Between Us – Mission, Vision, and Covenant

By Rev. Clyde Grubbs, March 24, 2023

The Parish Committee, Elizabeth Foster, and I have been discussing the covenant that informs the congregation we call First Parish Unitarian Universalist. In our March discussions, we projected that the church year 2023-2024 will be a time of renewal of the covenant and that renewal should also include revisiting our congregation’s mission and vision. In the months ahead, we will prepare for this renewal by examining who FPUU is and what its members want it to be.

Some definitions may help.

• The mission. Who and what the congregation serves, and what it seeks to achieve. Congregants have shared their desire to share Unitarian Universalist values with the wider community.

  For example, last month, the Parish Committee talked about the possibility of offering Our Whole Lives (OWL) to the young people of the wider community. It was stated there is need for such a program in the community even though, at present, we have no youth among our members.

  FPUU could partner with another congregation in the Five Points Cluster. Such work would share Unitarian Universalist values with the wider community. It would be missional.

• The vision. What we see the congregation becoming. A vision statement is inherently future-oriented. But a vision statement should not be an idle dream. A vision is a statement of a possible reality we can achieve through work.

  For example, FPUU strives to become an inclusive and multi-generational congregation. That is a goal that is achievable through work. Work sustained over several years.

  Visioning exercises allow congregants to imagine and then set goals and plans of work to achieve those goals.

• Covenant is the promise to work together to achieve a community that stands for values and goals.

  The most common covenant we experience in society is marriage. The partners in marriage promise to be loving and patient while fulfilling their mission to be a family and achieve goals. Many couples envision health and well-being. Many couples find that marriage requires some re-covenanting as time takes its toll on their vision.

I have asked other ministers and congregational leaders what their experience with mission/vision/covenant has been, and their advice is do all three together. They help give purpose and direction to the congregation when they inform one another, then mission-vision and covenant “drive” the congregation forward.

Rev. Clyde