When I was ministering in Salem, I learned a valuable lesson about true diversity. Our inter-faith religious leaders group had the challenge of being truly inter-faith. It wasn't the typical group of Christian clergy making room for the rabbi. The faith communities in Salem included Fundamentalist house churches, B'haiis, and pagans of many stripes. When we gathered in community worship we found that we couldn't just reduce everything down to that which wouldn't offend. It was alright when the Christians met with Jews, we could agree to stick with the Old Testament, but start throwing in groups that don't recognize that as scripture and you start to find less to share. This least common denominator approach proved quickly to be ineffective, since it left us with nothing to use. Instead we decided to welcome each participant to bring something from the richness of his or her tradition. This developed into a new tradition for us. At the end of each joint worship service, every participating religious leader offered a benediction. The rainbow blessing of multiple faiths was rich and deep.
I have brought that mentality into my pastoral ministry among you. I realized early on that there wasn't and wouldn't be unanimity of beliefs here. One option might have been to try to change those who differed with me, possibly even working to eradicate the opposition. While I certainly am tempted at times to move in that direction, I always quickly snuff out this sinful tendency. Neither can it become a numbers game. In this respect, absolute democracy cannot be our model. It is too easy to marginalize and even oppress any minority, but particularly small ones. Our community needs the richness and depth provided by every member and thus must be respectful of every opinion. This is by no means easy to do. We must agree to disagree, without becoming disagreeable. That requires of us two critical behaviors. First, you must be willing to speak up when you are in the minority, even if that becomes a minority of one! Second, you must be willing to listen to the opinions of those who disagree with you. If we can keep our speaking and listening in balance and full of respect, we will know the richness of diversity.
I have brought that mentality into my pastoral ministry among you. I realized early on that there wasn't and wouldn't be unanimity of beliefs here. One option might have been to try to change those who differed with me, possibly even working to eradicate the opposition. While I certainly am tempted at times to move in that direction, I always quickly snuff out this sinful tendency. Neither can it become a numbers game. In this respect, absolute democracy cannot be our model. It is too easy to marginalize and even oppress any minority, but particularly small ones. Our community needs the richness and depth provided by every member and thus must be respectful of every opinion. This is by no means easy to do. We must agree to disagree, without becoming disagreeable. That requires of us two critical behaviors. First, you must be willing to speak up when you are in the minority, even if that becomes a minority of one! Second, you must be willing to listen to the opinions of those who disagree with you. If we can keep our speaking and listening in balance and full of respect, we will know the richness of diversity.
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