What Happens Inside a Unitarian Universalist Church
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ส.ค. 2022
- I visited a Unitarian Universalist Church as a Christian. What I experienced amazed me and intrigued me. Discover more about what I saw and heard here! Subscribe if you enjoy what you see!
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A more compassionate, caring group you will never find. I like the UU's socially progressive views and emphasis on action, although I sometimes wish we focused a bit more on spirituality.
The summer is often the off season for a lot of UU churches. Generally, services are a bit more conventionally structured, with singing, readings, responsive readings, sermons. Although every church is different, some are more Christian themed, while others are not.
I suggest you go again during the public school year and attend a real service with prayers, hymns and a focused sermon. The session you attended was just a placeholder Sunday session for the summer months when attendance wanes. That is a beautiful church & I bet a Christmas / Solstice service could be really nice there. Universalists believe that all people are saved & redeemed at birth & and take their inspiration from all cultures, not just Judaeo-Christianity. Individually, everyone's path is different. Myself, I attend UU, Episcopal, Catholic & Praise Temple locally. (Y)
I would say that discussion of the rise of Christian nationalism is relevant to religion as much as it is about politics, and about a million other things too. Relating that as "political discussion" seems a little obtuse to me, especially as it doesn't seem to even be a soluble problem in the political sphere.
The U.U. Church is an interesting example of religious evolution. The Unitarian Church originated as a Christian group who believed in one God, as contrasted with the traditional Christian belief in the trinity. The Universalist Church believed that all are saved, contrasting with the traditional Christian belief that only those who are true believers in Christ are saved. My experience with modern day U.U. members is that the majority don't believe in God, and are definitely not Christian in belief. The Christian concept of salvation probably has no meaning to them.
The U.U. members I've met are mainly highly educated and sincere in wanting to improve the condition of the world. They emphasize being involved in civic organizations. Prayer and worship are not part of their world. I personally found most of their values good. My first experience in visiting a U.U. Church was in Salt Lake City where they served an alcoholic drink as part of refreshments, a first for any religion I've visited. I think they were trying to make a point that they were not Mormon!
I was a member for several years of a group in Fresno, CA called the Multi-Faith Exchange which was started by two U.U. women who were concerned about the ignorance and violence towards Muslims after 911. They contacted all the religions in Fresno asking for each to participate in this educational program in which one religion each month would host a meeting to educate others about their beliefs and practices. It was a wonderful experience to be part of such a diverse group learning about all these religions. There was no arguing or bickering, just honest questions.
One of the U.U. women confided in me that there was no spirituality in the U.U., so she joined with a Buddhist group for spirituality.
What you're doing by visiting different religions is great! It's something I've always done. My wife is from a Buddhist background in Malaysia which is very diverse in religion. We made a point of taking our children to visit Buddhist temples, Muslim Mosques, Christian churches and Hindu Temples. My wife and I both had become Baha'is before we met, so we already had an appreciation for the contributions of the various religions to the spiritual evolution of humanity.
As someone who grew up in the UU church (Mom was a Universalist, Dad was a Unitarian), here’s what I might say if a Christian asked me why I was not concerned about salvation: “The most and only important thing that I do right in all circumstances, even if it is independent of faith, and I try to do the ethically and morally right thing for everybody (from my planet to my partner). If there is an afterlife, God knows that I have truly done the right thing whether I believe in him or not.”
These interfaith connections and the typical practice of UU church school to organize field trips to other faith communities to observe their services and to learn about their beliefs are one of the things I value most about my UU faith.
The meetings are not services, usually there are only greeters before the services. I am glad to hear they asked you for your input.
Agreeing that all humans have inherent worth and are entitled to the same basic decent and respect - which is antithetical to the views of radical Christian Nationalism- is not an absence of diverse thought. We don't need to fight over whether gravity is real to welcome discourse about physics.
It's not hypocritical to say "we welcome diverse discussion" with a few basic agreements in place related to say, core values. The welcoming nature of UU is not unconditional: Someone showing up yelling racial slurs wouldn't be blindly welcomed, they'd be asked to leave. I heard a UU minister recently say that you're "entering a social covenant" when you enter a UU space.
yes Elizabeth many people don't consider it from the perspective of covenant, in the ancient scriptures it was a word which meant "agreement". Many people still think that UUs have no rules or doctrines, but you've shown here that it's definitely not the case. Even the 7 principles can be thought of as like a "Creed" similar to many churches.
It seems there are many similarities between UUs and quakers,and they seem to have similar histories too.
I love Unitarians but one thing I will say is it’s probably (by design) one of the least consistent faith groups. Every UU church is wildly different in how they go about things, what they focus on, and how much “spirituality” there is.
So it sounds like and from what the program says it appears that you went to a lay-led (layperson as opposed to the clergy) summer service which is quite common for summer services in the UU church. If you want to experience a more typical service including a sermon-like teaching, songs, and a more representative group of congregants, I would strongly recommend attending during the Fall, Winter, or Spring.
A very good time if you were willing to is around Easter especially if at a UU congregation that is holding a "water" or "flower" communion service. As Easter holds no special significance in our faith there is not a special observance at all churches, however given how many congregants are converts from a more traditional Christian denomination there are often held similar disproportionately attended festive gatherings. I might also recommend a service where the congregation's youth are recognized. There are typically "stepping stone" and "coming of age" ceremonies held in May for the younger children (think first holy communion age) and for teenagers (think bar mitzvah age) respectively. In these services you would witness a better representation of the core tenets of our faith and those principles we believe important to impart to our young people. Summer services due to their lay-led nature are unrepresentative of a traditional service and can be very hit or miss in regards to their adherence to core faith principles and to structure. (It was probably a bit shorter as well typically around 45 min instead of closer to an hour.)
A lot of more liberal, mainline protestant denominations have an older demographic in the pews. I’m usually one of the youngest people at the ELCA church I go to on Saturday’s. It’s not itself a bad thing, I just wish more people my age went to church often.
I've been a UU since 1974 and a Minnesotan since 1978, and here I have been increasingly impressed by the liberalism and general good will of ELCA Lutherans.
I've been a member of a UU church for over 30 years. It is the only church I have ever wanted to be a member of. Social justice is a big part of what UUs believe is important and we accept all people regardless of who they are or their background.
If it's anything like our UU congregation, we have meetings in the basement during the Summer because it's hot and older buildings don't often have awesome AC, so it's more comfortable meeting with smaller groups in a lower room.
It appears you attended a discussion, not a service at the UU Church. UU Churches also have actual religious services which are rarely at 8:30 but more frequently at about 11:00 AM on Sunday. I was a member of a UU Church for years, we had a Sunday service with prayers, hymns, and a sermon. Each Church in the UUA is free to design its own service. King's Chapel in Boston, one of the first churches in America (1754) has a service which is very much like what one finds in the Episcopal Church. Our Church had a good balance of ages, and an active children's program where my wife served for a time as a teacher of youngsters. I never heard a critical word about Christianity or the Bible in my years of regular attendance. I think there are far more liberals in a UU Church than conservatives, but the Church does not deny fellowship based on politics. The following U.S. Presidents were Unitarians: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, Millard Fillmore, and William Howard Taft (conservative Republican). Abraham Lincoln never joined the Unitarian Church officially but regularly attended a Unitarian Church. John C Calhoun, a conservative Southern Senator (and opponent of Andrew Jackson), was one of the founders of the Unitarian Church in Washington DC; Neville Chamberlain, Conservative British Prime Minister; Charles Dickens; Ralph Waldo Emerson; Buckminster Fuller; Oliver Wendell Holmes; Willard Kiplinger, publisher of Kiplinger's financial magazine; Isaac Newton; Paul Newman; Bob Packwood, Republican Senator from Oregon; Beatrix Potter; Paul Revere; Ross Winans, railroad pioneer and Roman Hruska, Republican Senator from Nebraska (called the MOST conservative member of Congress). UUs like America is diverse.
Since we have been non-creedal for such a long time, it is not surprising that we incorporate Buddhist practices, which do not involve belief in the supernatural.
Neither is it surprising that older UU churches have a traditional or "orthodox" look, since Unitarians and Universalists were originally different varieties of liberal Christian. The first church to call itself Unitarian in America was founded in Pennsylvania in the later 1700s by Joseph Priestley, who is best known as the discoverer of oxygen but considered himself primarily a Christian minister. He regarded Jesus as a religious teacher, not a divine being, a belief we find among Christian Unitarians today, especially in Transylvania. Unitarian ideas were also developing in the Northeastern US at that time, and the American Unitarian Association was founded in 1825. By the close of the 1800s, both Unitarians and Universalists were becoming more humanist than Christian. Members of the two groups often merged congregations, especially in frontier communities, and the two denominations became one in 1961.
My congregation of about 660 people has a good spread of ages and little ethnic or racial diversity. We have a healthy education program for kids. Yes, we are mostly politically liberal. Conservatives are welcome to join and enter the conversation, and they are so few that we make sure they have a voice.
Here is a link to one of the best overviews of UUism that I've found. It is by a Spanish scholar of American culture who became a UU. If you don't read Spanish, it's worth the trouble to feed the text into Google Translate: vcentenario.miguelservet.org/unitarismo.pdf. Or contact me on Facebook and I'll send you my translation.
Yes I find the history of the movement to be very fascinating. 😊. It seems that UUs have much in common with the quakers. Has there been a history of sharing and cooperation among the groups?
UU is the entire world coming together. I Love UU.
Excellent presentation. I now have a better understanding how people can be trained to be a certain way, specifically liberal, and under a facade of caring, elect people that are truly evil and do not care at all about our lives as Americans.
Like how having a Buddha and etc means they are open to other religions. To the point where they (un)knowingly fly pride and other flags, showing that they view these as religions as well.
I’ve been a guest speaker at the local UU numerous times. They want me back for more topics so when they have a subject they would like me to address I’ll prep a message again.
To be honest the Orthodox Church believes that ancient philosophers like Plato and Aristotle were saved.
My friend is a UU and I visited her church once. It was ok,nothing Christian about it but nothing that alarmed me either.
Peace to you, our rationnal inspector- objector of christian faith. Would you tell me, please, when will one of your videos be available again; more precisely that one where you appear holding...the moon at arm's length???............OUFFF !!! Few days ago, you remember ?? Thanks you anyway, for this proof that i did not even consider necessary !
Everyone agrees Heaven is a great place to go when you die, but few want to follow Jesus Christ. He is the narrow gate. If you deny Christ in this life, he will deny you before the father. When he returns, he is coming to judge the world.
The UUA has no clue what it's mission is. My local congregations are more Christian but barely. The others aren't even religious but great. Thank goodness I'm a Disciple of Jesus! Fair overview though
As a born and raised UU, I can safely say that you have never tried to understand us at all. The main concern of UUs is “what do i believe AND how do I the right thing?” Both are equally important. We do not use faith alone to justify actions.
Church visits can be done without much research.
When will you visit a Sunni or Shia mosque or any other sect of Islam?
I hope to do that as soon as possible. Since I work a full-time job, I visit places based on location and time. So, I don't know when, but I hope to that at some point.
Fantastic idea for a church, but terrible politics.
Hi 👋, please react to Ahmad deedat the difference between the Qur’an and the Bible.
A posed to? Really?
You’re an adult now. 😩
If a church dosen't support any creed, or one scripture is it a church, or an adult day-care?
Their creed is that there isn't one true creed. Every person is on their own spiritual journey to find their own personal truth, and rigid, judgemental, and often hypocritical dogma hampers that journey by telling them what they HAVE to believe.
The church is for people who can think for themselves.
Long as you liberal. They will take you
Here we go again, more commentry on whose got the best delusion.
So, did you light THEIR world? Did you bring them the Light of the World, Jesus Christ? Ecumenism between religions is straight from the pit of hell. I expected EXACTLY what they would discuss and do in there. If you expected anything else, you're naive. So did you share the Gospel with them? Is that not supposed to be the reason we go to places like this? But you speak to people about video-making and marketing and who-knows-what...
As I understand Christianity, I think you will be very very surprised what God is going to tell you when you are judged. There’s the Parable of the Good Samartian just for starters….
P.S. In the tradition of American secular humanisms, we UUs tend to know the Bible very well and often better than evangelicals because we don’t get brainwashed by the so-called “literal” interpretation of the Bible (which is impossible if you think about it).
Going into someone else’s religious community & proselytizing is very inappropriate. You wouldn’t want me coming into your church & trying to get you to convert to Judaism!
What a pitiful attitude you have towards people's differences in beliefs
Please open your Bible to Luke 18:9-14. Then please turn to Matthew 22 verse 34 to 40.