In the Meantime,

Ministers hate spring.  Because that’s often when annual meetings are held which means writing annual reports.  No doubt there are some who love doing this but I have not met them.  You may then conclude that I am no fan, but it is nonetheless essential.  We use the word ‘accountability’ a lot now, and reports are a form of accountability.  Power must be held accountable or it ceases to serve those who put them in power.  Thus I am writing my report, if not with pleasure then with gratitude because as Uncle Ben said to Peter Parker, “With great power comes great responsibility.”  

But you need not be Spiderman to have power or responsibility.  Our precious civil rights, enumerated in the Bill of Rights and beyond, all come with a responsibility to use those powers for good.  We hear lots of talk about rights and precious little about responsibility, though. That, to me, is, well, irresponsible!  It is probable that the last time anyone said anything to us about being responsible was when we got our driver’s licenses.  That’s good.  But there are lots of other responsibilities in our society.  These we do not hear about.

Why tell you this?  Because a free religion like ours depends on its owners (that you be you) being responsible.  You will get a copy of the annual report prior to the annual meeting on June 6.  Read it.  Then attend the meeting.  Then vote for your elected leaders and the budget.  Sure it is boring, a little muddled, rather tedious, but that’s what democracy looks like.  I’ll say more about our spiritual democracy in my sermon on June 6.  As it happens, though, it was our spiritual ancestors in New England who planted the seed of American democracy.  The least we can do is set a good example in these undemocratic times.    – FW –