MELANIE’S MISCELLANY: NEW GROWTH IN THE SPRING

I have always loved springtime in New Orleans. The skies are so blue, the flowers so profuse, the grass so startlingly green. Breezes blow, the temperatures are bearable, the sunshine is gentle, and it’s very, very difficult to stay indoors. An added bonus is that spring arrives in March and comes to fruition in April –rather than arriving in April and coming to fruition in May, as it does up North.

It is wonderful to watch the new growth arrive. Trees are dusted with soft green buds, plants have new shoots, and flowers are budding everywhere. Spring is a hopeful time. The earth wakes up from whatever winter there’s been, and things seem fresh and new. New beginnings not only seem possible, but likely.

In church life, too, there is new growth in the spring. Lots of good stuff is “budding” in the congregation, harbingers of good things to come. One of the most hopeful things getting new growth right now is the Shared Capital Campaign for Post-Katrina Rebuilding and Revitalization for GNOUU (the three congregations of the Greater New Orleans UU cluster). Starting at the end of March, this campaign kicked off with great hope, using cottage meetings and dinners and gatherings and one-on-ones to generate positive energy and participation.

After all three UU congregations have completed the process of presenting the campaign, with all our wishes and dreams for the future of improved buildings and programs, received the commitments of our own church members and friends, we will turn outward to the wider UU community and ask them to partner with us, and help us in our quest to heal and be whole once again, poised for new growth.

One thing I want to stress is how important it is that we be able to show outside donors that the campaign has the complete support and full participation of ALL the members of all three churches. We need to say to our potential contributors around the country, “Our congregations are totally behind this effort to revitalize UUism in this area; we have 100% participation by all our members and friends.”

Complete support and full participation. This doesn’t mean that you agree with every single word in the case statement, every single program proposed, every single hoped-for alteration to our building. It means that you want our building rebuilt and you want Unitarian Universalism to thrive in this city. It means you’re committed to this as a process, and that you are willing to work with others to change what you’d like to see changed, and accept the things that are not totally in sync with your preferences.

Please don’t think that supporting this campaign means going into debt, or giving up eating once a week! While we hope that everyone will be as generous as they can, the amount doesn’t matter as much as the 100% participation. And remember, every gift goes to something we all believe in wholeheartedly – the new growth of Unitarian Universalism in the greater New Orleans area.

In faith and hope,
Melanie