Scott’s Column: A Big & Beautiful Life Jan 27, 2025 | News Do we have the resources and skills we need for this age of crisis? Last week I wrote about the discussion of leadership development at Conversations, the annual gathering of UCC senior ministers, and today I want to write about some of the other conversations I had in breakout sessions with colleagues. In one we continued our conversation from the previous year about ministry in an age of polycrisis and in the other we reflected on this question, “What signs of spiritual renewal are you seeing right now?” The two blended together quite well. There seemed to be agreement that our congregants, and people in general, require a meaning-making framework to hold their worries. One colleague said, “It feels like we need a miracle.” So we discussed what are the resources and skills we might need. One colleague talked about the importance of divorcing hope from tangible outcomes. Another said we should focus on “soul work” and recommended we follow Elizabeth Oldfield, and particularly read her book Fully Alive. In it she asks what type of people are needed for the end of the world? For example, the type of people who hide Anne Frank’s family from the Nazis. How do we become those people? She thinks we don’t do it alone but can only become those people together. What does preparedness look like? One of the older members of our cohort said that we now need to move beyond our churches stating that all are welcome into making it clear “we will defend you.” One colleague shared the story of a young woman who had recently joined their church, and on the day she joined asked to speak to the congregation and said, “Thank you for this space where my life can be bigger and more beautiful.” And, in a final note, another colleague said they keep sharing to their congregation, “You are braver than you know and you’re not alone.”
