in their nineties or later. With each of these people they were able to cite examples from their lives that indicated their openness to the potential offered by change in their lives. I remember that the actor George Burns was one of the examples offered. Certainly our own Charles Fillmore was another. In his early nineties, just a few months before his death, Charles proclaimed, “I nearly sizzle with zeal and enthusiasm as I set out to do the things that are mine to do.”

Our willingness to explore our resistance to change frees our potential. It’s scary work because we are being asked to give up our perceived sense of control. We are being asked to trust that there is divine order in change. We are opening ourselves up to difficult feelings of grief and mourning for that which was. The upside, however, is that we get to continually delight in the new and creative ways that spirit manifests as us in the situations of our lives. From this perspective, life becomes satisfying and alive.

Are you ready to sizzle with zeal and enthusiasm? It’s never too late to embrace change.

Love,
Scott

Letter from Wendy

July/August 2009

I once heard someone say, “A challenge is an opportunity with work clothes on!” I love that expression because it reminds me that in every challenge there is an opportunity for me to do my spiritual work and to bring forth opportunities and possibilities that might not have been available to me without that conflict or circumstance.

In our lives, as well as in our church, it is perfectly natural and normal for challenges and conflict to arise. In each situation, we get to look for what was missing or identify unmet needs. In other words, conflict is an opportunity for us to work on identifying the “missing piece” that, had it been present, we would have had a different experience. This process calls us to begin by looking within and connecting to our spiritual resourcefulness in order to bring it into expression for the highest good of all. This includes first listening deep within, and then listening from the heart to others.

As Scott mentioned in his article, we are in the midst of a transition as a church. It is perfectly normal that this transition will bring up “stuff” for us to address. I can hear my coach’s voice in my mind saying “Isn’t it just the best!” because this allows us to look at, really SEE, and take authentic action on things, systems, and beliefs that might need to shift in order to be more of who we’ve come here to be. As we listen deeply and authentically dialogue, we emerge into an even stronger, more connected and clear community. Many of you have commented on noticing this after attending the Town Hall Meeting a few weeks ago. As each person had equal time to share what was on their heart and the rest of us practiced deep heart listening, there was a movement and an opening that happened in the group. Spirit moved in each person uniquely to bring forth the highest good in our community.

Embracing conflict and calling up our spiritual resourcefulness is part of creating healthy spiritual community and a healthy, happy life. Conflict is not easy for any of us, yet because of our commitment to ourselves and to the community, we continue to expand our conflict managements skills with a sincere desire to grow spiritually and to come together as a community—the hallmark of a healthy and spiritual church. I hope you will join me for the “I of the Storm: Embracing Conflict, Creating Peace” 5-week Class beginning on Wed. July 8th, so that we can all grow and develop this healthy skill set together!

In peace,
Wendy
Rev. Wendy Burroughs, Assoc. Minister

Letter from Scott

July/August 2009

As we have been engaging in our vision and mission process, you may have heard the terms minister centered church versus community centered church being thrown around. Because we feel a strong sense of community here at Columbine, many people assume that we are a community centered church. Minister versus community centered, however, speaks more to the organization and culture of the church than the feel of the church. In a minister centered church, for example, individuals turn to the minister not only for nurturing and spiritual support but also for approval of ideas and often to be the organizer of projects. Under this organizational model the minister assumes a parental role.

In a community centered church the participants’ minister to each other. Often there are a series of classes that must be taken to become a member. These classes teach basic skills like compassionate listing, prayer, peacemaking, spiritual principle and leadership. Ministers make themselves present for significant life issues but much of the ministering happens congregant to congregant, often in small groups within the ministry. Under this model, studies show that participants feel a greater sense of ownership and belonging. Out of this sense of ownership and belonging, members of the community step up to meet the needs of the community and to be about the changes necessary to support the community in thriving.

Ministers are responsible for setting spiritual direction, leadership development and general administration of the church. As with most new churches, Columbine had many of the elements of a community centered church in its early years. Like a family, the participants were there for each other and there was a palpable sense of love and support. However, as a church grows those organic connections that are the building blocks of smaller communities tend to fall away. New people not only don’t know how to integrate and make friends but also don’t know how to plugin in order to serve and be supported. I harken it to walking into a party where I don’t know anyone but the host. If it’s a small gathering I often can easily connect and, just by observing, determine if my assistance is needed. In contrast, if I walk into a party with a hundred or more people I often struggle to find someone to connect with and, unless I am told, I have no idea if my assistance is needed or not As we interact with larger groups, we often don’t know how to connect and we naturally look for the person that can offer leadership and direction. As a ministry grows, it is this dynamic that naturally fosters the church being minister centered.

It’s interesting to note that the people that were with the church back when it had a family feel will often continue to feel that sense of community because, while there are lot more people involved in the church, they have their original friends to connect with and they know how to plug-in to the happenings of the community. Long-timers often can’t relate to the challenges that newbie’s have integrating and feeling a sense of belonging.

We all have a desire to preserve not only a sense of community at Columbine but also a sense of a community run church. This model helps illumine, however, that community is not going to just organically happen with a church our size (average attendance of 150). It’s possible but it comes from adding structure to support the dissemination of both leadership and ministerial roles. It’s never quite the same as that intimate family feel of the small church but the resulting sense of ownership and empowerment leaves people feeling the same sense of belonging, contribution, and growth.

Columbine could accurately be described as a minister centered church with a strong sense of community. Wendy, the board and I have been working to establish the structure and elements necessary to support our transition into a community centered church. Our Love in Action program helps us identify our spiritual gifts so that we can plug-in in ways that satisfy and challenge us. Wendy offers support and training to those of you who have stepped up to leadership roles. Our Fall Programs not only offer us an opportunity to connect in small groups but also disseminate ministering out into the community…and indeed, people minister to each other in those small groups. Our latest endeavor, discerning our vision and mission clarifies the contribution we want to make to each other and the world. When we couple this with the goals that we will set in our long term plan, individuals no longer need to look to the ministers for leadership. Just as with a small church, the opportunities to be of service become clear and people step forward in order to bring their unique expression.

We are truly at an amazing place in our evolution as a spiritual community. We have been blessed by the foundation set by those who started and have sustained our community. We have grown and, in the process, have naturally become a ministered centered church. Now we look to the future with an intention of developing an organization and a culture that supports a community centered church so that no matter what our size, all of us can experience the gifts of coming together in true community.

Love,
Scott

Letter from Scott

July/August 2008

What would you say that you get out of Sunday morning services? Between the music and the spoken word you may feel inspired, nurtured, uplifted. It’s great to be reminded of our spiritual nature in the midst of a world that seems so real and compelling. Maybe you like connecting with friends; fellow questers on the path. In whatever way Sunday’s impact you, it becomes clear that worship offers us powerful support as we walk our path.

It’s important to remember, however, that the real impact comes when we are able to find our truth about the subjects being expressed. For the most part services are one sided; we sit and receive. We may get some insights about our truth from the illustrations that the speaker uses or from the words of a song, but it becomes our responsibility to explore the subject for ourselves. The payoff is that
as we get clear about our relationship with the subject, as we come to our truth, the clarity brings freedom. Remember, the truth will set you free.

While our spiritual path is ultimately our responsibility, coming together in community offers us an opportunity to accelerate and deepen our process. How many times have you heard someone else discuss their process and experienced your own “AH HA”. Working with others often reveals for us that which we have been blind to in our own process. And with that clarity comes freedom…we grow and we
deepen. Our connection with God is strengthened.

Fall Program
Included in the July/August 2008 newsletter is information about a program that we are offering this Fall based on Wayne Muller’s book, How Then Shall We Live. Along with our usual Sunday morning
focus, there will be a concurrent book study. The book study will be conducted in small groups meeting in congregant’s homes. You, as a participant, are offered the opportunity to immerse yourself in a subject for seven weeks, to experience the synergetic deepening that can happen when people come together in spiritual exploration and who knows, you might just make a new friend or two. The feedback that we have received from churches already offering these in-home studies is that they have become the highlight of their church year. Join us as we grow, deepen and connect.
Love,
Scott