Companion
For the
Journey
About Me
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What I Believe:
I often like to joke that I am a JUBUUU. Meaning a Jewish, Buddhist Unitarian Universalist. There is no doubt my upbringing in Judaism, has gifted me with a theological outlook of ethical teachings and the concept of Tikkun Olam (healing the world). I have had a 35 year Buddhist Meditation Practice and in the past decade received the five mindfulness trainings in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. These two traditional theological traditions are the foundation of my theology.
If I had to narrowly define my theology, I would call myself a Mystical Humanist. The theological context of my call to Unitarian Universalist Ministry is my realization that we are part of something greater than ourselves. Initially, reason
and critical thinking led me to the theological position of Humanism. By using the word Humanism, my understanding is that we as humans have the ability and the responsibility for learning about and understanding the purpose of our existence. I believe humanity has the ability to create and destroy, and thus, we are responsible for the outcome of our actions. What we do with our life, and how we do it, matters. We can change the course of existence, and we should use all of our abilities to do so. I think one of the many challenges in the ambiguity of life, is how do we truly know what is the right action to take? So part of my ministry is walking with and guiding people while we struggle with life’s events and seek knowledge and wisdom that makes our existence more meaningful and purposeful.
Throughout my life, my experiences have opened my heart and mind to a more mystical element beyond a pure humanistic view of life. I remain a searcher of knowledge and wisdom, and I keep an open mind. I believe that there is much that is still unknown to us. I was moved by a statement in Stephen Batchelor’s book, Buddhism Without Beliefs. He states “the term agnosticism in the larger culture has come to mean I do not want to know versus the reality that agnosticism means I don’t know” and he goes on to call agnosticism a “passionate I don’t know that confronts the enormity of having been born instead of reaching for the consolation of a belief.” Curiosity and persistence are strong traits of mine, and this keeps me open to experiences and knowledge that has allowed my theology to evolve.
I have had personal experiences that lead me to believe that there is something that makes us interconnected and interdependent to the rest of reality. In deep states of meditation and in walking a labyrinth, I have felt this connection to the larger universe. I believe when I am really in touch with my inner self, I am connected to the universe. I see things more clearly, and I see others and the environment around me more clearly. I become comfortable with who and where I am. Due to this outlook, I am not defensive and thus, I am open to hearing and accepting the stories and wisdom of others and really connecting with them.
Consequently, part of my ministry is to help provide opportunities for people, including spiritual practices, that allow them to explore their inner life and help them understand the purpose and meaning of their lives.
From a practical perspective, I believe in a pluralistic Unitarian Universalist community. There should be room in practice and programming to invite people to explore different theological positions. I would encourage anyone who finds meaning in our different sources to explore and practice those sources in our
Congregation. My role as a minister is to connect different people who have similar theological interests and to help source or provide programming information for congregants.
Personally:
I have been married to my wife Jan for 40 years. We have two adult children who have families of their own. One of them lives in Orlando, Florida. The other currently lives in Davenport, Iowa. We started our family through international adoption and the creation of a multi-racial family deepened our awareness about issues about race. I am also a dog parent.
In my career before ministry, I have been a CPA and a financial executive at various corporations. Most of my experience has been with small and medium sized growth and startup companies. I have developed many organizational skills as part of these experiences.
Highlights of accomplishments of previous business career:
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Negotiated acquisitions of companies and integrated them into existing business infrastructure.
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Co-Founded a company to support independent contractors
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Raised and managed capital and debt to fund organizations
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Built and managed back-office infrastructures to allow for efficient processing of business
People are often shocked when they find out I was an accountant and financial executive prior to ministry. Like most stories, it is complex. There was not much intention involved when I chose my first career. When I was young, I set a goal for myself that I wanted to be able to support myself, have a roof over my head and food in my stomach.
So, I became an accountant. As it turned out, I was good at accounting and business. For almost 30 years, that is how I earned my living. I always remembered a quote from the book Mother Night, written by Kurt Vonnegut. He wrote, “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” For most of the early part of my life, I would say that I lived unconsciously without much forethought. I had long ago reached my goal of being self-supportive, but I knew there was more. I knew somewhere deep in my soul, that there was more meaning in life. In a scene from the movie City Slickers, the old, wizened cowboy tells the neurotic city slicker Billy Crystal that the meaning of life is this (he sticks up one finger.) Billy Crystal says, “Your finger is the meaning of life?” “No”, the cowboy says, “one thing, you stick to that, and the rest don’t mean anything." When Billy Crystal asks what is that one thing, the cowboy says, “That’s what you have to figure out.”
And it was my experiences as a Unitarian Universalist for over 25 years that have helped me figure out my one thing. What I found within myself was a willingness to open myself up, and to look at myself and the world in a new way. I became more aware. More aware of how meaningful worship was, more aware of how important the relationships, congregational life and religion were in my life, and more aware of how I want to be, and how I want to act in my engagement with the world. I learned to de-compartmentalize my life and to live out my values in the world. It wasn’t always perfect, it wasn’t always a linear journey, but it awakened within me my ability to find my true self and that one thing.
leadership
First and foremost, my ministry is a ministry of presence. A ministry of walking with others on their spiritual and/or religious journey. My time is available to anyone, but depending on the size of a congregation, I think it is essential that I focus on the leadership and potential leadership of the Congregation.
I am comfortable with authority granted me. I think the most important aspect of leadership is to understand who is responsible for what and then to align authority with that responsibility. Having said that, my leadership style is one of collaboration. We all learn from each other. It is important that leadership is all rowing in the same direction. This happens with clear and transparent communication.
Long range planning / mission / vision / covenant:
Strategic Planning is a strength of mine and is an area of which am always conscious. Current literature indicates that long term planning cannot be more than three years in an ever-changing world, I think we still need to look at trends over a longer period of time. We have seen for a long while, the decrease in volunteerism, as more families have two working parents, and we need to determine what impact that will have going forward. We have seen society changing from a traditional nuclear family, and we should recognize that and determine how that impacts our ministry and the needs of congregants.
What will be the needs of congregants as humans live longer? How will
Congregational Life be impacted after Covid? These are questions many Congregations will have to answer.
I think it is important as the Minister to periodically lead services about or connect services to a Congregation’s mission, vision and covenant. There is an old saying “the mission is the owner of the Congregation.” I think just as the UUA does, periodically or at least every 10-15 years a congregation should review their Mission and Vision to determine if it is still valid for who and what the Congregation currently is. The Congregation I currently serve just went through the process to revise the mission and vision in 2019.