Everything I Know about Unitarian Universalism, I Learned as Chalice Lighter - Part 4

[Continued from Here.]

There were several "roll-outs" to various area councils of the district.

(Area councils no longer actually existed, but were treated to exist by nearly everyone in the district. That's another story for another  time. Suffice it to say that it, like most stories of institutional Unitarian Universalism, tends to reflect poorly on the bureaucracy of the Unitarian Universalist Association.)

An idea as "radical" as the new Chalice Lighter program needed to be rolled out to the appropriate parties along the way. It was rolled out to the district board, and as stated above, following that to several of the local area gatherings of Unitarian Universalists.

The district board was the easiest of the presentations. Why? Because I was a known quality. I was serving a congregation in the district that was by all accounts showing signs of vibrant health and well-being; this after a rocky several decades as a congregation. I had served on local committees. And I had served on several as hoc committees of the district board. In other words, they knew who I was and how I worked. Their response to me was "let's give it a go and see what happens."

The Long Island area council, again, trusted the idea. Why? They trusted me. I was one of theirs. It really was that simple.

It's when I presented to the area council in New Jersey that things were, I don't know... weirdly hostile. Why? They had no clue who I was. I was an unknown in every aspect. I was a minister from "over there" in Long Island.

Most of the questions were along the lines of "How do you expect this to work AT ALL since it's different?" My personal favorite exchange was during the questions part of the presentation between myself and a member of some 17 member "church" [social club (long since dissolved)] who took issue with the fact that the new Chalice Lighters program would have no set dollar amount per ask.

"Do you mean to tell us that people can give whatever they want?"

"We encourage people to be generous and not limit their generosity to $10."

"Suppose they only want to give a dollar, or just a penny?" this said with that smug look. Unitarian Universalist ministers all know what that smug look looks like. To me that smug look looks exactly like the special ed kid who is convinced she's the class valedictorian. Only the other special ed kids buy the bullshit. Everybody else wants to get back to something constructive.

"People give what they want. We encourage people to be as generous as possible."

"But they don't have to be."

"They don't 'have to be' now."

What surprised me then, but doesn't now, is that the single most hostile response came from the minister of the congregation that was supposed to receive the next Chalice Lighters call...

[Continued...Here]

Your Old Pal
Devilhead