There are many different writing assignments encountered in ministry. There are sermons for worship and homilies for shared gatherings. There are columns to write and reports to give. There are congregational-wide e-mails and social witness editorials. Please find samples of my writing in various capacities. More material is available upon request.
A recent newsletter column:
Unitarian Universalism is a religion in praise of the wonders of Creation. We believe in the original blessing of our births and the on-going gift of being. Our Universalist forebears celebrated Creation as God’s success during a time when Calvinists were preaching of the depraved nature of human being. Unitarians and Universalists embraced the sacred in nature rather than the far-off distance taught in mainstream Christianity between the earthly and divine realm.
Unitarian Universalists do not separate earthly and divine matter…it is all one….the sacred essence of life is in all things, interdependent in a vast Cosmic web of existence. Sometimes we have to search very hard to find the blessing of being. Sometimes we have to heal brokenness and break through habits of mind to come to that sense of Unity. Sometimes we have to let go of ways of being and behaving to come to that sacred knowing. But it’s all there, in everything, if we only look and are willing to see.
Ours is a living faith, a creative spirituality. We engage our senses in understanding our lives and trust in an overriding Truth that permeates all of existence. We explore the wisdom shared in the stories of our lives. We test our sense of truth in community and seek a resonance with goodness, beauty, justice and love. We practice our understandings in the living of our lives and honor the discipline of an open mind, knowing that we do not know it all, believing that each one of us can help us come to a deeper sense of meaning and fullness. And we know that there is a larger interconnecting reality which we give many names, a reality that is felt in moments of awe or stillness or shared joy. These experiences are not available to us without an openness of spirit, a willing curiosity for deeper understanding.
Creativity calls for trust: trust in intuition, trust in diverse interaction, trust in evolving truth, trust in moments of resonance. When we are creative, we are open to change, open to learning, open to claiming the truth as we meet it, open to wisdom beyond our imagining. This can only bear fruit if we believe in the enterprise of being, however we mysteriously arrived, wherever we mysteriously go when we have died. Believing in the beauty and worthiness of creation naturally brings us to an ethic of stewardship, a discipline of diversity, and a calling to justice so that the life which we have the astounding opportunity to live is shared by all.
December’s theme of the month is Creation. Let us sing praises to its gift.
Blessings Be. Rev. Lisa
A congregation-wide pastoral e-mail:
A Christmas Message at a tender time:
24 December, 2012
Dear Members and Friends of UUFHC,
As I contemplate this evening’s Christmas Eve services, I am deeply aware of how important it is for us to dwell in community. You are each a part of the promise of life. With the shock of violence of the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre still reverberating in our collective being, I feel more urgently that the tender work of life affirmation with and for each other not only heals our wounds but reweaves our social fabric.
Finding the worth and dignity of each being in this interdependent web of existence inspires a wise love that can discern distortions and heal brokenness. Knowing that we are all in this swirl of life together arouses a larger wisdom that can identify damaging ways of being. This is part of what we do for and with each other in community.
It is hard to embrace the promise of being from a place of loss, both personally and communally. Allow yourselves to hold one another in your thoughts and prayers. Allow yourselves to affirm your own precious life. Allow yourselves to believe that your aspirations for peace have an impact on the whole of consciousness.
Fear not: the love within your despair will find a way through. Let us encourage each other’s innate wisdom for peace on earth, goodwill to all.
Feeling blessed in your company,
Rev. Lisa Ward
A letter to the editor for the local paper:
LETTER TO THE EDITOR of THE AEGIS (2012 – during the referendum)
In your article on Harford County’s push to repeal the Civil Marriage Protection Act, it is clear
that a great deal of confusion surrounds the civil discourse of this ground-breaking law.
First and foremost, the Civil Marriage Protection Act clearly spells out the protection of
religious freedom. This law does not dictate or redefine religious marriage. The state does
not have jurisdiction over religious rites or practices. No religious institution or leader will be
forced to recognize or perform marriages counter to their religious beliefs.
Civil marriage is about public policy, not religious dogma. It is about securing civil liberties
and legal support for all Marylanders to form families, thrive in community and strengthen the
bonds of society in the public square.
There is a wide spectrum of Biblical interpretation, spiritual discernment and sense of call
around the issue of marriage equality. I have had the pleasure of advocating for marriage
equality alongside Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Unitarian Universalist and other colleagues who
stand on the side of love and justice, with an equal regard for all souls and a humble embrace of
the diversity of Creation.
We are blessedly free in this society to debate religious sensibilities. The only way to protect
that freedom is to affirm that no single religious doctrine should dictate civil law. Religious
institutions will be free to choose whether to welcome the full and free participation of their
LGBT neighbors, but in the public square, all of our neighbors should have the same freedom to
thrive, love and fully engage in society.
The legislators who found it in their hearts to pass the Civil Marriage Protection Act encouraged
Marylanders to take one more beautiful step toward freedom and justice for all. Come
November, I urge you to consider the well-being of the whole of community and vote to defend
this law.
Rev. Lisa Ward
Co-Chair, UULM-MD LGBT Task Force
An offering at a colleague's ordination (right hand of fellowship):
It is a tradition in the service of ordination for a colleague to offer the “right hand of fellowship” to one crazed enough to enter the fold of ordained ministry. It is a gesture of welcome and embrace, of encouragement and salutation. It is also a transmission of tradition -- into a journey like no other.
With your hands you will shepherd pages and pages of thoughts, yearnings, entreaties and celebration that will weave into your sermons, your prayers, your invocations and your presentations.
Your hands will cradle babies in dedication to behold the wonder of creation.
And hold the hands of those who are dying – finding your way to a presence that you did not know on your own.
You will clap to rhythms and drum drums,
Dive into pot lucks and serve in emergency shelters.
Your hands will be raised in praises and protests
They will wipe away tears of bitter struggle and deep joy,
Tears of disappointment and true compassion.
Yours are hands that will be needed from time to time to reach out to other colleagues, to hold them in their journey and accept their help with your own.
Your hands will bless others over and over, when given freely, with love, gratitude, humility and awe;
Just as I have the privilege to offer my hand now, this day, to you in fellowship.
SERMONS (more examples available upon request)
Prophetic: “Where Are The Keys To The Kingdom?”
Pastoral: “The Dance of True Listening”
Political: “Faith and Politics”
Evangelical: “Claiming Presence” (Installation Sermon)
A recent newsletter column:
Unitarian Universalism is a religion in praise of the wonders of Creation. We believe in the original blessing of our births and the on-going gift of being. Our Universalist forebears celebrated Creation as God’s success during a time when Calvinists were preaching of the depraved nature of human being. Unitarians and Universalists embraced the sacred in nature rather than the far-off distance taught in mainstream Christianity between the earthly and divine realm.
Unitarian Universalists do not separate earthly and divine matter…it is all one….the sacred essence of life is in all things, interdependent in a vast Cosmic web of existence. Sometimes we have to search very hard to find the blessing of being. Sometimes we have to heal brokenness and break through habits of mind to come to that sense of Unity. Sometimes we have to let go of ways of being and behaving to come to that sacred knowing. But it’s all there, in everything, if we only look and are willing to see.
Ours is a living faith, a creative spirituality. We engage our senses in understanding our lives and trust in an overriding Truth that permeates all of existence. We explore the wisdom shared in the stories of our lives. We test our sense of truth in community and seek a resonance with goodness, beauty, justice and love. We practice our understandings in the living of our lives and honor the discipline of an open mind, knowing that we do not know it all, believing that each one of us can help us come to a deeper sense of meaning and fullness. And we know that there is a larger interconnecting reality which we give many names, a reality that is felt in moments of awe or stillness or shared joy. These experiences are not available to us without an openness of spirit, a willing curiosity for deeper understanding.
Creativity calls for trust: trust in intuition, trust in diverse interaction, trust in evolving truth, trust in moments of resonance. When we are creative, we are open to change, open to learning, open to claiming the truth as we meet it, open to wisdom beyond our imagining. This can only bear fruit if we believe in the enterprise of being, however we mysteriously arrived, wherever we mysteriously go when we have died. Believing in the beauty and worthiness of creation naturally brings us to an ethic of stewardship, a discipline of diversity, and a calling to justice so that the life which we have the astounding opportunity to live is shared by all.
December’s theme of the month is Creation. Let us sing praises to its gift.
Blessings Be. Rev. Lisa
A congregation-wide pastoral e-mail:
A Christmas Message at a tender time:
24 December, 2012
Dear Members and Friends of UUFHC,
As I contemplate this evening’s Christmas Eve services, I am deeply aware of how important it is for us to dwell in community. You are each a part of the promise of life. With the shock of violence of the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre still reverberating in our collective being, I feel more urgently that the tender work of life affirmation with and for each other not only heals our wounds but reweaves our social fabric.
Finding the worth and dignity of each being in this interdependent web of existence inspires a wise love that can discern distortions and heal brokenness. Knowing that we are all in this swirl of life together arouses a larger wisdom that can identify damaging ways of being. This is part of what we do for and with each other in community.
It is hard to embrace the promise of being from a place of loss, both personally and communally. Allow yourselves to hold one another in your thoughts and prayers. Allow yourselves to affirm your own precious life. Allow yourselves to believe that your aspirations for peace have an impact on the whole of consciousness.
Fear not: the love within your despair will find a way through. Let us encourage each other’s innate wisdom for peace on earth, goodwill to all.
Feeling blessed in your company,
Rev. Lisa Ward
A letter to the editor for the local paper:
LETTER TO THE EDITOR of THE AEGIS (2012 – during the referendum)
In your article on Harford County’s push to repeal the Civil Marriage Protection Act, it is clear
that a great deal of confusion surrounds the civil discourse of this ground-breaking law.
First and foremost, the Civil Marriage Protection Act clearly spells out the protection of
religious freedom. This law does not dictate or redefine religious marriage. The state does
not have jurisdiction over religious rites or practices. No religious institution or leader will be
forced to recognize or perform marriages counter to their religious beliefs.
Civil marriage is about public policy, not religious dogma. It is about securing civil liberties
and legal support for all Marylanders to form families, thrive in community and strengthen the
bonds of society in the public square.
There is a wide spectrum of Biblical interpretation, spiritual discernment and sense of call
around the issue of marriage equality. I have had the pleasure of advocating for marriage
equality alongside Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Unitarian Universalist and other colleagues who
stand on the side of love and justice, with an equal regard for all souls and a humble embrace of
the diversity of Creation.
We are blessedly free in this society to debate religious sensibilities. The only way to protect
that freedom is to affirm that no single religious doctrine should dictate civil law. Religious
institutions will be free to choose whether to welcome the full and free participation of their
LGBT neighbors, but in the public square, all of our neighbors should have the same freedom to
thrive, love and fully engage in society.
The legislators who found it in their hearts to pass the Civil Marriage Protection Act encouraged
Marylanders to take one more beautiful step toward freedom and justice for all. Come
November, I urge you to consider the well-being of the whole of community and vote to defend
this law.
Rev. Lisa Ward
Co-Chair, UULM-MD LGBT Task Force
An offering at a colleague's ordination (right hand of fellowship):
It is a tradition in the service of ordination for a colleague to offer the “right hand of fellowship” to one crazed enough to enter the fold of ordained ministry. It is a gesture of welcome and embrace, of encouragement and salutation. It is also a transmission of tradition -- into a journey like no other.
With your hands you will shepherd pages and pages of thoughts, yearnings, entreaties and celebration that will weave into your sermons, your prayers, your invocations and your presentations.
Your hands will cradle babies in dedication to behold the wonder of creation.
And hold the hands of those who are dying – finding your way to a presence that you did not know on your own.
You will clap to rhythms and drum drums,
Dive into pot lucks and serve in emergency shelters.
Your hands will be raised in praises and protests
They will wipe away tears of bitter struggle and deep joy,
Tears of disappointment and true compassion.
Yours are hands that will be needed from time to time to reach out to other colleagues, to hold them in their journey and accept their help with your own.
Your hands will bless others over and over, when given freely, with love, gratitude, humility and awe;
Just as I have the privilege to offer my hand now, this day, to you in fellowship.
SERMONS (more examples available upon request)
Prophetic: “Where Are The Keys To The Kingdom?”
Pastoral: “The Dance of True Listening”
Political: “Faith and Politics”
Evangelical: “Claiming Presence” (Installation Sermon)
where_are_the_keys_to_the_kingdom.doc | |
File Size: | 39 kb |
File Type: | doc |
the_dance_of_true_listening.docx | |
File Size: | 26 kb |
File Type: | docx |
faith_and_politics.doc | |
File Size: | 40 kb |
File Type: | doc |
claiming_presence.doc | |
File Size: | 35 kb |
File Type: | doc |