Summary of work through Fall 2011

In the spring of 2011 about 60 congregants participated in sessions to talk about a First Parish covenant—at Small Group Ministry meetings, Parenting Your Children meetings and Listening Circles that were open to the congregation.  Below are some of the comments we received in answer to three questions that were asked, as well as comments about a covenant in general.

We welcome your thoughts and discussion.  Please add to the conversation!

THE QUESTIONS WE ASKED — AND SOME ANSWERS

• What do you need to thrive?
  Deep Relationship – love, respect, listening ear, understanding, support, encouragementx
  Acceptance – “People who strive to understand me even when they don’t agree with me”, open dialogue, security
  Intellectual and spiritual engagement – growth, evolution, stimulation, mindfulness, awe, wonder, inspiration, time for individuality
• What sustains your desire to be a part of First Parish?
  Having a village – community, shared attitudes and values, peers with shared experiences/problems
  Acceptance – tolerance, support of diversity, embracing differences, all families welcome
  Transcendence – spritual growth and support, sermons that make you reflect
  Education – liberal religious education for children, spiritual growth/ethical foundation for children
  Social Action – service, ability to affect wider community change as a group
  Green Sanctuary – green values
  Music
• What would you do to create a spiritual home?
  Foster a welcoming community – listening, participating, reaching out, encouraging, building up self esteem, not making assumptions
  Intellectual stimulation – discussions on a deeper level, questioning
  Dispersion of leadership/responsibility – stepping up/reciprocity
  Worship in Nature

SOME GENERAL COMMENTS ON A COVENANT

• “No matter how people initially reacted to the question of having a covenant, we all felt that going through the process of thinking about ‘What forms our Covenant as a church community’ is a fruitful endeavor.”
• “The spiritual covenant would need to be a bonding statement but not a creed.  It could serve as a type of branding that defines who we are, especially in our search for a new minister or to attract new members. It should be a statement of what joins us together in positive terms and not what we’re not.”
• “The experience of reciting something together could enhance the community. It could establish a tradition or ritual. There was some concern that the recitation would be meaningless after awhile.”
• “Our values are often defined as relating to social justice, as one member said that there’s value in coming together to think about how to make the world a better place. But we all agreed that it feels like more than that: it’s how we confront issues in our daily lives and how we choose to live in the world.”
• “Overall, the majority of our group thought a spiritual covenant was not something they needed but if done right, it could be nice. One member felt that reciting a spiritual covenant might help our children understand the church better.”
• “For some group members, this topic brought up initial questions about the covenant itself – do we really need a covenant, how would it bring us forward as a congregation, how would it be used – displayed in the sanctuary, recited at every service?”
• “There were no negative comments about covenants.  No one was hostile about a covenant. The issue was not anti-covenant but apathy:  ‘Why bother.’  ‘We seem to be just fine in our relationships with one another.  Why do we need a covenant?’  It was hard to keep the discussion going.  They seemed bored with it, considered it irrelevant.”
• “There was concern about a covenant as a ‘measuring stick’ with which to judge against some norm or standard.”