Charge to the Minister

By the Rev. Dr. Kendyl Gibbons

At the installation of the Rev. Lynn Brodie
Unitarian Universalist Church of the South Hills
December 13,2003

Words flow from us, spilled like careless light across the turnings of our lives,
Trying to capture meaning, poured out crying,
"Look! See this; behold who we are, what becomes of us
Mostly they rise, thin; evaporate like mist,
Leaving us changeless, unpersuaded.
Few are the moments, few the words, .
That bespeak what is new and real into existence –

That do what cannot be undone,
That change us by a promise into something we were not, a heartbeat ago.
Such a moment is this one; such are the words we have spoken here;
Such is the power that we have summoned into our midst tonight
in reverence before that act of covenant, it is my task now, Lynn,

To remind you of some of the implications of the promises you have just undertaken.
For your loyalty is given not simply to the members of this congregation, :
But also to the highest ideals of human aspiration, and to that holy creativity
Whose servants we are, and seek every more fully to be.

And so I charge you first of all, to remember that you are not the servant of these people, - no matter how much you may come to love them and they you, -- but rather'" you are called to be the servant of the most high. In that capacity, you must be prepared sometimes to make difficult decisions, to give unpalatable advice, to speak uncomfortable truths to people you love, and take unpopular stands. The courage and resolution to do this can only come from your centered certainty that you are answerable to a standard higher than popularity, or making people immediately pleased with you.

And as you enter into covenant with the members of this congregation, I charge you also to remember us, your fellow professionals in religious leadership, and to continue to measure your conduct so as to uphold the honor of the office of the ministry. Your colleagues do not require you to be perfect, but we do expect you to use common sense, and to respect the hard won wisdom of what constitutes good practice in the exercise of ministry. Set healthy boundaries, maintain you^r self-awareness and integrity, stay deeply nourished in the various physical, emotional, creative, and spiritual dimensions of life. The gospel of your preaching can only be as effective as the testimony of your own example.

Now, on behalf of these people, I charge you to remember that it is their church, not yours. They have a common history that shapes who they are, which has its roots in a time long before your ministry to them. They must have a vision of a shared future that extends beyond your presence, even if you were to end your days here many decades from now. There are wounds they have that you will never fully understand, let alone heal. There are yearnings they feel that will not fire your blood. Only by honoring the uniquenesses in each other can you and they ever connect in the kind of mutual ministry that has the power to transform our collective brokenness. Listen to them; challenge them; touch them; call them to repentance (and go thither yourself occasionally); be with them in pain; make them laugh - at their follies and your own; engage them; feed them the bread of life, passed through the fire of thought; but do not seek to mold them, or tell them what to think, or ever make them anything less than wholly themselves. Respect what they have been and done in the chapters of the past; honor the traditions, and the memories, of those whose love and labor made today and tomorrow possible.

In a world greedy for instant gratification, where marriages crumble at a touch, and jobs come and go, I charge you, Pastor Lynn, to be in this covenant for the long haul. Take joy in the early magic of discovery, but be prepared to slog it through; through the mistakes and the misunderstandings; through the regrets and the reconciliations; the anxiety and the boredom; the false starts and the dreams deferred. Make ministry real over time, and in so doing I charge you earnestly, keep your own soul from bitterness and cynicism. Keep a place in your heart where disenchantment may not enter, and let the work of ministry be rooted firmly there. From thence will come your honest tears, your honest rage, your honest joy, and in these the freshness of your call will be forever new. Remember that your care for yourself is the model you give to others, and bear in mind that what is holy never calls us to self-destruction.

Finally, I would remind you of what I said to you on a similar occasion three and a half years ago, at your ordination to the ministry. You, Lynn, are still not responsible for everything that happens, and the way it all turns out. You yourself are held, as you must surely tell your people that they are held, in the great processes of unfolding life; in a creativity far larger than our own intentions, however firm; in an acceptance far more embracing than anything we can earn. I charge you to lean into that holding, still and always; to learn to trust it more and more, as you walk this path of covenant community. As you grow, in trust and understanding of one another, these people will increasingly place power in your hands. This is a good thing; do not fling it away - they know what they are doing. Nor must you ever forget what a unique and precious trust it is that you hold. I charge you - strive ever to return the power entrusted to you; return it transformed by your vision into leadership, transformed by your compassion into mutual care; transformed by your visible faith into courage and hope for our shared lives. Remember that you are not God. and your assignment is not to run the universe. Remaining clear in that awareness, may you be the servant of holy creativity all your life, and a song upon the lips of the universe.

Thus I charge you, and rejoice with you in your presence within a new community of colleagues and friends. May the fair promise of this hour be fulfilled in many years of fruitful ministry shared with these people; may you so live and labor together that the light of truth and the life of grace may be revealed in you to all the world, with bright blessings upon you and all those whose lives you shall touch.