“There is more love somewhere…. I’m gonna keep on, til I find it…. There is more love somewhere.”

I’m not sure why this hymn keeps rattling through my head today, because honest-to-pete, I have been astonished by how much love I have witnessed the past few days. It’s more than I ever imagined possible. (And please bear in mind that “love” may be my least favorite word in the English language — though that’s another story.)

The outpouring I’ve seen makes me not just glad, but actually proud, to be part of such a wonderful faith community (Unitarian Universalist and beyond). At my church’s vigil last night, I heard that many (maybe even all) of the different churches and temples in Knoxville have reached out to help their UU neighbors.

From my worm’s eye perspective, it’s in-my-face evident in the TLC our family has received around the loss of our beloved Roxy. There has been so much terrible news for the church the last few days that I assumed the death of a 95 year-old would have to take a back seat. But no. Not two hours after hearing of the second tragedy, the President of the congregation called me to say we weren’t going to be forgotten. At the point he called it hadn’t even crossed my mind.

Then this morning I thought we shouldn’t bother our Caring Committee about a reception after the memorial service this coming Saturday. But no again. The minister said they actually want to do this. Their chair even called her about it yesterday — from the road, returning from a vacation. I shake my head in wonder. And I hope I can find ways to mirror this love back.

I remember the first time Jason Shelton introduced himself at our church, ten or so years ago. He looked an interesting and intelligent young man with a promising future. But of course none of us dreamed what was to come.

Sunday he became our new Associate Minister for Music — and made UU history. Not only was the vote an overwhelming majority (96%), but the turnout of members was remarkable by our standards (around 140) and the lack of discussion (just one brief comment) even more remarkable, again by our standards. All in all, it was a huge success.

So why are my antennae going wild? Why am I in a twit? Two reasons. First, I suspect to much of the outside world it looks like a foregone conclusion — and nothing could be further from the truth. Second, how do you convey all of the hard work and dedication that went into this happy outcome? Certainly the press release didn’t. (I helped write it, so I can say this.)

When the process first began, many of us (including me) thought it would be at least straightforward — maybe even easy. We knew Jason was enormously talented, hard-working and in demand at other churches. We were well aware that we were very lucky he liked us enough to want to stay.

What we didn’t realize is that the road of “internal searches” for Unitarian Universalist ministers is a perilous one. Apparently it’s one of those things that’s well known in certain inner circles. However, we only became aware of it a couple of months into the process, when things seemed anything but obvious. I’m not sure what the chemistry is that makes this so, but in retrospect it makes sense. While familiarity doesn’t necessarily breed contempt, it does take the superficial polish off.

As we got further into the process, it became ever more clear to the Transition Committee running the process that there both a large number of the unreservedly enthusiastic and a smaller number who had their doubts. The latter feared that the dominant support of Jason left no place for them. They could easily have been dismissed as troublemakers or misfits — and they knew it. Herein lie the makings of dysfunction.

While I suspect many UU congregations would have done just that, fortunately ours didn’t. The committee, Jason and our senior minister, Gail Seavey, were deeply committed to not just being respectful of this feedback, but also to using it as an opportunity to improve ministry. They went to great lengths to have plenty of meetings where people could safely express their questions and concerns. It was far from easy.

200 plus emails, five open meetings, countless committee and board meetings later, we emerged victorious. I would say in the end what made this such a success was hard work, a deep commitment to truth and respect, and, having a fabulous candidate who loves the congregation, warts and all.

“The entire qualification one must have for understanding art is responsiveness.” - Susanne K. Langer, Feeling and Form: A theory of Art Developed from Philosophy in a New Key

This quote undergirds what may be the best sermon I’ve ever heard. In Beauty Is Truth, the Rev. Gail Seavey dove into two topics not usually discussed in UU circles: art and beauty. With her background in art (a degree from Rhode Island School of Design and many years work as a sculptor) she is uniquely qualified to examine these subjects.

Doing web design, my thoughts often hover on the edge of art and beauty. When I create a really good design, surprisingly perhaps, I don’t mind that inevitably it will be gone within a few years, morphing into something else, or evolving into a new aesthetic that keeps pace with both new technologies and new tastes.  It reminds me a bit of Tibetan sand paintings.

At times I have wondered if web designs might be art. Until I heard this sermon I’d always thought no - it’s more akin to craft. The answer still may be no. I don’t know. But there’s unquestionably much beauty in the web that I respond to from deep within myself. I think of the simplicity of the Copyblogger design that this site uses, the famous minimalism and whimsy of Google’s home page, the elegant Flash of Hobart Design, the evocative colors use by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, and so on.

Paralleling what Rev. Seavey said about white European males “inventing” an art, you mostly hear about male web designers. I’m hard-pressed to think of the names of any women web designers other than those I know personally. No matter that they are every bit as good as the big names in web design. In fact, I tend to minimize my role as a designer because if (as is often done) you divide web work into the more feminine design (look and feel, CSS, etc., etc.) and masculine development (programming, PHP, MySQL, etc., etc.), developers get more respect — and money.

In the end, though, what really matters, as Rev. Seavey puts it is: “When we become part of the creative god-process - making our own true feelings – our beauty - visible to the world and seeing the beauty made visible by others - we enter into a profound communion that helps us transcend our limits a little, mutually expanding our visions of beauty, truth and right.”

[Continuing my brief series on Google Sites.]

The best thing about Google Sites is that you don’t have to be a webmaster or IT person to set it up and use it — plus it’s free. Not only that, a web-based collaboration tool hasn’t been readily available to most people before now. I can’t wait to recommend it to some groups I’ve helped build websites for. However, there are other Web users whom I’ll advise to steer clear. It’s not for everyone.

Who Can Make Great Use of Google Sites?

Small Non-Profits. It’s easy to imagine organizations like Gilda’s Club and RASAC building very useful intranets for themselves with Google Sites.

Churches. The observant might have noticed the picture in my first post was of an intranet for my church. To start with, I’m setting up a separate site for each committee that wants one and then tying them together in a central site. I’m particularly excited about rolling it out to our Stewardship Committee, which is knee deep in pie-charts, calendars, newsletter articles and so on. It will be very helpful to have most of this stuff in one easy-to-access place.

Small Businesses. Google has a helpful example of what this might look like.

Who Should Think Twice?

Individuals. This is a tool for collaboration and internal communication. It’s not really meant for an individual’s personal website.

Healthcare. While the sites do use a secure https connection, I couldn’t find any assurance that Google Sites are HIPAA-compliant.

Large business and organizations. I can imagine it working well for larger organizations in time — but not yet. There’s not enough substance or malleability to make it a good choice yet. The potential is enormous, however. I’m looking forward to watching Sites grow.

Perhaps suffering sounds off-topic for a blog on happiness. While it’s certainly not my focus, I believe that a fundamental part of true happiness is having looked suffering squarely in the eye and learned from it. If you’re like me, suffering is going to have to beat you over the head a few times before you listen up. Of course even when you have learned, it’s no guarantee you won’t suffer again. But the astonishing thing is if you really have learned from it, you’ll happen into moments of grace — or happiness if you will.

What sent me down this track was an unusual New York Times book review: Heartbreaking Work — described in its newsfeed as, “Essays on the isolation, pain and heroics that come with ministering to loved ones.” So much in it rings true to me. I share the fury of the father about “New Age pests, overdosed on media mythology.” Far too often I hear those suffering with cancer told it’s their own fault — that if they get a good attitude, they’ll get well — or other mushy-minded, selfish nonsense. I echo to Virginia Woolf’s floodgates of “extreme reality” loosened by the death of a child, a bitter divorce, the debilitating illness of a loved one, or the many other vicissitudes of life.

However, what really got me blogging was that despite the use of the word “ministering” in its description, the article never touched on religion. Not that I think any religion can solve extreme reality. But shouldn’t they be there to help? Isn’t that the heart of any religion? In the end, don’t they all speak to the question “Why?” In my experience, the urgency of this question ratchets up the more extreme the reality.

But as the author notes, “Our society would rather not focus on this area of experience and makes little provision for it.” If religion is even considered, it’s probably quickly dismissed — and probably with good cause, since so many churches have failed so many so miserably.

That said, the failure of organized religion isn’t universal. After maybe a decade of poor ministry, my church got its act together and now strives valiantly to provide much-needed pastoral care. It’s at the heart of the duties of our professional ministers, and extends beyond them into many other forms of ministry. Are we rare? I don’t know, but I fear our healthy ministry is more rare than our previous unhealthy one — and articles like this add credence to my concern.

Where is organized religion for those lost in “‘a black hole of time and energy,’ a ‘Black Balloon,’ ‘our own little prison,’ ‘Planet Autism’”? What does it mean that there isn’t there any mention of it in this context? And in the final analysis — why?

“The greatest problem with communication is the illusion that it has been accomplished.”
– George Bernard Shaw

This morning my church sponsored a most helpful “Getting the Word Out” workshop for church leaders (board members, committee chairs, staff, etc.). Based on introductory comments, here is a “Cheat Sheet” of things to consider when you want to communicate your church event.

• Remember the number seven. If you want the majority of your congregation to hear about your event, you’re going to need to publicize it seven times. Saying it once doesn’t even begin to get the word out.
• Cover the basics. It seems obvious, but you’d be amazed how easy it is to forget some of these, especially if you’re in a hurry.
  • Who?
  • What?
  • When?
  • Where?
  • Why?
  • How?
• Be clear about your audiences. Possibilities include:
  • Current congregation members
  • Newcomers
  • Prospective members
  • Visitors
  • The larger community
  • The media
  • The denomination
• Pick your communication methods wisely. Keep in mind your audiences, your message and that number seven. These will affect which methods are best. At my church, the primary possibilities are:
  • The newsletter
  • The church website, particularly the announcement blog
  • The weekly email
  • The order of service
  • An announcement from the pulpit
  • A press release
  • The bulletin boards
• Remember: effective communication is not simple. In fact the technology I adore is making it ever more complicated, or so it seems. What, I wonder, would George Bernard Shaw, make of Web 2.0?

“In the past few years it has dawned on me that an important part of a long-term relationship with a congregation is coming to terms with the grief that comes with loss. Every year, when we gather at the Columbarium during our Water Communion service, the list of those departed whom I have known and loved grows longer and longer. It has been through this growing understanding of my own grief that I have come to embrace the gratitude I feel for having shared part of this brief life with this amazing group of people. In the end it’s not about having a great music program or about being a renowned composer, or preaching eloquent and inspiring sermons, or even helping to conquer any of the great social ills of our time. It’s about truly being with one another, about knowing each other. It is in those privileged moments, when I have simply been with people in the struggles and celebrations of their lives, that I have found a place for ministry, for service, and I am grateful for the opportunity to fulfill this calling in my life.”
- The Rev. Jason Shelton

Sometimes I question my sanity for going to church. Church life, if you enter into it past a certain point (a point I passed ages ago), is messy. Of course I’m busy too, and would love to just put my feet up on Sundays instead of going to church. More than that, I look around and many wonderful people don’t go to church. So why?

Then there are the other moments. One just happened to me, working on a recent web page I posted for the church. I read the passage from Jason Shelton quoted above, and time stopped. Of course I go to church. In fact, I’m very lucky to be part of such a wonderful community.

Jason is our highly articulate and extraordinarily talented music director, who is trail-blazing his way into music ministry. We are the envy of many other UU congregations to have him on our staff.

But he wants to stay with us, and I can see why. We have soaring ceilings, but our roots go much deeper — through the Columbarium, through the larger community, and into many hearts, including mine.

Yesterday I was (happily) a bystander in one of those interactions that are so prevalent in smallish volunteer organizations coping with the new media. Out of the blue, my church’s Green Team (our environmental conscience) got an email from someone no one had heard of before, telling them they should “champion, promote and implement the conversion of our tree eating, postage wasting newsletter to an internet version.” Yikes.

Astonishingly, our very kind and patient Green Team co-chair bristled and let the person have it. She noted that they were just a small group of volunteers who didn’t have a magic want. Then other church leaders weighed in, pointing out, for example, that online actually is the primary mode of distributing the newsletter.

Eventually the thread made it to the Communication Committee (AKA Comm Comm). It’s where newsletter responsibility actually lies. Comm Comm is a sizable group, full of older, less-than-reticent members, and at that point, there was much hilarity. Thank heavens. It was absolutely the right response. We’ve been down the online-vs.-print road goodness knows how many times in the last few years. If I could have an ounce of chocolate for every hour Comm Comm has spent talking about and working on this issue, I’d be a very fat diva.

Yet still there is so much to see and learn from this kind of interaction. The take-aways for me right now are:

• Humans yearn for the simple. Alas, the shift into new media is anything but simple.
• Volunteers are fragile. They are at risk for lack of appreciation, and having a healthy, vibrant community to disperse such issues into is a wonderful antidote.
• Good humor can save the day when dealing with complex issues mixed with tender feelings.

What do you take away?