"Being in Community... Whether We Like It or Not!"

 Service by Colin Peden

“There is only one person in the world like you, and people can like you exactly the way you are,” Fred Rogers told me through the television. Shakespeare, perhaps having read the comments section, was less optimistic: “I desire that we should be better strangers.”

Most of us recognize a little truth in both. People gather in churches, cooperatives, punk scenes, and countless other communities seeking acceptance, purpose, and connection. Then we encounter the unavoidable catch: other people. They have their own inconvenient opinions and needs, and a great talent for misunderstanding ours.

We'll explore why the goal is not to compare NSUUS to some imagined perfect community, but to practice the imperfect arts of listening, participating, disagreeing, repairing, and growing together.  Community is not merely the destination. Community is the way there. The work itself is the point.

Colin Peden will lead the service. 

Greeters: Rita and Steve Storey