Don’t think of an elephant. Naturally, to not think of an elephant, we all have some image or symbol that promptly appears in order that we not think of it.
And, whether or not you think of a minister, if you’ve read this far, some image or symbol of a minister has appeared in your thoughts. Is he white? Is she tall? Might they be lesbian or transgendered?
Your Search Committee has been working very hard on getting to know you as a congregation, and will use that knowledge to present to you the best possible minister (or ministers) who is/are a good match for you and your ministries. But how might image that just appeared in your thoughts limit your imagination? And what if you have doubts about that image? The limitations of what is imagined, or our fears of it, can reflect onto an actual minister – yet, in reality, have nothing to do with that actual person. This isn’t an unusual thing for us humans to do – it isn’t unusual for any of us to prejudge people. But, being Unitarian Universalists, as part of our spiritual practice, we work to overcome our prejudices.
So I want to urge you to attend the “Beyond Categorical Thinking” (BCT) workshop here at the church on Sunday, December 6. Both the Workshop and the Sunday Worship service right before it will be led by Rev. Keith Kron, the Director of Settlement at the UUA in Boston. He’s led BCT workshops for about 20 years.
These workshops have an outstanding record of helping people of a congregation participate effectively in their ministerial searches. The workshop will be fun, enlightening, and challenging in a helpful way. Please put the BCT workshop on your calendars. It’s a very effective way to support your congregation’s search process to find the minister(s) who are the best match for your future.