You may have noticed that our podcast has been on a bit of a hiatus for the past few months. After releasing our first seven episodes, we found ourselves wondering, what next? Do we have more to say that people need to hear in this moment? Or is this the right time to pause the conversation and focus on putting everything we have been discussing into practice?
So, we are putting a pin in this part of the conversation, for now - but, we aren’t leaving you high and dry. For our season finale episode, we invited a few colleagues to join us for a conversation about next steps. We left feeling energized and hopeful, with concrete ideas about where to go from here, and we hope you will, too.
Here is a description of the episode:
In this season finale episode, we, Rev. Peggy Clarke and Jil Novenski, are joined by Rev. Jude Geiger and Br. Zachary Stevens-Walter to discuss how to breathe new life into Unitarian Universalist congregations. We explore the stuck places that churches can find themselves in, and how to get unstuck by embracing change, flexibility, and stepping outside the walls of the church building.
We discuss the importance of a sense of communal vitality, moving beyond an individualistic, consumerist model of church toward practices of mutual aid and sharing the joys and struggles of being human together. We also talk about how challenging it can be to even start these conversations about change, and how crucial it is to pursue new models of religious community suited for the world we want to live in, rather than replicating systems that aren't serving us well.
Most importantly, we offer practical ideas for “disruptive” actions both within and outside existing congregations - from starting one-on-one values conversations, to doing acts of care and support, to making literal soup to share with others as an invitation into beloved community. Finally, we raise the call for Unitarian Universalists to get activated as a positive force for change in the rising tides of alienation, loneliness, and difficult realities we face as a society.
If you prefer to listen elsewhere, you can find links to the podcast on all of your favorite platforms here. Thanks for joining us!
So, What Now?