Seeds of Change: Or You Can Make a Difference

Wow! I felt a delightful mixture of joy and pride when I glimpsed the green button link article in the latest issue of our denomination's quarterly magazine. There is was, the article about our social action committee, and one of our major projects.

We are a small to midsize congregation, so the idea that we can send 25 girls to school and help feed 40,000 people seems pretty remarkable. And to me, it feels like a miracle.

I first visited our congregation in late May 1997. We were meeting in a room on the Dickinson College campus, and not yet an official congregation. I, a long-time nonaligned monotheist, quickly became involved in congregational activities; including the choir and the social action committee.

In those early days, the Social Action Committee talked about what our fledging church should be doing; and we planned to find ways to act locally, nationally, and globally. We began a program of working with the food bank and other local organizations. And one member's idea for a fund-raising choic concert proved to be an important fund-raiser for our local food bank for several years. It seemed we were on our way.

We eventually became an official congregation, and later purchased our own building. And about that same time, I agreed to be chairperson of the Social Action Committee.

I chaired the commitee for three years. Since we were still a very small congregation, most of were serving on, or helping out, several committees at the same time. We had our new meetinghouse to attend to, and new members to welcome. A committee member or two moved away, another traveled abroad for a year. My committee was disappearing.

Still, I went to our meetinghouse on the first Tuesday of every month for our monthly meetings.
Some times, another member or two would show up; or a new interested member would stop in to see what "we" were all about. But there were many months when I felt that I was the committee.

I kept our existing projects going, and tried to start some new ones. I desperately tried to stir up some interest in Social Action with articles in our church newsletters and bulletins, even trying to start a social action newsletter.

Nothing much happened. I had some successes and some flops. Mostly I was discouraged. Many times, I was just a breath away from saying "Fine. We just won't have a Social Action Committee." But a voice inside me said "No."

So the committee of one limped along. And I felt like a failure.

Eventually the business and excitement of moving and settling into our new building settled down, and we had lots of new, as well as existing, members eager to get involved in social action. And the member returned from his trip abroad. The committee was growing! And it was exciting, but I was also burnt out. I stepped down as chair; and after a few chair changes, we now have a wonderful new chair who's helped me rediscover my own enthusiasm for our social action work. We have a wonderful vibrant committee, and lots of new projects and initiatives.

One of our favorites is an idea brought to us by one of our ministers, after a visit to another congregation. We call it "Change for the World"; and each month our members contribute their pockey change for a different (usually local) organization. We've continued our original programs, and started a number of new events and projects, and worked on both local and national issues.

And of course, we're working globally too; with a wonderful program this green button link only begins to describe. And we're looking for other ways to bring sustainable change to Mozambique; because that's the right thing to do. Not just give them help, but opportunities to grow and prosper, and help others in their own country.

I'm not sure what my social action friends in that cramped little office in 1997 thought our committee might be doing eight years later. I certainly never imagined we'd be feeding people and educating girls half a world away!

I am so, so proud of our committee.

And I see now, that I did my part by keeping the basics of our program going during my lackluster chairperson stint. I didn't want to. I was busy; I had lots of other things to do. There were other committees I wanted to join. I was discouraged and frustrated; and wanted to just close down the committee.

But I stuck with it. Because it was the right thing to do.

And now, of course, I am so, so glad that I did. Especially when I look at our display of the 25 hopeful faces of the young girls in Mozambique who dream of becoming teachers, nurses, etc. because who helped them continue their education.

Doing the right thing is not always easy. It is seldom the easiest or most convenient choice. Nor is it generally create instant positive results. Or such obvious results as our Moz project.

But in the long run, doing the right thing is always the best choice. And each day, we are each given scores of such opportunities, small as well as large.

And as I've learned, our decisions do affect others. Choose, and act, wisely.