Something's Coming...

We’re taking a break from Congregational Shenanigans™ this week so I can tell you what the next 13 months will look like.

You see, in 403 days (at time of writing), if all goes smoothly, I will be standing on the chancel of Washington National Cathedral in a jaunty cap and a heavy robe.

I have been pursuing a Doctor of Ministry degree (D.Min.) at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC, since May 2024. I’ve completed my coursework, and now I’m in dissertation project phase, which means my time and my content will look a little different.

First, let me share a bit with you about my program and also what the next 403 days will be like for you all.

First, a D.Min. is a doctorate, but it’s not a Ph.D. (or a J.D., D.F.A. or M.D.). Where a Ph.D. is an academic degree a D.Min. is a technical or applied degree. Our dissertations are centered around a project that asks ‘what does the church need’ and is actively carried out in a church-related setting. (For example, those in the military chaplain track are doing projects with their units in relation to their ministries there.)

My track is called “Curating Community Through the Arts” and much of my coursework has covered not only various art forms (drama, music, visual culture, architecture, storytelling, writing) but also topics like change, adaptive leadership, and trauma. A project I did with the congregation I serve (which is the topic of a workshop I’ll be doing at the UUA General Assembly this June, called Small Wins) was borne from things I learned in the adaptive leadership class, and the courses on trauma-informed care have been vital to ministry in this moment.

In asking the question ‘what does the church need’, given my program focus, I determined a need for a better framework for Unitarian Universalist worship that is more inclusive, embodied, and sacred and helps us better meet this moment. I’ll be examining this through a theatre lens, and with an eye toward repeatability and sustainability for both clergy and lay worship leaders. I’ll be grounding this theologically with the Transcendentalists, process theology, and our Shared Values. I’ll also be endeavoring to write a Unitarian Universalist liturgical theology (or theology of worship), asking questions like why do we do what we do? why does what we do matter? what grounds what we do?

It’s a big undertaking, as it should be. I’ve scaled down my volunteer service and hobbies to make room for the reading, the thinking, the writing, and the execution of the project itself. I’m excited to note that the experimental phase will take place this summer at two congregations I have both worked with and have solid relationships with: First UU of Ann Arbor, MI, and Community UU Congregation of White Plains, NY.

So what does that mean for you, my dear readers?

First, I’ll still post most weeks, although I suspect there might be more posts about worship than there have been. (I had always intended there to be more, but… yanno. Congregational Shenanigans™.1)

Second, I will have some more planned breaks in the writing; I know I do take breaks every so often, but I don’t always give you a lot of heads up. However, I’m pretty sure I know when I’ll need a week or two off, so for the data and calendar geeks among you, expect there to be no posts on these dates:

June 17

July 22, 29

August 5

September 2

October 14, 21

January 6, 13

Third, I hope to coordinate some fabulous reception/event at the UUA General Assembly in 2027 where we get to meet, I get to share about my research, and we get to celebrate what will be over four years of Hold My Chalice. I expect I’ll also do something similar at next year’s Association for UU Music Ministries (AUUMM) conference.

So that’s what’s happening. It’s a lot, but in the midst of the horrors of living in this time, good things are still happening, and we need to hold on to them. And I admit I never thought I would be doing a D.Min., until it became clear I needed to do it, for my ministry and for our faith.

Plus, I’ll get a jaunty cap.