At a Board meeting this past Monday, I shared a personal reflection regarding the challenges, lessons, and opportunities that have emerged through the events of the past several months. After hearing the reflection, the Board felt it was important that I share it with the congregation as well.
What follows is the statement I offered that evening.
"The question is no longer, 'What happened?' The question is, 'What patterns brought us here?'
For much of this process, I have focused on individual events, individual conflicts, individual accusations, and individual hurts.
What I have come to see is that many of these challenges may not have been isolated at all. They may have been expressions of larger patterns that have existed within our culture for years.
I am not interested in assigning blame.
I am interested in understanding reality.
If there was resistance to leadership before I arrived, we need to acknowledge it.
If there were longstanding patterns of operating without clear accountability, we need to acknowledge it.
If there were power struggles, competing visions, triangulation, breakdowns in communication, or resistance to change, we need to acknowledge those as well.
Not so we can punish anyone. Not so we can prove who was right.
But because healing begins when we are willing to tell the truth about the systems we have been living inside.
As I reflected, I realized that I have spent much of the last several months focused on defending myself, explaining myself, and trying to understand why certain things happened.
Today, I am less interested in defending myself and more interested in helping us understand what this experience has revealed about our church.
I know I have things to learn. I know I have made mistakes.
I know there are places where I need growth, healing, and greater wisdom as a minister.
I have embraced that responsibility and will continue doing that work.
At the same time, I believe it would be a mistake for us to conclude that this situation is solely about Rev. Bobby.
I believe this situation has revealed deeper issues regarding leadership, authority, accountability, communication, and trust.
Those issues existed before me.
They will remain after me unless we address them.
In an unexpected way, I believe this storm has become an opportunity.
Not because it has been pleasant. Not because it has not caused hurt.
But because it has brought things into the light that may never have surfaced otherwise.
What if this is not the beginning of our division? What if it is the beginning of our healing?
What if the challenge before us is not deciding who wins and who loses?
What if the challenge is deciding whether we are willing to become healthier than we have ever been before?
As I reflected on all of this, one thought kept returning to me:
I may have been hurt, but I never stopped showing up.
And the evidence matters.
Over the last two and a half years:
The church continued moving forward.
Ministries expanded.
The sanctuary was refreshed.
Technology improved.
People gave thousands to special projects.
New people arrived.
Youth spaces were renovated.
Systems were created.
A vision emerged.
None of that happened because any one person succeeded.
It happened because, despite our differences, despite our challenges, despite the tensions we have experienced, people continued showing up and doing the work.
And perhaps that is one of the greatest lessons in all of this.
What if the storm we have been walking through was not simply a negative experience to survive? What if it was also an opportunity to grow?
What if, in ways we could not see at the time, this challenge brought our Board together in conversations, relationships, and levels of understanding that the status quo never would have created?
I would never choose the pain. I would never choose the hurt.
But I can choose to look for the wisdom. And I believe there is wisdom here.
I believe we know each other more honestly than we did before.
I believe we understand our strengths and our blind spots more clearly than we did before.
And I believe we have an opportunity now—not to return to what was—but to create something healthier than what was.
That is the future I hope we choose together. That is the work I hope we will choose together.
Not blame. Not retaliation. Not sides.
Healing. Truth. Accountability.
And a shared commitment to creating a healthier future for Unity of Louisville."
This Sunday, we are blessed to welcome our own ministerial candidate Rev. Raamesie Umandavi as our guest speaker. Her message, "Tapping the Power Within: Finding Your Point of Power When Life Takes an Unexpected Turn," promises to be both timely and inspiring. I hope you will join us in person or online as we continue exploring the spiritual tools that help us navigate life's
challenges with grace, courage, and faith.
With gratitude, Rev. Bobby
If you would like to give, please click the donate button below.
|