 And the last thing that's on the list, you know, in the shape of a sundial hose, they'll actually have this on the list. It's slow. It's not the next thing you get in the morning. All right. So, you know, I get, what microphone are you using here? Delta. Delta. And as soon as you see it, wait a minute. A few hours. Yeah. That's something that happens. All right. One, they've got one. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know them. They give her a statement. She made it up. I don't know. I know the viewers. I know the viewers. One of them is going to be on the left. That's OK. Yeah. They were, they were, by the time, they just hope that they were on the protocol. Jess. Good morning. Let's take a moment for silent centering and now let us join together for our in-gathering hymn number 188 which is also printed in your order of service. Good morning and welcome to the First Unitarian Society of Madison. This is a community where curious seekers gather to explore spiritual, ethical and social issues in an accepting and nurturing environment. Unitarian Universalism supports the freedom of conscience of each individual as together we seek to be a force for good for the world. My name is Betsy Hozer and on behalf of the congregation I would like to extend a very special welcome to our visitors. We are a welcoming congregation so whoever you are or wherever you happen to be on your life journey we celebrate your presence among us. Newcomers are encouraged to stay for our fellowship hour after the service and to visit the library which is directly across from the center doors of this auditorium. Bring your drinks and your questions. Members of our staff and lay ministry team will be on hand to welcome you. You may also look for persons holding teal stoneware coffee mugs. These are members knowledgeable about our faith community who would love to visit with you. Experienced guides are generally available to give a building tour after each service so if you would like to learn more about this sustainably designed addition to our national landmark meeting house please meet near the large glass window on the left side of the auditorium following service. We welcome children to stay for the duration of the service however because it is difficult for some in attendance to hear in this lively acoustical environment our child care haven and the commons are excellent places to retire if a child needs to talk or move around. The service can still be seen and heard from those areas and speaking of noise now would be a great time to turn off all your our electronic devices that might cause a disturbance during the next hour. I would like to acknowledge those individuals who help our services run smoothly. Our sound operator this morning is David Brails, lay ministers, our Tom Boykoff and Dorit Bergen, our greeter was Janine Nussbaum, ushers are Anne Ostrom, Marty Hollis and Daniel Bradley and our coffee this morning is being prepared and served by Jamie Anirfarer and Melinda Carr. Please note the announcements on the red floors insert in your order of service which describe upcoming events at the society and provide more information about today's activities and we have a very special activity occurring today after or following the 11 o'clock service we will be having a parish meeting where the discussion will be discerning diversity and your input will be the primary reason for gathering together and meeting. Following 11 11 o'clock service there will be a luncheon provided by our wonderful food haulers and the meeting will start promptly at 12 30. Again welcome we hope today's service will stimulate your mind, touch your hearts and stir your spirit. I would also like to introduce and welcome to the pulpit Prudy Stewart a member of our personnel committee because she has a special announcement as well. Good morning this is my pleasure today to acknowledge two of our staff members who have been here for the past five years and we very much appreciated all their hard work and dedicated time to our society. First we recognize Tracy Gray. Tracy's official title is that of office manager and I think those of you who have worked with office managers know that they are jacks of all trade that certainly true in Tracy's case. She's the keeper of the keys, the keeper of personnel information, the manager of parking, the tracker of data maintained in the church's Shelby database. She helps members set up electronic funds transfers and I could go on. Basically when there's a question regarding how this place operates the answer is ask Tracy. Tracy has four daughters who usually join her at the Saturday services and what free time she has you'll be interested to know that she designs and creates stained glass windows. Tracy was here yesterday for the four o'clock service so she's not with us here this morning but we certainly want to thank her for her dedication and service to FUS for the past five years. Secondly this morning we're recognizing Jean Sears. Jean is often the friendly face that you see when you walk down the stairs to the auditorium. Officially she's our coordinator of member programs. Jean keeps busy with such tasks as coordinating volunteers working with new visitors and organizing new UU classes. Certainly she has to be an expert at collaboration given the number of programs and events we have here at FUS. The bottom line is that she dedicates her work life to supporting connections among our members. Jean became a member of FUS in 2004 in no small part because she feels a natural dedication to one of our UU principles the acceptance of one another and encouragement of spiritual growth in our congregations. And Jean is in the back of the auditorium and I wish you would all give her a round of applause for her work. As we come together today let us do so in the spirit of searching for fresh insights and deeper truths. Let us come together in this search respecting and valuing our differences, differences that we feel we can share openly and honestly. Let us come together in the spirit of brother and sisterhood with active concern for the well-being not only of those close to us but those who live far away as well. Let us come together seeking not only comfort and support but the stimulus we all need to become the best and the wisest persons that we can be. I invite you to rise in body or in spirit for the lighting of our chalice and if you will join me in reciting the words that are printed in this morning's program we kindle the single flame of this chalice as a symbol of shared unity amid the richness of our human diversity as a beacon of hope for those whose lives are darkened this morning by doubt or sorrow or despair as an emblem of that divine spark which animates and guides us toward the highest aspirations of our common humanity and in the spirit of our common humanity please turn in exchange a friendly greeting with your neighbor just like about two or three more okay yeah just two or three more please be seated and if some of the children would like to join Sasha in the front for the message for all ages you know there's a lot of you stole pickle from your mom and you stole pickle too that's a lot that's a lot of stolen pickles lots of stealing all right so later today the adults are going to think a little bit and hear from Michael a little bit about something called diversity and I'm wondering if any of you have ever heard that word before does anybody know what diversity means you don't know what that means but you've heard it before you don't know either anybody know okay well we're gonna learn about that so the story that I'm gonna share with you right now is about diversity and so I want you to pay really close attention and see if maybe you can figure out what diversity is from listening to the story okay all right so in art class I painted a picture of my world my teacher mailed it across the oceans this is my world a boy drew back with colors of the sea this is my world same same but different PS who are you my name is Elliot and I love to climb trees my name is Kalash and I love to climb trees to same same but different this is me PS do you live in a tree that is my tree house where I play I live in a red brick building with my mom my dad and baby sister pause there for a moment I live with my family too all 23 of us my mom dad sister brother grandmother grandfather aunties uncles cousins and our animals I have pets too but not nearly as many as you same same but different PS what does it look like where you live a great river throws flows through my village peacocks dance under trees shaped like umbrellas the Sun is giant and especially hot there in my city the Sun hides behind buildings as tall as the sky taxis buses and cars fill the streets I write a bus to school with my friends so do I same same but different this is our alphabet this is our alphabet same same but different my favorite class is art where I can be anything my favorite class is yoga where I can be anything same same but different this is how my friends and I say hello this is how my friends and I say hello same same but different we're best friends even though we live in two worlds or do we different different but the same so what do you think after listening to that story that diversity might mean any ideas means different huh but being being different together maybe yeah I'm learning about different people what do you think kind of like opposites sometimes people were opposites or maybe just different things you stole oranges from your daddy so pickles and oranges are kind of diverse maybe yeah they're right diversity they're right all right so we're gonna sing you out to your classes now you're ready to go yeah the doorway by Ellen a knock and the door opens part way on the threshold framed in shadow stands the figure of the stranger neither outside nor in but in between and although the stranger knows the name of the one who has opened the door the one inside does not know who stands there in the semi-darkness this moment frozen in time contains everything that has already happened and all that is yet to come but which as yet is undivided into manifestations of cause and effect questions of who are you where did you come from hover unspoken beyond the fringes of mind of the one whose fingers tense around the doorknob questions sensed only as the beginning of a raised eyebrow or a flutter in the pit of the stomach the eye has not yet begun its surreptitious glance over the stranger's shoulder to see whether a conveyance waits in the darkness offering a clue about its recent passengers identity the hand remains clenched the gaze is fixed neither friendly nor forbidding on the other's unknown face the one in the doorway is stopped with one foot on the sill the weight of forward motion arrested drops of moisture glisten on the surface of the black cloak mud of unknown paths cake the heavy boots as the figure pauses silently one hand is half open ready to grasp what lies in the deep pocket the eyes reveal nothing of the knowledge hidden behind them and have already taken in the entire scene in one glance at this moment between heartbeats the door is neither fully open nor is it closed the choice between fearful rejection or wholehearted welcome has yet to be made please join me in the spirit of meditation coming through the doors here this morning into this inspiring space a few of us are here for the first time for others this is a return visit well for many others this meeting house is familiar enough to feel like an old friend but why why are any of us here why on such a mild September morning did any of us opt for this place this experience well it's not because we all worship the same God or honor the same prophets or observe the same solemnities it's not because we are all inspired by the same myths and legends in outlook and in predilection we are indeed a mixed spiritual bag a pietistical polyglot among us you will discover metaphysicians and materialists mystical seekers as well as hard nosed scientists folks who like their sermons straight up and others who appreciate a little more liturgy and yet for all of our differences we are a community one body of unsettled souls who oddly enough feel a special kinship with one another so what is the attraction what draws us into this charmed circle of support and friendship if it is not a common creed perhaps it is a common need the need periodically to meditate upon life's mysteries to learn to accept its tragedies to recognize and to praise life's glories and to come to turn its inequities feel a little less lost a little less confused and not quite so spiritually isolated come come whoever you are come and experience this communion of free souls come yet again come let us continue on in a moment or two more of silent meditation blessed be and amen well as many of you know early last year we circulated a rather comprehensive survey to members and to friends of First Unitarian Society and because of the length of that survey some 65 plus questions I was dubious about the size of their response how many people would take the time and I was surprised in the end that more than 600 people answered that battery of questions and the survey produced some interesting information about the society's internal demographics on the one hand we find considerable homogeneity among us 93% of those who returned the survey characterized themselves as liberal 94% of us had earned at least one college degree but on the other hand in terms of religious backgrounds and spiritual perspective we very widely our f.u.s. bond of union states that we accept to membership those of whatever theological opinion and our reality reflects that promise the congregation also features a healthy mix of young and old with a decent represent representation of adults in each age category from 30s through 70s only the under 30 crowd is a little bit sparse now two questions on that survey invited people to share their personal priorities looking forward for f.u.s. one question asked what major initiatives should f.u.s. focus on in the next two or three years and then a second question if you could change one thing about f.u.s. what would it be now with respect to the first question living our Unitarian Universalist values in the larger community by participating in social justice projects that turned out to be the congregation's highest priority increasing opportunities for members to meet each other to develop deeper friendships that was also very close to the top of the list but rank just slightly lower was this priority work to attract more members with different racial and ethnic backgrounds into the congregation and to the second question and open ended question what is the one thing that you would most like to see different about f.u.s. what would you like to see changed more people mentioned foster greater diversity than gave any other single response now this did not come as any great surprise to me at least for it is a sentiment frequently expressed not only in this one but in many other congregations within the Unitarian Universalist movement my sister belongs to a uu congregation in Bethesda Maryland an upscale DC suburb their racial and ethnic composition resembles our own but many of their members are bothered by this by the racial and ethnic homogeneity of that congregation and the plain fact is nationwide 95% of Unitarian Universalists identify as white 95% with only a single congregation all souls Unitarian Church in Washington DC proper reporting more than 15% minority membership moreover this is an issue that other faith traditions contend with as well according to statistics cited by the sociologist Wade Clark roof and William McKinney main line Protestant denominations are even less racially and ethnically diverse than ours white membership in the Presbyterian Lutheran United Church of Christ United Methodist Confessions white representation in those four denominations all exceeds 96% when I queried my next door neighbor about the church she attends first United Methodist downtown right off the square her impression was that people of color were in very little evidence on any given Sunday only a couple of mainline American denominations report more than a small percentage of non-white members they include the American Baptists the Seventh Day Adventists and the Jehovah's Witnesses but even here minorities tend to be clustered in relatively small numbers of congregations where people of color actually predominate diverse congregations even in these traditions are the exception rather than the rule now 35% of Roman Catholics today identify as Latino but they seldom belong to the same parish as the Anglos and if they do Anglos and Latinos attend separate masses English or Spanish speaking respectively so yes Martin Luther King's observation of a half century ago is still largely valid at 11 o'clock on Sunday morning he said when we stand and seeing that Christ has neither East nor West we stand at the most segregated hour in the nation and this is not exclusively a Christian or a Unitarian Universalist phenomenon Jewish synagogues are the most racially homogenous of all among American Buddhists those with East Asian roots remain closely connected to congregations that reflect their own national heritage many African American Buddhists attend the Nishiren Shoshu services a type of Buddhism that has little appeal to white practitioners as the African American culture critic and feminist theorist Bell hooks herself a practicing Buddhist wrote way back in 1994 often white Buddhists see themselves as liberal and marginalized proudly identifying with the oppressed they are so attached to the image of themselves as non-racist that they refuse to see the ways in which Buddhist communities may reflect racial hierarchies interestingly though there is one religious tradition for which diversity is not much of a problem can you guess which one that is anybody guess Islam in the United States 30% of Muslims identify as white 21% identify as Asian 23 identify as black 19% identify as mixed or other and so among the religions of the book Judaism Christianity and Islam Islam is unique in its universal appeal across the racial spectrum now let me pause here to acknowledge that the members of our Board of Trustees the congregations leaders have wondered among themselves whether respondents to that survey were primarily concerned about the lack of racial and ethnic diversity that us rather than some other kind of diversity political or economic for instance after all we do identify overwhelmingly as liberal we are solidly middle class so diversity for us could also mean the presence of more political conservatives more retail clerks more blue collar workers but I suspect that what people yearn for and this was expressed in the survey I think is for the more visible kind of diversity that is associated with race and ethnicity so that is going to be my focus today and if I'm wrong well you can anticipate another sermon sometime in the future so let's ask ourselves why might this be the case why has creating space for Latinos for people of color proven to be so difficult for us well we need to begin by reviewing a little US history back in the early 1800s white and black church goers began to go their separate ways in response to the exclusionary practices of white congregations both north and south African Americans established their own denominations most notably the African Methodist Episcopal and the National Baptist Convention the black church roof and McKinney say emerged as a crucial center of social and religious activity and it was the one institution over which blacks maintained control the price of autonomy was a separate and segregated church one effectively cut off socially and religiously from white America the pattern that was established almost two centuries ago remains in place even today the black church in America serves for many of its members as the center of communal life African Americans attend religious services more faithfully than white people they look to their church for other kinds of support and sustenance beside the Sunday morning service prayer circles Bible study groups are important staples of African American spiritual practice and as Robert Putnam reports black churches have long served to reinforce African Americans racial identity and to spur black empowerment African Americans painful historic experience of oppression and disenfranchisement not to mention their ongoing struggles to achieve justice and equality that's also reflected strongly in black Protestant preaching and in their hymnody as my African American colleague mark Morrison Reed has written black theology plays endless variations on the themes of suffering oppression powerlessness these are motifs which emerge from 400 years of African American experience and they cannot be easily reconciled with our own perennial refrains of optimism and self-reliance and the inevitability of progress the point here is that the African American church is deeply embedded in a community whose heritage and self-understanding is rather foreign to the average middle class white American for example the biblical account of the Hebrews divine deliverance from slavery under Pharaoh under the leadership of Moses that story reflects African Americans lived experience whereas for us it is merely a story and probably an apocryphal one at that so unless we are familiar with a historic context out of which white and black Protestantism arose we cannot appreciate why our spiritual expectations why our worship practices are so much at variance mark Morrison Reed describes our services as cool and cerebral in contrast to the warm and more emotional experience offered in most black churches and in large part this is because the ostensible purpose of worship is different in each tradition black Protestantism platinum notes is intensely communal the highly participatory overtly emotional energetic manner in which worship unfolds all help to forge and to reinforce connections between and among members of the congregation those connections are of the essence by contrast white worshipers and unitary universalists in particular we are heirs to the European Enlightenment tradition the tradition that has always downplayed communalism and emphasized instead individualism rationalism objectivity the white Western liberal tradition John Powell writes asserts that we are fundamentally atomistic and individual and we gain identity through ourselves rather than through any collective norms of race or ethnicity mark Morrison Reed also points out that most blacks and most white working people tend to be realists who demand that thought lead to action and thus they do not really see the point of intellectual or spiritual investigation for its own sake our UU churches he continues will thus fail to satisfy fail to satisfy all but the most intellectually curious and religiously rebellious black seeker and generally speaking when it comes to religion and spiritualities African Americans have not proven to be particularly rebellious the results of Robert Putnam's religious surveys indicate that those who belong to black congregations tend to hold conservative if not fundamentalist views with respect to issues such as evolution homosexuality and gender equality and this is just as true for college educated middle class black church goers as for those who do not share those particular attributes when taken together Putnam remarks the beliefs of black Protestants show them to have the most fundamentalist views of any major religious group in America now it should also be noted that those American congregations that do in fact feature significant ethnic and racial diversity those congregations are typically large if not very large they are evangelical or Pentecostal in theology they are hierarchical in structure and they are highly traditional with respect to morality the most diverse church in America may well be the Lakewood church in Houston Texas presided over by that champion of the prosperity gospel Joel Osteen but what does all this then say about the prospect of creating a multiracial multicultural community here at the first Unitarian Society of Madison it will not be easy to say the least for there is obviously a cultural and theological disconnect between the religious sensibilities of most American blacks Latinos and white Unitarian Universalists and our location here on the near west side that doesn't help us very much studies have shown that the composition of the surrounding community is very important a healthy mix of races and ethnicities in the general population increases significantly the odds of developing a more diverse congregation this is not a very diverse part of Madison and yet we must concede that there have to be Latinos and African Americans and Asian and Native Americans who are living locally who are our neighbors who have serious doubts about the claims of orthodox religion what might attract them would a shift in the way that we conduct worship would that be helpful Dan what about a gospel choir more prayers interspersed in the service more references from scripture a more animated style of preaching if you can stand it less less passivity in the pews little call response here folks now a few you you congregations have attempted such repackaging and that is please some of their members it is dismayed others but overall it has not such repackaging has not been particularly effective in producing greater diversity and in our own case here at f us members on that same survey report that the single most attractive feature of f us is the intellectual stimulation it provides so one wonders how how would the adoption of a more evangelical style of worship how how would we greet that i'm not discounting the possibility of some changes here but i do believe that there may be other ways in which we can promote and perhaps produce greater diversity most obviously the visible presence of a minister a music director or a religious educator who is a person of color that would signal a commitment on our part to anti-racism and to multiculturalism now there are not a lot of minority ministers in our movement although the number is in fact increasing but an opportunity to recruit such a person might arise if members increase their giving more immediately however we can focus money aside we can focus on the following first the congregation can become more involved in projects that matter to members of madison's minority community secondly as individuals we can look for opportunities to make connections with persons of color among our neighbors our co-workers or our fellow students third we need to work harder to foster a genuine caring community here among us at f us now in my experience returning to the third question first in my experience unitary universalists will neither ask for help nor do they typically expect it from their faith community when they are in need or in distress nor are we very good at celebrating among ourselves but not so in african-american and latino congregations where where palpable community spirit is much more in evidence interdependence is much more a recognized fact so we need to be very aware very cognizant of the strong individualistic flavor of unitary universalism and how it limits our ability to create the same kind of social solidarity that's one in the second place most people who try out a new church of any particular denomination they do so because they have received a personal invitation from a trustworthy friend when several dozen of us gathered at christ the solid rock church last year for a conversation with their pastor everett mitchell and members of their african-american congregation everett mitchell's stress to us the importance of social connections building bridges in our personal lives with members of the minority community now in doing that you need to be absolutely clear about your intentions we must open the door to the stranger and instead of eyeing that person with suspicion extend to them a wholehearted welcome but this this also would involve learning something else learning to talk about our religion and why it's important to us with our friends with our acquaintances and that's a stretch because that same survey also revealed that members of f us have very little interest with quote sharing their uu values with other in the larger community we're afraid of proselying we're afraid of being people who are accused of trying to convert other people but you cannot hide the liberal religious light under a bushel and then hope that others white brown yellow or black are going to see it and then finally as a congregation we can put more effort into social and economic justice issues that madison's minority community really cares about you know back in the early 1960s my predecessor max gabler was one of a handful of local clergy who vigorously promoted open housing in madison now at the time these clergy did a little survey of landlords and they found that 49 out of 50 refused to rent to an african-american and so max and his colleagues they drafted a pledge which they circulated around the community and invited people to sign and the pledge said this we welcome into our neighborhood any residents of good character regardless of race creed or color we believe in brotherhood and we welcome the opportunity to practice it this was 1962 the madison housing industry demurred they resisted but efforts like this produced modest results in terms of the diversity of this particular congregation mark morrisan reed says blacks report coming to uu churches primarily because the minister and or the congregation are actively engaged in social justice causes relevant to african-americans and because they are looking for a church where their own commitment to diversity will be accepted now f us has been making certain strides in this area we are now active in the interfaith interracial organization known as moses we have a ministry team working actively on equity issues we have partnered with the capital times and the wisconsin conference on children and families in addressing and confronting madison's racial divide all good stuff but only a very few members of our congregation are actively involved in any one of those enterprises so it's one thing to wish for greater diversity it's another thing to work for it so the question is not so much what can the institution do but what can each one of us do to create a progressive faith community that as max gabler envisioned it 50 years ago a community that reflects the full range of our local diversity in which the people of no race or creed shall be strangers and the ancient bonds of prejudice and fear shall at last be broken may it be so and now i invite you to participate generously and with gratitude in the morning's offering we gather each week as a community of memory and of hope and to this time and place we bring our whole and occasionally our broken selves we carry with us the joys and sorrows of the recent past seeking here a place where they might be received and celebrated and shared take a moment this morning to extend best wishes to f us member and late minister amy kell her husband paul was recently admitted to hospice and is not expected to live for more than a couple of weeks and so any joys or sorrows that remain among us that were unspoken unarticulated we hold those with equal concern in our hearts let us join together for just a moment of silence in the spirit of empathy and hope and so may our coming together for this brief time may it lighten our burdens and expand our joys invite you to turn to our closing hymn and we'll be singing just the first and the fourth verse as far as our love flows and as far as our hope grows and as far as our yearning goes we are no farther than this from one another blessed be and amen please be seated for the postlude