Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church

Category: Minister’s Column

  • MINISTER’S COLUMN: The Hard, Messy (and Necessary) Struggle to Build the Beloved Community

    By

    Rev. Matthew McHale

    Minister, Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church

    revmatthew@emersonuuc.org

    Last week I attended the General Assembly (GA) of the Unitarian Universalist Association in New Orleans. I love attending GA. I first attended as a participant in the Youth Caucus as a teenager back in 2000, and I’ve been back almost every year since. I look forward to it each year as a chance to experience excellent worship; thought-provoking and informative workshops; and to reconnect with UU friends and colleagues from across the country. But this year I was a bit worried about attending, and it wasn’t about the weather or the potential lack of good vegan options in New Orleans.

     

    Over the past few months, there has been a lot of upheaval—in our broader political world, our congregation, and also in wider Unitarian Universalism. As you may have heard UUA President Peter Morales resigned three months before his term was up—stemming from widespread criticism over the hiring practices at the UUA that have prioritized white people—particularly white male ministers—for top leadership positions.

     

    This spurred challenging and necessary conversations around race and culture in Unitarian Universalism. But, due to the difficulty so many of us white people have in talking about or acknowledging the existence of institutional racism, and old wounds being reopened for People of Color, compounded by the problems with communicating across social media—the tone and the rhetoric in the conversation was often antagonistic. It was not what one would hope for in a religious community.

     

    I was worried that General Assembly might be acrimonious, or that we would repeat the mistakes around (not) addressing institutional racism that we had made too many times in the past. But I was also hopeful that we would be continuing the long overdue conversations about institutional racism or White Supremacy Culture within Unitarian Universalism that started with the “White Supremacy Teach-ins” held in almost 700 congregations—including our own—and using it as an opportunity to move forward. Thankfully, General Assembly played out in such a way that allowed for acknowledging the complicated feelings about the past months, as well as renewing our commitment to becoming the anti-racist, anti-oppressive, multicultural beloved community, that we seek to become.

     

    With that commitment, and the election of our first female president, Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray, the interim co-presidents concluded in their final report: “We find ourselves convinced that we can move through this period together. We end our service in hope.”

     

    While reflecting on the path that the UUA had taken, to acknowledge our shortcomings and turn them into a commitment to reflection and growth, I started thinking about Emerson. I thought about our recent congregational meeting to approve the budget—where shortcomings in our governance created problems that could have been avoided, and where we didn’t all show up as our best selves. I am grateful for the opportunity to acknowledge our shortcomings and turn them into a commitment to reflection and growth. I am also grateful that the board has committed to two important goals for the coming church year that will enable us to build towards the community we seek to become: (1) reevaluating Emerson’s governance model so that we can operate with greater health and transparency, and (2) supporting the development of a covenant of right relations, so that we have a covenant (or shared agreements) of how we want to be together, and which calls us come back together again when we are out of covenant.

     

    I think that working towards these two goals will be incredibly valuable to the health of this congregation going forward. As will engaging in our own conversations about how to dismantle the white supremacy culture that exists in our congregation, so that we can be a church for our diverse and multicultural community we live in. And when I return from my break in late August, I am looking forward to working on them with all of you in the coming year.

     

    Blessings,

    Rev. Matthew

     

     

  • MINISTER’S COLUMN: After the Election, Showing Up for Justice

     

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    By Rev. Matthew McHale 

    Minister, Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church

    revmatthew@emersonuuc.org

    At our ministerial start-up weekend in October, congregational leaders identified several key priorities for our first year together, one of which was to revitalize our justice work. As a minister, I’m very passionate about justice work and I had been wishing for a more vibrant justice presence at Emerson, so I was really grateful that we identified that as a priority.

    In the wake of this election, our justice worship has received a big boost, but came as the result of an election that could easily be a catastrophe for our community, our country and our world.

    We had a really great turnout of around 40 people for the special, post-election Justice Action Ministry (JAM) meeting on November 20, and many more indicated that they wanted to be there, but couldn’t make it. Clearly, a lot of people are eager and ready to get involved in justice work in the wake of this election.

    At the meeting, I articulated what I saw as key priorities for our justice work, now that we are facing a Trump presidency, and a resurgence of bigotry and intolerance from his supporters: working for immigrant justice, standing up to religious intolerance, and continuing to fight for climate justice. And undergirding all three of these issues is the necessary work of racial justice.

    Trump has promised to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants, regardless of how that would tear apart families and peoples lives, and has repeatedly said racist things about Latinos. Canoga Park is heavily Latino neighborhood, and a lot of our neighbors are undocumented or have family who is undocumented. If we are going to be responsive to our community’s needs, this is an obvious place to start.

    Muslims are another group that Trump and his supporters have vociferously targeted, even suggesting the possible creation of registry for Muslims, which horrifically evokes Nazi Germany. As people of faith, who believe in religious pluralism, we must stand up against the rise in hate crimes and violent rhetoric directed at Muslims. Because of the large Muslim population in the west valley, there is a great need here, and because of our relationship with the Islamic Society of the West Valley we have a good foundation to build on.

    Because Trump has indicated that he doesn’t believe in global warming, his administration may cut back on environmental regulations, push for fossil fuel exploration, and undo emissions reductions at a time when we simply cannot afford to wait, let alone go backwards. So we must fight for climate justice, to make sure that those who bear the least responsibility for causing global warming—primarily People of Color and poor people—do not bear the worst impacts, and to ensure future generations have a world that is livable.

    If we are to be effective in any of these struggles, all of these will require joining with other communities in solidarity and in action, because we cannot do it alone. It is our role to show up and ask Muslim and immigrant communities what they need and how we can support. As a predominantly white congregation, will need to learn how to be effective allies, and develop our capacity for working in multicultural environments.

     

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    Though there are so many issues beyond these that we are all passionate about, in this particular moment I want to invite us all to listen attentively to the needs of those vulnerable among us, particularly within our community, and have that be the guide for where we focus our work.

    Though I deeply wish the circumstances were different, I am heartened to see how many people are ready and willing to show up for justice. I am glad to be doing this work with all of you.

    In Blessed Struggle,

    Rev. Matthew

  • MINISTER’S COLUMN: Reflections on Disaffection and the Election

    By Rev. Matthew McHale, Minister

    matthewmchale@outlook.com

    Matthew_at_Ordination-687x705

    This past month I have found myself preoccupied with the presidential election. I read multiple articles a day about the latest developments: leaked emails, inflammatory language, and the results of the newest polls. Part of me is concerned for the future of this country, part of me can’t look away from the train wreck, and part of me finds the media circus entertaining in a “gallows humor” sort of way. Mostly, I am hate-watching (like a bad television show) this election.

    What is perhaps most troubling is the almost complete lack of substance. This has been an election almost entirely focused on personality and sensationalism. Yes, it was definitely important that we talked about sexual assault, as well as the undercurrent (overcurrent?) of bigotry, the sexism and xenophobia, the rampant lies, and dangerous threats to reject the elections outcome. Yet, the fact that we spent so much time on what amounts to a frightening sideshow meant that the serious political issues have largely disappeared from the discourse.

    I have been frustrated by the lack of substantive discussion about the disastrous potential consequences of Hillary’s plan to enforce a no-fly zone in Syria, or the future of our potentially endless “war on terror,” or what role America should take in the world, more broadly, when our status as the sole-superpower is shifting. We decry the alleged meddling of Russian hackers in our elections, while ignoring both our long history of helping overthrow numerous democratically elected governments, and how corporations and the super-rich have already wholly undermined the democratic process through unprecedented levels of political spending. (If there’s one thing we can be sure of this election, it’s that those who hold the power and the money, will win, regardless.) And, despite its being the biggest threat humanity has faced in its 200,000-year existence, not a single question about global warming was asked during the debates.

    Meanwhile, there has been almost no coverage of the historic events at the Standing Rock Reservation, where the largest gathering of Native Americans in over a century is protecting their ancestral lands and the waters from the construction of a massive shale oil pipeline. Nor that their peaceful presence and prayers are being met with attack dogs, riot gear, and military assault vehicles, in scenes reminiscent of the civil rights movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s. Nor that journalists are being arrested and charged while reporting the event. Likewise, Hurricane Matthew has already slipped from our consciousness, despite thousands dead and over a million still recovering in Haiti. We’ve heard little about the multi-billion dollars fraud perpetrated by Wells Fargo against its customers. The media largely ignored how the U.S. backed the soft coup in Brazil and how the Saudis have bombed civilians in Yemen using American airplanes.

    And because most of us have been so focused on the presidential election, we’ve largely ignored the local races, and the two dozen state, county and city propositions dealing with critical issues like the death penalty, pharmaceutical price-gouging, taxes on the wealthy, infrastructure spending, and environmental regulations. Since these are the places we can have the most impact—whether as volunteers, activists, or simply as voters—and that will have the most direct impact on our lives, it’s wise to put our energy there.

    In that spirit, I was just elected to serve on the Board for jUUstice LA. And I am excited to work with you and with other congregations to bring our Unitarian Universalist values to fight for equity, the economy and the environment in the greater LA area.

    As the election enters the final stretch, go ahead; turn your attention to something else. (Perhaps Emerson’s Fall Fling on November 5!) Since about half of all Americans are stressed about it, it might be good for you, and you’ll be a lot more likely to make a difference.

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