Welcome to Spirit of Peace Church

SOP is also happy to announce that at the annual meeting this past Sunday, the membership voted to continue along the same path as we have for the past 10 years. This decision was made following numerous discussions, both formal and informal, this past year. So we will continue to be an independent church and meet at First Unitarian at 5:00 PM on Sundays. We will also continue to work together with our sister church, Community UCC, on projects and special services that both groups rate as high priority. Pastor Gary will continue as acting pastor for the time being. Then in February when his contract is up, we will negotiate with him for future years.

One Saturday in early August, a gang of us got together with Rita (our immediate past pastor) and Sam (her son) at The Cove. It was fabulous to visit with her again, and “my how Sam has grown”! Rita is getting ready to take more history courses in Houston so that she may teach Black History at Texas Southern University. Also San loves their new church in Houston. He can’t stop rockin’ with the gospel choir; he has to sit in the front row, and he just loves the choir director!

Sunday, March 13th Maria joined Spirit of Peace AND provided the snack. What a dedicated new member! We all enjoy her so much.

Claiming the Vision - Looking beyond the present to the Future
There will be four meetings during the Lenten/Easter Season. Each meeting will begin with a pot luck meal to be held at the First Unitarain Church, beginning at 6:30 PM.

Wednesday, March 16          Our Beginning and our Present
Supper             6:30 PM
Discussion       7:00 PM

Wednesday, March 30          Our Dreams
Supper             6:30 PM
Discussion       7:00 PM

Thursday, April 14               Bringing Dreams to Fruition
Supper             6:30 PM
Discussion       7:00 PM

Wednesday, April 27           Our Vision and Mission (Note: date change)
Supper             6:30 PM
Discussion       7:00 PM

After the autumn of last year and the early part of this year in a state of uncertainty and concern due to the loss of the only pastor that Spirit of Peace had ever had, we seem once again to have reached a new normalcy: church issues have quieted down and church life has become routine again. Last Sunday, March 13, Pastor Gary preached his seventh Sunday sermon for us, so we are getting used to him and he to us. He has moved into his new house here, all of his furnishings have been moved here from Houston, and he is learning the new city, together with his two new churches. What is more, on Wednesday evening he enjoyed his very first SOP potluck dinner, that ubiquitous feature of every church everywhere, no matter the stripe or size, so he is definitely settling in.

On Tuesday evening, the Church Council had its March meeting and we discussed a number of issues. Liz has resigned from Spirit of Peace to become a member at Community Church, and, with her departure, we are left without anyone to head up the project our church has been involved in for a number of years, Meals Under the Bridge (feeding the homeless). We have decided that our efforts will probably be shifted to the new Haven for Hope, and there are many opportunities for service there, both for organizations like our church and for individuals. We will indeed look into this and add a ministry of some kind to our community service work. However, we decided we are currently involved in the Lenten meetings and will soon begin planning for our PrideFest booth, so we will wait until after June. At that time we will meet with Haven representatives to explore the volunteer opportunities we may be interested in pursuing. We all hate to lose Liz, but we have known for a long time that the evening service did not fit her needs. Thanks, Liz, for all you did for us while you were here!!!!

The Council decided that instead of our usual Saturday evening Easter vigil, we want to have a joint Easter service at Community Church. We have asked Pastor Gary to clear this with Community people and he will then need to plan the joint service. We have met in the past on Saturday evening and had no service on Easter Sunday because we were feeding the homeless on Easter, and because the Unitarians needed their facility that day. We felt the joint service at Community was the better alternative.

We are happy to announce that Aaron has volunteered to be in charge of our PrideFest booth this year. He will need lots of people to volunteer to staff our booth. Our booth is usually open from noon until about 7 or 8 p.m., so we will need lots of people to volunteer for a two hour time slots. More on this later.

We received a financial report from Sarah, our church treasurer, showing that so far this year (through February) the church is doing fine financially, with our contributions basically covering our expenses, but we will continue to watch this carefully. Last year was a bad year as contributions fell far short of projections, and we had to delve into our rainy day fund, which is now at a reduced level.

Another report that we were glad to receive came from Pastor Gary, who submitted his activities for the month. He has already attended a meeting of Pro San Antonio representing Spirit of Peace, and is getting to know the members. He is becoming aware of work being done on behalf of the LGBT community, and he hopes that Spirit of Peace can become more active in that regard. He also has contacted the Human Rights Campaign as well as PFLAG, and plans to become active in the transgender organization, SAGA, on behalf of the congregation. He stated he looks forward to getting involved with such groups as they try to transform lives, because when we do so we reflect the love of Christ, and this is a vital part of our mission. He has established regular office hours, has conducted one wedding, has arranged the Lenten Gatherings, and is looking for ways to serve the community by reaching out to the marginalized.

In other actions, Pete will follow up on getting an appraisal of the piano owned by Spirit of Peace but located at St Paul Episcopal Church, Aaron plans to work on a new church directory, we requested that Pastor Gary contact several people who may benefit from a pastoral visit or contact, and we reviewed (with somewhat mixed results) the new communion liturgy.

The first of our Lenten potlucks and discussions was held Wednesday, March 15. The gathering drew nine people, and it was a very pleasant evening. Old timers Pete and Brenda filled all the newcomers in on the history of Spirit of Peace, and some of the interesting happenings from the past. We moved from that discussion to deciding what we can do to become more involved in community service. Pastor Gary said he believes that for some time the church has been drifting, and it will not grow until it develops a mission and goes to work to serve the community. He believes many churches which die make a decision to do so by being satisfied to accept the status quo instead of getting to work. He asked whether anyone in the San Antonio community would feel the loss if SOP should close its doors. He urged us to get involved in community service and working to improve the lives of the disadvantaged....if we do that, growth will come.

The next potluck and discussion is scheduled for March 30, also at 6:30 p.m. and also at the church. We will be talking about our dreams for the church.Please come if you can do so. The meeting Wednesday reminded me of the fellowship dinners we used to have, except there was a set subject for discussion.

On March 1, Gail, her son Kris, and sister, Julie, put on a wonderful musical performance at Christ Episcopal Church, and there were eight individuals from Spirit of Peace in the very appreciative audience. The more I learn about that them, the more amazed I am at the talent in that family!

I hope you made it through the long spell of very cold weather we experienced during the first part of the month. I lost several plants in the landscape which will have to be replaced, but am hoping some will come back from the roots. Now, we seem to be in an extended period of spring-like weather, and it is very, very nice. I guess it is too early to think that winter is gone, but it will not be long until the green shoots are showing everywhere, the weather is reliably mild, the birds are singing, and wildflowers are abloom! I can't wait.

Our period of uncertainty at church is now drawing to an end, as Gary W. Bagley is now with us as our Acting Pastor under contract for a one year period which began on February 6. Gary has now located a house to rent in San Antonio, and will be moving in this coming Saturday, February 19. We are very pleased to have a leader again, and we are especially happy that it is Pastor Gary.

He is keeping regular office hours at the office at Community Church, 4443 Hunnicut. His hours are 9 a.m. until 1 p.m., Monday through Thursday of each week, and he may be reached there by telephone, our new number being 403-9084 As you may know, in order to save money, the church discontinued its land line, so this is the new cell phone number for Spirit of Peace. In case you miss him, you can leave a number using voice mail and he will return the call.

Last evening, the Church Council had its February meeting. We went over the financial report submitted by Sarah, our treasurer, and were fairly satisfied with how we are doing so far in the new year. We had a bad year financially in 2010, and we want to watch our income and expenses very carefully this year to make sure we do not have to delve into our emergency "cushion" as we did last year. With one month behind us, things are looking okay, but it was noted that January was a five Sunday month, so may have produced more contributions that we can normally expect. All we can say is that we are watching it, and are prepared to cut our expenses further if necessary.

Liz met with us, and we discussed the Meals Under the Bridge project. This is our project that Liz had headed up for the last several years when we have provided an Easter meal for the homeless under a freeway in the downtown area. The city has now opened the Haven for Hope, and has outlawed serving food on public property in the downtown area except at the Haven for Hope facility. At this new facility, there is a courtyard where meals are provided to the homeless. Running water, restroom facilities, and other improvements are avaliable which were lacking under the freeway. This portion of the Haven for Hope operation is managed by St. Vincent de Paul Society, and they are looking for volunteer organizations to provide meals and serve them. It was agreed that we would make the move over to Haven for Hope, and Liz will be contacting the Haven for Hope management and/or St. Vincent de Paul Society about volunteering, and to get the dates when we might serve in this capacity. There are many other opportunities to volunteer at this facility, and we may learn about these as well. Once Liz reports back, we will set up a date or dates for us to volunteer in this way, but it will probably not be on Easter any more.

We also discussed the recent ONA conference that SOP presents each year at New Braunfels. This January marks the tenth year that our church has put on this workshop, and it is becoming well known, and is associated with SOP in people's minds. However, all of the work, like planning the program, contacting and setting up speakers, etc., has been handled by Rita as part of her work for our church. She is willing to continue with work on the annual event, but will need some help with the logistics and routine tasks, handling the money, placing calls, etc., as she is now otherwise employed in Houston. Gary agreed that he will be in conversation with Rita and will take over much of this work. This is not something we have to agree on in the near term, but planning for this event usually starts in mid year, so we do need to be thinking about it.

One of the main reasons for wanting to hire an interim or acting pastor is to have someone on board who can help us in making decisions about our future as a congregation. We will be starting such a process very soon. At our meeting, we discussed the possibility that during Lent, we will have a series of pot lucks, and after each meal, will begin to ascertain each person's vision for our future. This idea was proposed by Pastor Gary, who will lead the discussions. At least the initial pot luck will be at a neutral site (the UU church?), but not after a service. We want the entire time to be spent on this activity, and, often, after a service, people need leave early to get home. At this first event, we could plan where and when the next one will be. This can provide a relaxed and informal setting for individuals to voice their preferences for out congregation. More on this later.

In other business, the Council decided to pay the South Texas Association its bill for its mission and ministry activities, but to include a letter objecting to the way certain money is being used; discussed the problem we are having with volunteers and scheduling volunteers for services--we may go back to having a sign-up sheet on the table at the door; decided that our clerk, Aaron, will talk to the UU Church office about our lease renewal which we have not received; and discussed the possibility of scheduling a service soon for accepting new members.

Two-thousand-nine brought a very special gift to Spirit of Peace.
Welcome to you, Little Marty Roo.

The SOP Retreat with Dr. Paul Parks of the Ecumenical Center for Religion & Health in the UTHSCSA area
A Special Report from Heidi....

On August 15, 2009, several members of the Spirit of Peace congregation attended a retreat facilitated by Dr. Paul Parks at the Ecumenical Center for Religion and Health. The all-day retreat was an opportunity for us to examine Spirit of Peace’s strengths, core beliefs, and what we consider to be key leadership positions (1) in the church at this time. We had lively discussions. I appreciated Dr. Parks’ approach, using audiovisual materials he had prepared ahead of time, based on our “homework”. He created more slides at lunch to incorporate what we’d talked about during the morning session.

The most memorable exchange for me was our discussion of church size. We discussed a variety of ways to “grow” the church (2) but at one point Dr. Parks asked, as I understood it: if we couldn’t grow beyond our current size, would we be a failure? He answered “no”, in no uncertain terms. He maintained that we are known as a success story just as we are. Other churches are interested in how we do what we do. He commented on what an excellent model we are for flexibility and diversity. We are closer-knit than many congregations and have more interest/involvement in individual situations. Where we considered the ebb and flow of membership a negative, could it be that we are meant to be exactly what we already are: a nontraditional model that welcomes not only folks who want to be regulars, but also the many others who need a temporary safe harbor? They might move on, but we minister to their needs for the time they are with us. I agreed with this view but not everyone did, seeing strength (and musical harmony) in numbers. I can see their point. But what attracted me to this congregation initially was the affinity I felt based on the way the website was presented, and the familiarity engendered by the small size of the congregation once I began regular attendance. Are we meant to find a way to make this nontraditional model work?

Notes:
(1) The three key positions identified by the majority of those completing the homework assignment: pastor, moderator, and volunteer coordinator.

(2) Among the ways we talked about “growing” the church were technology, print and visual media, and word of mouth.

For more stories about the development of our church over the years before 2008, please click on the following link: congregationaldevelopmentarchives.html.