The Open Questions created by the Board are designed to help us learn what is important to the congregation so that we can continue to update the Rolling Roadmap for the coming years. On November 21, Reverend Krista’s service focused on the first of these Open Questions: “How shall we center love in our care of one another?” Afterwards, the Board of Trustees hosted discussion forums with Eliot members, both in person and online, to discuss this question. Participation in the discussions was robust, with nearly 75 members taking part! Attendees shared their thoughts, and vibrant discussions took place. Below is a summary of the excellent conversations and thoughts that came from these sessions.

Summary of First Open Question forums:
You shared many thoughts on what “love” looks like, and how we feel ‘loved’:

• Love is a verb
• Love is unconditional acceptance
• Love is sharing yourself
• Love is listening and simply being present, not fixing
• Love is having empathy
• Love is proactive caretaking
• Love is giving of your time
• Love is accepting each other as we are instead of pushing someone to be something else
• Love is learning to accept oneself as we are, because we must love ourselves in order to love others

You shared a consistent theme of wanting to increase the feeling of Community and the sense of belonging and had suggestions for various activities at Eliot. Here are some insights and suggestions shared by participants:

• Encourage more people to get involved in the Social Justice programs.
• Create a culture where it is ok to ask for help.
• There is a desire for Pastoral Care to extend beyond resolution of the immediate problem by maintaining an ongoing PC connection.
• Those who are widowed or live alone would feel loved and taken care of if folks called them occasionally to check in.
• You urged everyone to try to break out of our normal social silos during coffee hour and engage with folks we may not know well, to create new relationships.
• You expressed a desire for more intergenerational activities to foster relationships and understanding between the generations of our congregants.
• You asked for more fun social events like the s'mores bonfire in the fall.
• You urged getting to know the RE kids by name. It’s great when an adult that isn’t in a child’s immediate circle asks them to participate in something.
• Bring back monthly “Circle Suppers” or something similar.
• Create a more easily findable listing of all current covenant groups and their meeting times. This info is currently hard to obtain.
• Ensure that fundraising events stress that donations are “suggested” and/ or “optional”. Because some folks feel that if they cannot afford to donate, then they are not allowed to participate.

– Summary created by Board Member Matthew Hull