welcome to unity

One of the things that I love about this neighborhood is that there is a Unitarian church only three blocks from my house! Unity Church-Unitarian is a large congregation of about 1,000 adults and 450 children and youth, with a church history dating back over 130 years. The ministers there are a husband and wife team, Janne and Rob Eller-Isaacs.

Despite being so close by, it wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that I finally went to a service. Every weekend I thought about it, but was apprehensive about going by myself. So finally, on Easter Sunday, I decided to suck it up and go. And I'm glad that I did. There are three services on Sunday, 9AM, 11AM and 4:30PM. I went to the 4:30 service, which was very intimate because I guess most of the congregation had gone in the morning. It was much like the Unitarian services that I have gone to in the past. The interior of the sanctuary is very minimalist -- obviously no crosses or idols or anything. It was quite a lovely service, with the Director of Religious Education telling a story that created a resurrection metaphor from the story of the butterfly. She had a toy butterfly, caterpillar and chrysalis that oozed goopy gooey stuff. It was great.

So this past weekend I decided to attend the first in a series of three classes that serve as a pathway to membership into the church. The first class was just a brief survey on UUism, about an hour and a half long. There were about 17 of us in attendance, and it was a great primer on the religion. The leader of the class, Justin, the Director of Congregational Development, did a great job breaking the religion down so that we could begin to explain to friends and family that age-old question of exactly what it is that Unitarians believe. So I'm going to share some of what was said, just so that you all can have some more information about the faith community that I have slowly been integrating myself into over the past couple years.

* The mission of Unity Church-Unitarian is to engage people in a free and inclusive religious community that encourages lives of integrity, service and joy.

* UUism is not a creedal religion, meaning we have no strict set of beliefs that we follow. Rather it is a convenantal, in that we make a promise and a sacred commitment to live out the church's mission.

* Rather than believing in original sin (that we are born into sin, that there is something fundamentally broken about us), we believe in original blessing, that we are called to love and connect to that which is greater than us (God, the Earth, Humankind, the great Mystery, whatever...)

* The Universalist part of the religion refers to the belief that no one is left behind, that all are saved.

* The concept of salvation in UUism has nothing to do with accepting Jesus or God, but rather with a lifelong process of moving towards wholeness, living with integrity, etc. Again, we believe that there is nothing fundamentally wrong with us or broken.

* There is no real belief in Heaven or Hell. We choose to focus on This World, with the idea that this life is a blessing and a miracle. We believe that we are called to create the Kingdom of Heaven right here on Earth, rather than focus on some abstract Heaven/Hell.

* The Unitarian part of UUism refers to the "unity" of God. The religion evolved out of Christianity, and in its beginnings it was based on a rejection of the "trinity" and a belief that Jesus was completely human and not equal to God. Today we view the "unity" concept more in terms of there being only one Truth or one God that is manifested in many ways and can be found through many different paths. (My favorite metaphor comes from Unitarian minister Forrest Church who describes it as "one light shining through many windows")

* We believe that many religious paths are valid, that our experience of the Divine happens through our own individual experiences and that we should accept and encourage one another's spiritual growth and search for truth and meaning.

* As a result of the previous point, some UUists adopt more Judeo-Christian leanings, others follow some Eastern philosophies, and others believe in pagan philosophies, strictly humanist philosophies, Islamic beliefs, etc. Some UUists are agnostic, others are atheistic, choosing to celebrate Life and Humanity as opposed to the Divine.

* Because we believe in the validity of many faith traditions, we find inspiration in a variety of holy texts as well as non-holy books. The Bible is not considered the "word of God", but rather one important story among many, many others.

* Many famous men and women followed Unitarianism or Universalism (the two churches merged in 1961), such as Thomas Jefferson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Julia Ward Howe, Susan B. Anthony (a Unitarian and Quaker), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Dorothea Dix, Adlai Stevenson, e.e. cummings, Clara Barton and Jane Addams.

* The Unitarian Church was the first mainstream church to approve same-sex marriage ceremonies, in 1984. However, UU ministers had been performing ceremonies since the 1960s. The UUists have always been among the first to step up in social reforms, being some of the first outspoken abolitionists, suffragists, etc.

* The symbol of the Unitarian Church is the flaming chalice. The symbol has its origins in a logo designed by an Austrian refugee for the Unitarian Service Committee during WWII. It became an underground symbol used throughout Europe to give assistance to Unitarians, Jews and others escaping Nazi persecution. It's symbolism varies for many -- some see it as a light in the darkness, others as a symbol of religious freedom. Most congregations have a chalice, which is lit at the beginning of each service, to create a scared space.

THE UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST ASSOCATION COVENANT TO AFFIRM AND PROMOTE:

- We affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person.
- Justice, equity and compassion in human relations
- Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth
- A free and responsible search for truth and meaning
- The right of conscience and the democratic process within congregations and in society at large.
- The goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all.
- Respect for the interdependent web of existence of which we are all a part.
- Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and openness to the forces, which create and uphold life.
- Words and deeds of prophetic women and men, which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion and the transforming power of love.
- Wisdom from the world's religions, which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life.
- Jewish and Christian teachings, which call us to respond to God's love by loving our neighbors as ourselves.
- Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit.
- Grateful for the religious pluralism which enriches and enobles our faith, we are inspired to deepen our understanding and expand our vision.

Anyway, that was a little primer for those of you who might have wondered what UUism is all about. I'm definitely not trying to evangelize or anything! I just thought it would be nice to share since there is often a lot of confusion in regards to exactly what UUism is.

Love to you all!

(Video "Voices of a Liberal Faith" from the Unitarian Universalist Association)