"What is Spiritual Growth?"

Well, here we are. The day has finally arrived. After all your hard work, after difficult decision making, and consulting, and planning, and setting goals, and training, and naming, and canvassing, and meeting, and searching, and advertising, and filling out paper work, and painting, and painting, and painting, and setting up the church school, and creating an order of worship, and elections, and writing bylaws, and incorporating, and welcoming new members, and affirming the appointment of your extension minister - here we are.

For some the most important accomplishment you've had to date was choosing to create a new church. For some it was the decision to have your new church community be diverse. For others it was the selection and refurbishing of this space. For a few it was the publication of your first newsletter. For at least one it is the continued publication of your newsletter. For yet others it was choosing a Director of Religious Education and shaping attractive church school space. For still others it was exceeding your goal of having 65 members in one year. As of today you have 80 members, perhaps more! For some it was creating a workable budget and meeting your fund raising goals. For those who've developed your order of worship, it was setting high standards for all the administrative details of communicating with guest ministers; you have gained a reputation for being efficient and welcoming to ministers around the district! For yet others it was receiving approval from the Unitarian Universalist Association to be a new extension congregation. For some it was to meet your designated minister and affirm her appointment. For others it was to have your extension minister arrive and begin her ministry with your community. Give yourselves a hand for all your successes.

It was a wonderful feeling to have been chosen to be part of your aspiring plan of outreach to the people of Volusia County. It is even yet a more wonderful feeling having finally arrived and started to work with you.

I'm still a bit disoriented. If you remember, yesterday we had some fine sunny weather. The temperature even got into the 70's at our house. Pat and I enjoyed sitting out in the sun while we read the paper. Yesterday afternoon we went to the grocery store. I was struck by the long row of Valentine's Day cards. Valentine's Day! February! My brain and body just couldn't compute our early afternoon experience of sitting in the warm sun with Valentine's Day!

We're still living out of boxes at home, and I haven't yet begun to organize my office here at the church. We're still searching out all the vendors and service providers we need. Last Monday, the day our moving van arrived, I went out to buy fast food for the crew and us. As I backed out of the driveway, I realized I hadn't the foggiest idea where the nearest fast food restaurant might be. It was pure luck that I found Wendy's within a few minutes of leaving home. So every day for me is an adventure, in all ways. I'm enjoying every bit of it. My partner Patricia and I are falling in love with the area and look forward to exploring our new state and locality.

For some of you, being part of a Unitarian Universalist congregation may be an adventure. I know that some of you are brand new to our faith. You might never have been to church at all, except for a few special occasions, or you might be coming to our church from another faith community. You may be unused to congregational singing, and, certainly to our particular hymns. You may just be learning what it is to be a Unitarian Universalist.

Others of you are returning after a long absence. You may be finding that our worship services are different than they were 10, 15, or 20 years ago. Just like Catholics after Vatican II, we've made a few changes.

To help acclimate me to Volusia County I have road maps and tour guides and friendly neighbors and colleagues. To help you acclimate yourselves to this religious community, I will focus on our seven principles over the next several weeks.

As Unitarian Universalists we do not have a creed: a statement of belief to which all must subscribe. Instead, we have seven principles, adopted after a several-year grass roots process at our General Assembly in the late 1980's. Our principles are listed on the backs of your orders of service.

While a creed is a statement of belief, our principles are statements of how we shall be with one another and with the wider community. They describe behavior rather than belief. Let us call to mind our principles by reading them aloud. Let the left side read the first, third and fifth principle; the right side read the second, fourth, and sixth principle; and we shall all read the seventh principle. I'll read the introduction. [Principles are read.]

During this sermon series I also want to introduce you to a body of information, developed by Unitarian Universalist theologian Peter Richardson. Rev. Richardson writes that there are at least four spiritual paths in any religion. He says they correspond to the natural divisions outlined in typologies developed by Carl Jung and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), which is used widely in counseling, business, and education. How many of you have taken the MBTI? How many of you remember your letters?

This morning I will start with the four spiritual paths described by Peter Richardson. Next, I will discuss our third Unitarian Universalist principle, which seems a better place for me to start than with the first. Finally, I will imagine what the spiritual practice of a Unitarian Universalist in each of the four spiritualities might be in relation to our third principle.

Before I describe the four spiritual paths I'd like you to do an exercise that will help you discern which path may best fit you. Please look at the pink page in your bulletin. It is going to be our cheat sheet for all seven of the sermons I will deliver in this series. Please note the bibliography. The primary reference I am using is the first one listed. On the reverse side is Chart One to help you determine your preferences according to Jungian typology, if you don't know them already.

Take a moment to look at the chart. Read the two Life Attitudes descriptions, for Extraversion and Introversion. Which one do you think best describes your life attitude preference based on the information listed there? Circle the one you think best applies to you. For some of you it may be difficult to choose. Some of what is written in the left column applies to you and some of what is written in the right column applies to you, too. Choose the one you lean towards. If you have trouble choosing with the others as well, again, choose the one you lean towards.

Next, read the two Perceiving Functions descriptions, for Sensing and Intuition. Which one do you think best describes your perceiving function preference based on the information listed there? Circle the one you think best applies to you.

Next, read the two Judging Functions descriptions, for Thinking and Feeling. Which one do you think best describes your judging function preference based on the information listed there? Circle the one you think best applies to you.

Next, read the two Life Orientations descriptions, for Judging and Perceiving. Which one do you think best describes your Life Orientation preference based on the information listed there? Circle the one you think best applies to you.

You'll notice that the Perceiving and Judging functions are printed in bold face. That's because Peter Richardson's four spiritualities system is based on these two functions only. There are four possibilities: Sensing/Feeling, Sensing/Thinking, Intuitive/Feeling, Intuitive/Thinking. Look at the descriptions you've circled. Remember your two words.

Now, turn your cheat sheet over and look at Chart Two. If your two words are intuitive and thinking, circle the NT. If your two words are sensing and feeling, circle the SF. If your two words are sensing and thinking, circle the ST. If your two words are intuitive and feeling, circle the NF.

Next, notice the one word description below. Circle the word which applies to you: for NT, Unity; for SF, Devotion; for ST, Works; for NF, Harmony.

If you need help, please raise your hands.

Today is a little like the first day of a new class. Although we'll review all of this material every week to help visitors understand what we're talking about, we'll move a little faster as more and more of you "get it."

I hope that now you know your two letters and the word that describes your path. Is there anyone still working it out?

Now look at Chart Two. Chart Two indicates that right now there are two dominant Unitarian Universalist paths: Unity and Harmony. The one we're least familiar with is Devotion. We used to be good at Works, but that path has fallen out of favor in the last three decades ' maybe longer.

Let me illustrate each of the four paths by describing people. Each person primarily follows one path but each is also trying to stretch to incorporate some aspects of another path as well.

Let us look at the Path of Unity for a moment. Richardson says of those following this path, "NTs have vision'They thrive on solving problems'They love to exchange ideas. They focus on the task They seek intellectual clarity. They love speculative theories, models, and systems thinking. They are the foremost change agents and strategic planners."

Susan follows the Path of Unity. She is a physician. She has come to be known by her colleagues as a superb diagnostician. She is capable of seeing her patients as whole persons and listens to all their complaints thoughtfully. No information a patient may volunteer is insignificant. Susan loves putting all the pieces together, creating in her mind a model of her patient in four dimensions: the physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual. She uses both Western and alternative methods of healing. While her vision of a patient's health may be complex, it is also clear.

In her spare time, Susan studies world religions. As an amateur, she is an authority on comparative religions, including pre-Christian and earth-based traditions.

If a follower of the Path of Unity like Susan were to challenge herself, she might adopt a spiritual practice related to the Path of Devotion. Followers of the Path of Devotion "focus on the here and now rather than possibilities for the future, in acts of tangible piety and personal service rather than global vision of good. The real, the practical, 'acting locally', present matters of the heart move them religiously."

Richardson goes on to say that for those on the Path of Devotion "God is near, in the embrace of care, in the tears of ecstatic joy, in traditional communal values, in the smell of incense and the sound of bells, in the arrangements of flowers and newly polished candlesticks, in patient care at the bedside of the sick, in sustained acts of kindness and consideration."

Susan recently decided to challenge herself by doing something completely different. She is studying Japanese flower arranging. She is grateful she belongs to a religious community, and often creates beautiful and thoughtful flower arrangements for Sunday worship. Focusing so deeply in one tradition helps to ground her. When she is concerned about a patient, and can't seem to create a model in her head which will help her come up with a treatment plan, she finds that if she can let go of actively pursuing solutions and focus, instead, on creating a flower arrangement which reminds her of her patient, often the solutions present themselves as she chooses a bowl, selects materials, and manipulates her materials to create a pleasing arrangement.

Matthew is most at home on the path Susan is just learning about -- the Path of Devotion. He is a volunteer chaplain at the local hospital. He is able to pray in several religions, although he is a Unitarian Universalist. He loves finding the right words for each person he visits. He also listens well, as much to what isn't said as to what is. The nursing staff marvels at his calmness and compassion in relating to very difficult people.

Recently Matthew read Peter Richardson's book, Four Spiritualities. Although he recognizes himself as following the Path of Devotion, he is intrigued by the Path of Works. Richardson describes those on the Path of Works as being lead and ruled by "God, or the purpose, destiny, and structure of society and nature." "Forward Through the Ages" would be their hymn. "Commitment to the right way; loyalty to the institutions for implementation of that way; order, fairness, and rationality in human relationships; responsibility for the traditions of ethics and law; steady action to maintain the world order from the simplest routines to the most complex administrations of our lives" are what motivate the religious journey of a pilgrim on the Path of Works.

Matthew has decided to challenge himself spiritually by joining a task force organized to start a new hospice program for people with AIDS in his community. While he would prefer to sit at the bedside of someone who is dying, Matthew is learning how to be a spokesman for his new cause and how to endure as an activist in support of programs for people with AIDS. Although he is often quiet at task force meetings, his compassionate listening allows him to see the fear beneath the resistance of those who live in the neighborhood where the task force hopes to locate the hospice, and to suggest strategies for responding in a sensitive way to that fear, rather than just resisting the resistance.

Sam knows his path is the Path of Works. His dream is that all Unitarian Universalist congregations and organizations will have their own individual home pages on the world wide web, and that all of these sites be linked to the Unitarian Universalist Association web site. He puts in hours every day maintaining the UUA web page and answering questions from UU's around the world. He is honored to be able to devote his talents to informing the world about his religion. He knows his goal is hopeless, that not every tiny fellowship, not every recalcitrant mid-sized congregation is going to have a web site, but he continues undaunted.

He finds being related to so many Unitarian Universalists a real challenge. At first he thought he could convert everyone to his way of thinking and seeing things. Now he realizes that he needs to develop some perspectives from the Path of Harmony. Peter Richardson describes the Path of Harmony this way: "Life is an experiment in spiritual discovery and growth; we exist that the possibilities of our human nature may move toward fulfillment for all."

Sam realizes he doesn't always have all the answers, and, besides, he is beginning to find joy in exploring other ways to be in the world. He has even taken to reading the Tao Te Ching every morning before he goes to work - either at his paying job or at his UU volunteer assignment. He worries about becoming too mushy, taking time to contemplate, rather than to just work. However, he likes finding his relationships with others become more harmonious. And he is often moved by what he reads, in particular this quote, which he carries with him:

Surrender yourself humbly;
then you can be trusted to care for all things.
Love the world as your own self...
Good weapons are instruments of fear;
all creatures hate them.

Therefore followers of Tao never use them.

Mary follows the Path of Harmony. She realizes she is definitely a mystic, more interested in the poetic than the practical. When she was little, she was like Jenny in the story we heard earlier. She can still imagine Volusia County before modern times. On spiritual retreats she meditates and prays for healing to come to our planet. Mary also serves as a trustee in her congregation. She finds it hard when conflict erupts in her church. She would like to run and hide sometimes, or resign, or fall back on old habits of denial and pretend the conflicts aren't there. However, she is pushing herself spiritually to learn some things from the Path of Unity. She has decided to study conflict resolution techniques. In fact, she is promoting the possibility of the whole congregation learning how to handle conflict in a healthy way. Her friend Susan, the physician, knows quite a bit about conflict management, and various techniques for group process. If only she could persuade Susan away from her flower arranging, perhaps she could enlist Susan as an ally.

As Unitarian Universalists, we covenant to affirm and promote acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations. Susan, Ted, Sam, and Mary each have a different spiritual path. Their combined perceiving and judging functions are different. Yet each is a Unitarian Universalist. How might they grow spiritually? Susan, a follower of the Path of Works, is learning something about the Path of Devotion by studying flower arranging. Ted, a follower of the Path of Devotion, is learning something about the Path of Works by becoming an activist in the AIDS hospice movement. Sam, a follower of the Path of Works, is learning something about the Path of Harmony by taking time away from work for contemplation. Mary, a follower of the Path of Harmony, is learning something about the Path of Unity by studying methods of conflict resolution.

What is spiritual growth? As an individual, spiritual growth means learning more about the path you are on, becoming more intentional about the way you follow your path, and challenging yourself to learn the ways of another path. As a congregation, it means realizing there is more than one path and providing spiritual growth opportunities for those who follow paths other than those followed by the majority of the group.

Community Unitarian Universalist Church of Volusia County has a goal to become a congregation of 250 persons in five to ten years. If we are to have a rapid rate of growth, we must become intentional about celebrating diversity of spiritual expression. In doing this, we will break out of the sometimes limiting Unitarian Universalist two-step dance - following only the paths of Unity and Harmony. As a community and as individuals we will flourish spiritually by learning from those following the paths of Devotion and Works as well.

Let us close by singing a hymn that is currently featured in a box office sensation, Titanic. The hymn, of course, is "Nearer, My God, to Thee". Now, you must know that I have chosen this hymn not because I think the good ship Community Unitarian Universalist Church of Volusia County is going to sink but because the words were written by a Unitarian Universalist who followed the Path of Devotion - Sarah Flower Adams, who lived from 1805 to 1848. Her ministry of writing hymns is part of our Unitarian Universalist heritage.

1. Four Spiritualities by Peter Tufts Richardson (1996) - available through the UUA Bookstore, 1-800-215-9076.

2. Gifts Differing by Isabel Briggs Myers, 1980 and 1993.

3. Introduction to Type by Isabel Briggs Myers, revised by Linda K. Kirby and Katharine D. Myers, 1993.

4. Type Talk by Otto Kroeger and Janet M. Thuesen, 1988.

5. Life Types by Sandra Hirsh and Jean Kummerow, 1989.

6. It Takes All Types, Alan Brownsword, 1987.

7. Please Understand Me, David Keirsey and Marilyn Bates, 1978. Their short form of the MBTI (not as reliable as MBTI, but definitely useful in that it's a self-test) is on the World Wide Web somewhere.