The Rev. Martin Woulfe: My commitment to making positive contribution to area remains firm
When I was a child growing up in a south suburb of Chicago, I envisioned a future path that would allow me to serve God and country – in time, I applied to Annapolis with the goal of becoming an officer – and hoped that sometime around the ripe old age of 40 I might become a military chaplain.
Plans do change, and not always in subtle ways. But the calling to ministry was persistent. When I moved to Springfield during the summer of 2003, my immediate focus was on parish ministry – but I quickly learned that being a new minister in a new city offered a unique opportunity to meet people from a wide range of backgrounds. One such encounter was with an African American woman following a reception hosted by the Jewish Federation. This individual was sitting on a bench, evidently waiting for her ride. I initiated a conversation and she responded, “You’re not from around here, are you?” That person was Donnita Davenport – and that occasion confirmed that a newcomer – could and should take risks.
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Nineteen years have now passed since my family moved here. I have met many extraordinary people and been welcomed into many wonderful civic and faith groups - GSIA, Rotary, NAACP, ACLU, PFLAG, Frontiers International, and of course FCCG. To name a few. In retrospect, my path has been informed by UU theologian and social ethicist the Rev. James Luther Adams. It was Adams who insisted that “one is known by their voluntary associations” and that such participation is one of the essentials of prophetic religion.
Not long ago, I was elected to serve as president of the Faith Coalition for the Common Good. You may know already that this organization is a local chapter of Gamaliel and is focused on community activism. Whereas many excellent local organizations respond to the immediate distress suffered by our fellow citizens, the focus of the FCCG is different and can be expressed in the dictum, “we need to stop rescuing bodies from the river and go upstream and find out why there are bodies in the river.”
I am honored to follow in the footsteps of some exceptional spiritual and civic leaders of our community including Shelly Heideman, Pastor T. Ray McJunkins, Pastor Silas Johnson and Roy Williams. If I took the time to name the many staff, gifted interns and dedicated volunteers of this organization, I would exceed the word limit of this article.
As I reflect on my life goal that inspired me as a teenager, I realize that my career has conformed to that original aspiration. While my understanding of service and the sacred may have evolved over the decades, my commitment to making a positive contribution to our community remains firm. In the spirit of Congressman John Lewis, who passed away two years ago this month, I pray that this work, performed in collaboration with kindred souls, will create “good trouble” which will benefit those who most need it.
For more information about the Faith Coalition for the Common Good, visit www.faithcoaliton-il.org or email fccg2208@gmail.com.
The Rev. Martin Woulfe, pastor of the Abraham Lincoln Unitarian Universalist congregation, is president of the Faith Coalition for the Common Good.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: My commitment to making contribution to community remains firm
