Symposium 2018: “Spiritual Communities without Walls”

After some catching up over breakfast, the Symposium began with the traditional Unitarian Universalist chalice lighting and words of welcome from Starr King President Rosemary Bray McNatt.

“It’s a fitting weekend for us to have Symposium,” said the Rev. McNatt in reference to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. “For us to recenter ourselves and remind ourselves about the human struggle for justice and the role that each of us plays in the creation of beloved community… Today we celebrate the threads of learning. We notice yet again the possibilities inherent in our stories that heal harms, transform pains, and extend grace as we dismantle that which keeps us separate.”

Our honored teacher this year was the Rev. Meg Riley. Meg’s wealth of professional service includes founding two organizations (Faith in Public Life and Equal Partners in Faith), serving as the founding director of the Unitarian Universalist Association’s Side with Love campaign (formerly “Standing on the Side of Love”), coordinating the UUA’s response to Hurricane Katrina, and serving in various leadership roles with the Interfaith Alliance, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. Meg currently serves as Senior Minister at the Church of the Larger Fellowship, a global spiritual congregation of nearly 4,000 people, including over 700 incarcerated members.

An early highlight of the day was the Rev. Meg Riley’s keynote address, in which she explored the uses of technology for building extended faith-based community in the context of the 21st century media revolution. Drawing upon valuable lessons from her experiences with electronic ministry, our honored teacher identified the following 10 tips for creating spiritual communities without walls:

1. Mission must always be central
2. Listen to feedback
3. Find your people; expect surprises
4. Create a learning environment
5. Fail quickly and forgive yourself
6. Follow the energy
7. Create strong relationships
8. Co-create whenever possible
9. Money is a big thing
10. Enjoy the ride!

At the end of the day, Starr King School for the Ministry presented Meg Riley with the honorary degree of Sacrae Theologiae Doctor (Doctor of Sacred Theology) for her steadfast commitment to Unitarian Universalist values and efforts to build spiritual community across geographical boundaries. In accepting the award, our honored teacher proclaimed, “I’m accepting this for all the older people who are invisibilized and trivialized and unrecognized after long years of hard work, particularly women and femmes, particularly queers and people of color.”