THE HARRIS YEARS

A Sermon by the Rev. Bruce Clear

Sunday, May 23, 2004

All Souls Unitarian Church

Indianapolis, Indiana

This will conclude the longest sermon I've ever written; it has lasted almost a year and a half. It started in January of 2003 as All Souls opened its centennial celebration - one hundred years of free religion in Indianapolis.

Over that time, every few months I have prepared another sermon about the story of All Souls, most of which was devoted to the church's experience during the time of its different ministers. It has been surprising to me how each era tells us something not only about the people involved at that time, but also about ourselves. It tells us not only how this congregation came to be what it is, but it tells us of the struggles of society itself.

Today I look at All Souls during the time of the minister prior to me, W. Edward Harris, who served from 1984 to 1992. It was an important and healthy time for All Souls. He is also Minister Emeritus, who continues to speak here from time to time.

In my previous sermon, I spoke of the years of Paul Beattie, whose tenure lasted during the 1970s and early 80s. Those were tumultuous years. The unstable fabric of society was mirrored by instability within the congregation, coming to a head in 1978, when disagreements among the membership culminated over 100 members beginning another Unitarian congregation across town.

It was a challenging time for everyone involved. Emotions were high and feelings were hurt. Paul Beattie resigned in 1982 and moved to the Unitarian Church in Pittsburgh. An interim minister, Fred Campbell, served All Souls while the congregation searched for a new permanent minister. Fred was a calming force here, and worked to understand the raw feelings that needed to be nursed. He stayed for two years, and those interim years proved to be helpful in allowing the church to develop its strength and face its future.

Eventually, the church's Search Committee heard about Ed Harris, who had been minister in Urbana, Illinois for the previous twelve years, and had developed a national reputation in Unitarian Universalist circles as an exciting speaker, a leading humanist voice, and a respected parish minister. Ed wasn't looking to move at that time, but the persuasive Search Committee (and believe me, I know how persuasive such a Committee can be at All Souls) convinced him.

Ed Harris, it turned out, was the right person in the right place at the right time. He may not have designed it this way, but Ed's ministry can be seen as having been a ministry of healing. All Souls was in need of his approach.

Interestingly it turns out that when Ed went to the Urbana Unitarian Universalist Church in 1970, that church had also been going through internal divisions. He was unexpectedly called upon to for a ministry of healing there. Ten years later, when the history of the Urbana Church was written, it contained this statement:

"It was the good fortune of the (Urbana) Church that a man like Harris could come (in 1970). Within a few months deep divisions began to heal and the Church began to come back together under his leadership. Disagreements persisted but now they are carried on with less intensity and more tolerance and good humor.

This was precisely what All Souls needed at the time. Ed's calming presence, broad respect for diverse opinions, and infectious sense of good humor brought a healing balm to this congregation.

Ed was ordained into the Unitarian ministry twenty-six years before coming to All Souls. He was ordained in 1968 at the historic Arlington Street Church in Boston, and the sermon was delivered then by Jack Mendelsohn, who, coincidentally, had served here at All Souls in the 1950s. The title of Mendelsohn's ordination sermon for Ed was "The Cure of Souls." Today, Ed claims with some humility that he doesn't understand what Jack Mendelsohn meant by that title, but we could expect to find hundreds of former parishioners of his who are able to explain it to him.

If you listened to him and heard only his accent and his down-to-earth style of speaking, you might think you were listening to a Baptist preacher on the saw-dust trail. You would be wrong, but not entirely wrong.

It is true that at age 15, Ed Harris was a traveling Baptist preacher in Alabama, and that in fact, by his own telling, Ed was effective enough as a preacher to save his own father's soul. It is also true that today he speaks in language of everyday discourse and can readily translate complex or sophisticated ideas into easily understood folk wisdom.

Ed Harris' Southern roots reach deep. He was born Walter Edward Harris in Tampa, Florida in 1935, but while very young moved to Birmingham, Alabama, where he was raised through young adulthood. Spiritually, Birmingham has always remained his home.

He graduated from Birmingham-Southern College in 1957, did graduate work in history at Tulane University in New Orleans for three years, and from 1962 to 1963 served in Washington, D.C. as an assistant to the U.S. Congressman from Birmingham, George Huddleston, Jr. He recalls attendeding the inauguration of John F. Kennedy who advised, "Ask what you can do for your country." Harris wrote this about the following years.

"In 1963, I quit my job (with) our Congressman, and came home to Birmingham to begin two years of what turned out to be full time civil rights work. It was what I was going to do for my country. I became a dissident, non-cooperative with the system, inviting black people into my home, attending integrated meetings, participating in demonstrations, writing letters to the papers, organizing demonstrations, starting a chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, protesting in every way the hate-system that was segregation. I was determined that the system would never again control my behavior. This was a rich period in my life. Its high point was about to come when I was beaten in a demonstration at the State Fair. In that moment, I had a vision of the unity of humankind that went beyond all religious and humanistic ideas, becoming something different, but palpable and real."

Several sermons could be written about his years in Birmingham, and many books (including his) have been written about the drama of life in that city during the fiery peak of the Civil Rights struggle. Ed Harris found himself in the middle of that struggle, and while we worked for the newspaper as a reporter and copy editor, his personal life became devoted to dismantling the hated practice of segregation.

Ed was a leader in the interracial movement to establish civil rights for African Americans. That is an easy thing to say, but behind those words are the reality of violence and murder and terrorism and torture and hatred. Identified in the public eye as a leader for civil rights, Ed found death threats to be a common occurrence. I could spend the rest of my time this morning, and several mornings to come, detailing those experiences. Fortunately, Ed already did so in a personal memoir of those years which is entitled, "Miracle in Birmingham" and is available in our bookstore.

During the struggle, Ed discovered the local Unitarian Church in Birmingham, and found many of the civil rights leaders connected to it. While in college, in 1956, he had married Sandra Gutridge, a fellow college student. By now, Ed and Sandra were raising three children, and the Unitarian Church was an important part of their lives.

The struggle was dangerous. Ed had been kicked and beaten and jailed for his convictions. But the last straw came when he received a death threat to his family, and when he took his children to another state to be with their grandmother, the threatening calls followed him there. Ed had to make a choice about putting his family in mortal danger. After all, children had already been the target of bombings by the Klan.

With tongue in cheek, Ed referred to those threatening telephone calls as his so-called "call to the ministry." He had discussed this idea previously with his own Unitarian minister, and he knew now was the time to act.

In 1965, the Harris family packed up and moved to the Boston area, where Ed enrolled at Crane Theological Seminary, located at Tufts University. A new life opened up for him. He first served a small church in Norwell, Massachusetts, and then became Assistant Minister to Jack Mendelsohn at Boston's Arlington Street Church. Not much later, he went from Assistant to Associate Minister there, and finally, in 1970, was called to Urbana, Illinois.

I commented on the Urbana Church at the beginning of this sermon, but it should be said that he left that tenure with deep respect and a healthy congregation. In 1980, while at Urbana, he spent a sabbatical term as a Merrill Fellow scholar at Harvard Divinity School.

It was during his twelfth year there that Ed Harris was approached by All Souls with an offer to become the new minister here. Ed and his wife Sandra moved here in 1984 when Edbegan his ministry in September.

I would like to say a word about Sandra Harris. Sandra is respected by so many here at All Souls for her strength of character and warmth of heart. While trained as a librarian, she has shaped her own unique career as a professional storyteller. I've given a commercial for Ed's book, so I'll give one for Sandra too. I encourage you to come to the Alliance meeting here on June 3 to hear Sandra doing storytelling, or to watch for her presentations at other places around the city. You won't be disappointed!

As my opening of this sermon suggested, Ed was the right person at the right time for All Souls. He brought with him that calming presence and sense of humor that could ease anxiety among the membership. He brought a "can-do" attitude that offered confidence.

Ed's preaching is straightforward, though there is also a depth of study to it. A review of his sermons over the years at All Souls show quite a diversity of topics, ranging from history and philosophy to literature and social justice. But for most people, his sermons are remembered for their common sense, everyday insights into life - about living with integrity and meaning. His preaching is very "person-centered," exploring issues of personal growth and how to cope with life.

He is well known for his "lists - lists of insights and wisdom. For those of you who don't quite know what I mean, I'll cite three as partial examples of his lists.

Here are three of what he lists as "Ten Unchangeable Fundamental Principles That Aid a Good Human Life:"

• It is worthwhile and good to have knowledge of the world and one's society. We need education.
• Civil peace and social justice are factors indispensable for an individual's pursuit of happiness.
• A person should have as much freedom as they can justly use, without harming others or the community.

A second example. He listed "Eleven Mistakes People Make." Here are three of them:

Failure to set goals

• Seeing everything as "either/or"
• Thinking that things will stay the same

One final example of his lists. One list identifies "Eighteen Ways to Make Yourself Miserable" Here are four of those eighteen:

• Blame others. It's bound to be true that someone else did it.
• Don't take advice from anyone. They probably are not doing so hot either.
• Spread gossip.
• Feel sorry for yourself. Go on. You are entitled to a bit of self-pity.

While at All Souls, Ed found himself involved in a number of community activities. He served on the Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee and was President of the Church Federation of Indianapolis. He was involved with the :Frontiers of Knowledge" program that brought prominent speakers to this church.

Ed Harris' tenure was, as I say, a period of healing. But it was also a time of transition for All Souls. For example, for a long time, All Souls had depended on a professional fund-raiser for its canvass every other year, but during the Harris years that task was taken over by church members.

All Souls had a reputation as having strong lay leadership and a lot of committees. Other churches have committees, of course, but All Souls was widely known as the church where committees actually work! Ed found this to be true, but it was also true that the leadership was contained primarily in the hands of long-term members who had already given much of themselves to the church and they were ready for transition of leadership to happen.

With regard to transition, some mention should also be made of religious education during this period. Mary Branson had been the R.E. Director working with Paul Beattie, and in fact when Beattie resigned, much responsibility fell on Mary to keep the church functioning during his last year and the interim years. Fortunately, Mary stayed on to help Ed become oriented to All Souls.

The R.E. Department also had been affected by the church split in 1978. Some of those who left represented younger families with children. Ed came to All Souls with a skilled and dedicated R.E. director, but an R.E. program that had been adversely affected by the culture of the 70s. When Mary finally resigned, the church relied on a series of dedicated part-time volunteers, and some paid staff for three or four years.

Ed remarked to me that one of the important positive transitions of All Souls during his years was the re-invigoration of the R.E. Department with the hiring of our current D.R.E. Nancy. . New families started coming and new programs, such as Earth Day, attracted them. This not only provided new energy in the R.E. wing, but new church leadership - on the Board and the Council and throughout the church - was being nurtured by these new members.

In 1991, All Souls as a church, and Ed Harris as its minister, became unexpected participants in a tragedy. Sue Ann Lawrance, a 42 year old member of our longtime church family, was hospitalized and ended up in what is called a "persistent vegetative state." Her personhood was dead, but her body was artificially kept alive by feeding tubes. After a long time in this condition, her parents petitioned the courts to free her from this prison by removing the tubes. Before this could be done, the courts received petitions from outsiders who for their own ideological reasons wanted the tubes reinstated so as to extend artificial life. The case became national news, and Ed Harris and this church found themselves rallying to the support of her parents, Bill and Bonnie. The ideological fight was waging over what was a very personally agonizing situation, and the church wanted to deflect the invective that was published and broadcast in the news. Bill, Bonnie, and the family were going through enough - and the church and Ed wanted to support them in every way possible.

At its Annual Meeting, the congregation voted to send a message to Bill and Bonnie, saying, "We want you to know that your church family stand, with you in loving support and deep admiration for your courage in making your decision for Sue."

Ed speaks of this time with profound respect for the family, and deep pride in All Souls. His own leadership in this event cannot be overlooked. There was enough courage and strength of character to be widely shared during that time.

During these years another challenge appeared in January of 1989 when the boiler broke. Unless you were involved at the time, it may not sound like a big deal, but this was the middle of winter that meant no heat. More importantly, repair or replacement costs were in the neighborhood of $150,000, which was roughly equivalent 'o the church=s annual budget - and it had been a struggle to raise that much for the budget.

Ed Harris rallied the congregation with humor and confidence. To replace the boiler and heating pipes, a "Pay the Piper" campaign was created, and plans were made to collect donations over time. Some wondered if Sunday services had to be canceled, but Ed insisted they continue whether or not people had to bring heaters or bundle up in sleeping bags and blankets in the pews or social hall.

In the end, the "Pay the Piper" campaign was enormously success, and in spite of it the next annual pledge campaign was the most successful ever. The church came through, showed its mettle, and Ed Harris will forever be associated, I think, with the phrase, "paying the piper.

Other efforts toward "lightening" the spirit around the church included the instigation of a "Hat Sunday," where people were encouraged to wear hats - some of which were quite unusual - as well as a "stone soup" Sunday, when people would bring ingredients for a communal soup that would simmer during the service and be ready to be consumed afterwords.

For many reasons, Ed Harris was the right person at the right time for All Souls. I don't want to close without commenting on how deeply he is respected by his colleagues in the ministry. One of the most important evidences of that respect is reflected by his election, in 1980, as President of the UU Ministers' Association.

I close with an Essay/Meditation he wrote quite a number of years ago expressing his reflections on meaning of ministry.

Go, my people, to the lonely

and the unsatisfied.

Go also to the nerve-wracked,

the enslaved by convention.

Carry to them our contempt

for their oppressors,

Go as a great wave of cool water.

Bear our contempt of oppressors.

Speak against unconscious oppression.

Speak against the tyranny

of the unimaginative.

Speak against the bonds.

Go to those who are dying of boredom,

Go to those who are dying of neglect,

Go to those who are alienated,

Go to those who are vaguely dissatisfied,

Go to those who are hideously wedded,

Go to those whose failure is concealed,

Go to the unlucky mated,

Go to those who are the misfits,

Go to those who are unsure of their goals,

Render aid to all those who

struggle to be free,

Who work to relieve pain and suffering.

Go like a blight upon the

dullness of this world.

Go with your edge against ignorance.

At all times, strengthen the

subtle cords of communion,

Bring confidence to all

who will hear you.

Sing as you go.

Go in a friendly manner.

Go with an open speech.

Be eager to find new evils

and new goods,

Be against all forms of oppression.

Go to those who are

thickened with middle age,

To those who have lost interest.

Go to the young strugglers with identity,

To those thrashing about for

purpose and meaning.

Go to the aged.

Go out and defy opinion.

Be against this vegetable

bondage of the blood.

Speak against, be against,

all the manifold forms of death.

I offer this essay by Ed Harris as a meditation this morning. It is dedicated to all who minister: not only those who hold tenuous credentials, and not only those who I have highlighted in my sermon series on the one hundred years of All Souls, but most of all to the hundreds, even thousands of members of All Souls over the last century, who have taken time to care about others, to engage with others' struggles, and to embody in their lives the meaning of our covenant which we repeat every week.