From Living the Comma to Living Unafraid

Written by Edith Guffey,
Conference Minister

As we approach the upcoming Annual Meeting with the theme UNAFRAID, I am struck by the similarity between this theme and the theme of the 2013 Annual Meeting; the first after I started in KO. The theme of that meeting was Living the Comma.  There is no overlap in the composition of the two planning committees with the exception of me (and I am worthless in theme discussions!) and yet, both zeroed in on what appears to be a continuing challenge of speaking out when one’s voice is in the minority in the community.

In 2013, the planning committee chose to focus on encouraging annual meeting attendees to live and advocate for the extravagant welcome that the comma represents in our churches and our everyday lives. And the 2021 Annual Meeting theme of UNAFRAID is addressing  a similar if not identical theme with workshops with names like UNAFRAID to Lead, UNAFRAID to Live our Faith in our Communities, Unafraid to Have Brave Conversations, UNAFRAID to Ask for Help around Mental Health Challenges. And, we’ll explore what it means to be UNAFRAID in Germany with our ecumenical partners. 

Those of you who have taken the Your Leadership Edge Training as part of the Conference Leadership Transformation Grant with the Kansas Leadership Center know the difference between “technical” and “adaptive” challenges. Technical problems are the things that have clear answers,; they can usually be solved by experts or authorities. If your arm is broken, a doctor knows what to do to fix it. The problem has a clear answer.

There is no right or wrong answer to the questions that will be raised by our time together at Annual Meeting. They are adaptive questions. The questions run deep; and our responses are shaped by the both the secular and political environment we find ourselves in as well as our faith. But asking the tough questions is important, and the only thing we can say for sure is that since the questions keep coming up, it is clear to some that they are of the utmost importance to our future as a Conference and to our witness as people of faith.

Wednesday evening, a workshop at Annual Meeting will offer two perspectives on this question. One from long time UCC lay member Jim French and the other from newer UCC authorized minister Rachael Pryor. Both live their faith UNAFRAID in very different settings and in very different ways.

Jim has lived his entire life as member of Community Church in Partridge, KS  and he has been a social justice advocate in this small rural area. Rachael has lived a different life; she is a in a different generation, for starters, and she is the Chair of the Board of Directors of Kansas Interfaith Action. She has served congregations of various sizes in rural and urban areas and would certainly call herself an activist. At this very transitional time in the life of KO, the past, present and future leadership of KO lead a conversation that explores what it means to them to live UNAFRAID in or communities.

I hope you’ll take time to follow the link below to learn about this and other workshops, and while you’re there, please register for annual meeting!

See you soon!