Sunday, June 1, 2025, reading followed by the sermon by Rev. F. Vernon Wright V
Reading
Go out into the highways and by-ways. Give the people something of your new vision. You may possess a small light, but uncover it, let it shine, use it in order to bring more light and understanding to the hearts and minds of men and women.
Give them not hell, but hope and courage; preach the kindness and everlasting love of God.
-No. 704, by John Murray
Visionary Community
Good morning everyone. Today is a big Sunday. For the last year and a half, the Transition committee and I have been earnestly looking at what Murray Church was, and what we are today. In order to do this you have all had to fill out an ungodly amount of surveys and engage in small group chats. On top of this, of course, we had many round table discussions about whether or not you wanted me to be your settled minister. So yes we have done A LOT of work together this past year and a half… But of all this work was leading to this Sunday- a time for us to dream together what we want to be in the future, and figure out what it is we need to do to get there. Today is the day we hammer out our vision!
For those of you that are just visiting today, looking for community, and some kind of ethical or spiritual meaning- all this stuff about surveys, identity and visioning might seem like a dry and dead topic- but I assure you it is not. If you haven’t noticed, you’re at a place called Murray Church, named after John Murray. I’m pretty sure not too many people know who he is; I didn’t before going to community meetings here… He was a Methodist minister in England in the 1760’s who began to preach Universalism, the idea that Christ redeemed everyone who ever lived for all time, that God did not punish you for your sins, that hell did not exist. The church felt threatened by this, so he was defrocked and his wife and child subsequently died because he didn’t have enough money to give them prober care when they were sick. Grief stricken and in a great depression at age 29, not caring if he lived or died, and vowing to never try to pray or preach again, he booked passage to the American colonies. Off the coast of Long Island the ship foundered in a violent storm. He ended up on an empty beach with no provisions. John Murray walked up on the beach, came to a farmhouse, and knocked on the door. The man there, by the name of Tom Potter, took him in and showed him a little project he had been working on. Guess what that was? A little chapel for Universalists- the first of its kind ever to built anywhere in the world. And he was looking for a Universalist preacher. I kid you not.
He would go on to serve as chaplain for George Washington’s continental army. He would end up here in MA founding the first Universalist Church of Gloucester. Once while preaching someone threw a large stone through the stained glass window, He picked it up, hefting it in his hand, “This stone is solid and weighty but it is neither rational nor convincing!”
How much has changed really? Not much. We go to a memorial of a good friend who maybe belonged to a more conservative faith tradition, and we are told that if we don’t recognize Jesus as our personal lord and savior we will burn in hell. We read the news and discover Project 25 a conservative faith agenda, based on judgement, control, and white supremest christian nationalism is trying to take over our nation. When some people in our town read the article where I was interviewed supporting the rights of immigrants, we received many stone like unconvincing, irrational comments via Facebook.
So we know, each of us- just how relevant non judgmental spirituality still is. Each of us is out there with small light of this knowledge- not shaming people with damnation, but encouraging them to hope more, and to have good courage. This is the heart of our vision. This is how we see the world.
Now that I have lifted this common theme- that unites everyone here, I want to address a little of what we are about to do together: hammer out a collective vision. When I think about vision, sometimes I imagine a mighty eagle up there soaring around effortlessly… This is the kind of vision of the expert, the one who can see the forrest through the trees. The more knowledge the greater the hight… But this is not actually the best way to think about vision. I have come to think of vision in community to be more about how a healthy forest is. Through the nineties, forest biologist thought that it was all about competition and domination, you know- shame and judgement among trees! But it turns out, forests are cooperative and loving. Many different species of trees communicate to one another the reality of the soil conditions, the water and energy issues, the bugs crawling on their bark, and they help one one another, by passing along energy and nutrients through the fungal network in the soil. Vision is not about expert knowledge but, listening, sharing, discerning and giving. The elders play a vital role. The saplings who can’t get enough light are honored.
Over the many years of being a minister I have learned some things about the importance of vision. You see when a church is just starting out, you have few families, bound together with a great common vision. And they excitedly talk to one another about building a community together. They meet in each others homes, they have picnics. They teach each others children. They go on hikes. More people join. Vision is in the drivers seat. But then of course they need a common space- they build a church- they hire a minister, they hire a music director, a re director, they need a custodian. Now everything is about the programs so programs is in the drivers seat.
Turns out having church be all about supporting programs instead of that original fresh vision is kind of boring, so the church stops growing. But everyone’s still good friends. Now everything is really about fellowship. People think they are the friendliest church in the world- and they are, but to visitors it just seems like a click, like it would be impossible to become a part of this so the church starts to shrink. Fellowship is in the drivers seat.
Eventually the elders die away. Programs can no longer be supported. The minister goes from full time to part time, to finally becoming just led each sunday by whomever wishes to say a few words. Now its all about how they can raise enough money for the utility bill, or cut the grass. Now finances is in the drivers seat.
We need to keep vision in the drivers seat at all times! We need fresh imaginative energy! We need to really embrace the excitement of a bold vision that is inspiring, that gives hope, and courage!
So this Sunday grounded as we are in our own way to John Murray’s vision that spirituality and ethics is not about hell, damnation, judgement, but about hope and courage, we will listen, discern and share. We will dream together what the fantastic, vibrant, faith community of Murray will look like five years from now, and work backward each year, to come up with a more concrete plan of how we will get to where we want to be. I invite everyone here to join in. It doesn’t matter if you are a member or a non member- please join your voice with ours. Together we will look to where we need to go. Together we will come up with a game plan. Together we will thrive and grow. Together we will become a visionary community! Blessed be!
See the work of Susan Simrad featured in the New York Times Article “The Social Life of Forests” https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/12/02/magazine/tree-communication-mycorrhiza.html#:~:text=Underground, trees and fungi form partnerships known,carbon-rich sugars the trees make through photosynthesis.&text=It’s now well accepted that resources travel,and other plants connected by mycorrhizal networks.
