Beyond the Walls – Our Community Minister’s Message

by Rev. Barbara F. Meyers, M.Div.

What is Community Ministry, Anyway?

When I tell people I am a community minister, I usually receive a questioning look.  I explain that our congregation has a parish minister, who is called to lead most of the worship services, do pastoral care and lead the organization spiritually.  While I am affiliated with the congregation, my focus is in the outside community.  In my case, the central concentration of my ministry is mental health.  In general, UU Community Ministers have many different kinds of things they do in the outside community.  The organization that most of us belong to is the UU Society for Community Ministries.  Here is its mission:

“The Unitarian Universalist Society for Community Ministries (UUSCM) is a Unitarian Universalist movement of lay ministers & ordained clergy committed to promoting a broad spectrum of healing and social justice ministries.  We believe that only through many diverse forms of ministry can we heal the broken, create justice, and live in harmony with the spirit of life.  We hold a vision of a larger ministry that sees the world as its parish.”

You will notice that you don’t have to be an ordained minister to be a member of the UUSCM; lay ministries are also embraced.  You can check them out at www.uuscm.org, or you can talk to me if you are interested.

You can read more about my background and my ministry here. 

In faith, Barbara