2910 East Morgan Evansville, IN  47711 (812) 474-1704

You put your right foot in,
You take your right foot out
You put your right foot in
And you shake it all about
You do the hokey pokey and
You turn yourself around.
That's what it's all about

Have you ever done the Hokey Pokey? I remember it from weddings.

Today there are different dances that are popular such as the Macarena and other line dances. But during my young adult life it was the Hokey Pokey. The band would call out for the women and children to form a circle and we would do the hokey pokey. I thought it was silly and I was mortified.

But maybe the hokey pokey is what its all about. 

First you put one hand in - then the other.
The you put one foot in - then the other
Then you get more daring and put your butt in
And finally you throw your whole self in.

Maybe throwing your whole self in and letting whatever happens happen is what it's all about.

Maybe the hokey pokey is a metaphor for life.  Life as a process.

I think we are supposed to throw our whole selves in - give it whatever we have.

Thoreau wrote of this attitude toward life saying "I wish to learn what life has to offer, and not, when I come to die discover that I had never lived… I wish to live deep and suck all the marrow out of it."

I am for the most part a throw your self into it person. I test the water a little and then I dive in. I've noticed though that some people need to go more slowly and some never enter at all.

Church membership is also about throwing your self in - making a commitment. When people visit a church they are testing the water.

They put a hand or a foot in. They try Sunday services for a while - perhaps join a book group or attend the parents group. And then they find they are ready - that whatever in them was holding back says okay I'm ready.

Some people choose to remain on the fringes; just sticking a hand or foot in -  Holding back, attending when the sermon looks interesting. They often attend for a while and then drift off.

I think there is something to be said for checking out a church before you join. To see what they believe - to find out what they are about and if you want to align yourself with their goals.

And then I think you need to throw your whole self in, to commit. I have no doubt that it will be worth you time. If you want to know what you will get - you will get friends - you will get people who care about you and you will deepen your relationship with the world.

Churches exist to enable transformation not to entertain. A church is about potential. It is about what could be.  It is about community.

We seek to be a living breathing community which is healthy and vibrant. Which seeks to help each of us with the task of being alive and making difficult choices in an ever more complicated world.

In their 2001 document on membership the commission on appraisal wrote:

"But magic cannot create the warm fuzzy ideal that most people associate with community. Real community can only be built through hard and unglamorous work. Like any effective relationship, it requires commitment. Often these days we hear people say they are seeking a "spiritual community" but want nothing to do with "organized religion." By the former they seem to mean a place that will meet their own religious needs; and by the latter they seem to mean a place that will make demands on them to support the institutions needs. The reality is that you cannot have one without the other and part of the church's job is to lead people to the discovery that it is only by giving that we receive, giving not only our money but ourselves. In other words, only by making a commitment to a community can we hope to build a community. And this commitment consists not of lofty ideals but of practical realities."

Let's face it the reality of church has it's aggravations. The necessary and eternal concern about finances, the annual challenge of balancing a budget and finding money to repair the building, replace the air conditioner, get rid of termites. And then there are the sermons - too long, too short, too intellectual and not intellectual enough. And then there are committee meetings, childcare issues and sometimes no music.

Who needs it?  We do. Because the alternative is dreadful. The church in spite of its shortcomings is better than no church at all. We need a liberal and free religious presence in Evansville.

To paraphrase Scott Alexander

"In a community which is so closed to difference we need people who will speak out for the inherent worth and dignity of each person.

In a world which worships revenge - how can we not seek justice, equity and compassion in human relations.

In a world where so many people are taught to hate and to follow without question we need to accept on another and encourage each to grow a soul.

When others offer dogmatism and falsehood, we need those who would challenge us to a free and responsible search for truth and meaning.

In a world with so much tyranny and oppression, we need to speak out about the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process.

In a world with so much inequity and strife how can we not speak out for peace liberty and justice for all.

In a city with high levels of pollution and unusually high levels of cancer we need a religion that advocates a respect for the interdependent web of all existence.

For the times when we take the risk of speaking out and our voices are rejected, we need a community which will renew our courage and hope.  A place where we can find some bravery soup.

In times of uncertainty and despair we need a religion that teaches our hearts to hope and our hands to serve."

People get out of church what they put into it.

At the center of our church is a covenant not a creed. When you join you do not have to attest to a set of beliefs. Rather you are asked to take your place in a pluralistic religious community by agreeing to a covenant. And the covenant of this church is that Love is the spirit of this church - which means we seek to use love in all we do. As the minister I am covenanted to lead you through holding out possibilities and encouraging you to live out of the best of who you are rather than motivating by fear, by threatening you with hell or by shaming you.

And as a community you agree to walk with me, to grant me a free pulpit, by which we mean that I am allowed to speak my opinion without fear of being fired. And I grant you a free pulpit meaning you are not required to believe as I believe.

As a community we covenant to each other to remain open and accepting of each others spiritual journey. It is a matter of how we treat each other. Unitarian Universalism is a religion of praxis.

As one sage said: "we need not think alike to love alike."

Our membership is voluntary and when we join we make a commitment to a relationship. A relationship based on mutuality and equality. Each member agrees to work for the common good of the whole.

And when disillusionment comes - as it surely will we covenant to stick it out.

This morning we welcomed a new member to our congregation.  I would also like to acknowledge and thank all those who have had a long and enduring commitment to this congregation.

Would everyone who has been here more than 40 yrs. Please stand.

And now those who joined before 1975.  Please join them

And those who joined before 1990.

And those who have joined in the last 10 years.

Thank you.

We have a wonderful congregation, one which continues to take in new members and invite them to create what they would like this church to be.  Through the years we have become more welcoming and open and willing to allow people to try new things.

We are accepting and forgiving. And we have always benefited from the risks we have taken.

In the 50's the congregation took the risk of buying a building over on Kentucky avenue. Later they risked again and bought this building and the chalice house. Once upon a time the chalice house was a rental unit. And then the congregation took the risk of giving up that income and providing better facilities for the children. That too has proven to be a good decision.

In 1996 the congregation took the risk of hiring a full time minister and with it a great financial commitment. And from my biased position I think that that has worked out well.  In the future I hope we will continue to take risks so that we can continue to stay vibrant and alive.

This morning I hope you will all recommit yourself to this free religious community.

And I pray that your relationship with the Unitarian Universalist Church of Evansville blesses your lives.

Amen and may it be so.

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