Uu q&a

[thalassa]

So...the hubby and I are officially UU now. As in, tithing, full members of a of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of the Peninsula. After attending fairly regularly for the past two years (at several different locations) and finally settling in at this one, going to their new member classes, etc...

...so if you have any Q's and I don't know an answer to them, I can definitely find one!

[B. de Corbin]

Re: Uu q&a

So...

What is a Unitarian Universalist?

[thalassa]

Re: Uu q&a

Well...a Unitarian Universalist is someone that follows the theologically diverse religion of Unitarian Universalism, which is a non-creedal religion (basically there are no theological tests of belief) that is guided instead by 7 principles.

The 7 principles are:
*The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
*Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
*Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
*A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
*The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
*The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
*Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

The UUA (Unitarian Universalist Association) is congregationalist (which means that individual congregations are independent and can determine their own ways in which to interpret and act upon the 7 principles) and formed with the merger of the Unitarian and Universalist chrurches in about 50 years ago. Both Unitarianism and Universalism are Christian doctrines, the first which rejects the Trinity and (usually) the divinity of Jesus as Christ and the second which believes in universal salvation, regardless of belief. Among UU congregations there are atheists, humanists, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Pagans and more...I forget the actual percentages, but in the last survey, I think of UU's are identify as Pagan and/or Earth based Spirituality.

[sadodosah]

Re: Uu q&a

What is the concept behind the tithe?

Background: My idea of a tithe is a spiritual fee paid to a teacher for his guidance.

So I am wondering if the tithe goes to your organisation as a whole or to your specific group's leader.

Which further leads me to wonder, what function does UU have in your path?

[B. de Corbin]

Re: Uu q&a

Well, that's the first time I've ever read a set of principles coming out of a religion where I can applaud every single one of them. It sounds like a very good way to go.

When you get together with the group, what is it that you do? Is there a service of some kind? Speakers on different subjects? Would it be different in different groups, or do all the groups do similar things?

I'm curious as to what a (possibly) very diverse group would focus on.

[thalassa]

Re: Uu q&a

What is the concept behind the tithe?

Background: My idea of a tithe is a spiritual fee paid to a teacher for his guidance.

So I am wondering if the tithe goes to your organisation as a whole or to your specific group's leader.

So, the tithing is not a set amount or fee, but rather a pledge that you/your family think you can afford and feel committed to give. You can still go and participate in services and most of their activities without being a membership, so really, membership and tithing is as much a sign of commitment as it is a practical thing. Also, as a member, if you come on hard times, and *Can't* give, you can "suspend" your tithe till you get back on your feet. The real difference between a member and a non-member is your ability to vote, and hold positions on decision-making boards...basically to make decisions on the direction of the church. In my experience, this is pretty standard of the purpose of tithing--I was raised in the UCC (United Church of Christ), which is also a congregationalist organization (the UCC and UUs are actually related in a way, both stemming from the same church movements, the only difference being that the UCC stayed Christian)...though I've heard of churches that abuse the tithing system.

In the practical sense, it goes to pay for the church building and grounds (which are nice, but modest and have a big yard) and utilities as well as salary for the church's staff, which includes the minister, the secretary and the RE (religious education) director (only the minister is full time staff though). Half of each weekly collection also goes to one of the charities that we support as well (we also send in-person volunteers when necessary), including a food bank and soup kitchen, a local conservation group, a local organization that offers free HIV tests and counseling (and uses our facilities as one of their mobile bases), etc. The church also uses that money to pay into an organizational fund that is paid into by all UU churches in the region, and are granted to individual congregations for repairs or projects they couldn't otherwise afford (for example, we received funding from them to make the office building handicapped accessible and to do some other major repairs/remodeling), to support a ministerial scholarship fund, etc.

Which further leads me to wonder, what function does UU have in your path?

Well, there are a couple of different things...
1) RE. We have kids...its all well and good to teach them our individual beliefs, but (IMO) kids should be religiously literate. UU RE classes are a great environment for this. They teach about religion and spirituality without dogma, and they emphasize the 7 principles as a way to value each other and our surroundings, which I think are a fairly solid grounding for personal moral development and decision making. We are also trying to get a Spiral Scouts troop up and running.
2) Fellowship. I keep calling it a "church", but (while there are UU churches), we are actually called a "fellowship" (its even in its official name)--the UU Fellowship of the Peninsula. But basically, a bunch of people on the same quest can be a nice thing to fall back on. Humans are inherently social creatures, having a space where you can be social in person without judgement, is a nice thing. Yes, there are Pagans around here, but its been my experience over the past 18 years, that some Pagan groups aren't all that stable of an entity, some are not family friendly, etc. The ideas that come from different individuals with different paths, when we share them and our time, is phenomenal.
3) Organization. Being honest about the limitations of Pagans--we tend to suck at long term support and participation of local communities (and there are lots of reasons for this, its not meant to be derogatory--being unorganized has benefits in terms of openess, inclusiveness, freedom and creativity...but it has drawbacks). As part of an organization, there are goals, projects, etc that can be achieved as a group that can't be done as efficiently or as well I could as an individual.
4) Spiritual and Intellectual Growth by encountering different ideas and perspectives. I may not agree with everything, but I never walk away without having learned something. For example, I participate in what the UU community calls "small group fellowship" or "fellowship circles"--small groups 7-8 people meeting together to discuss without judgement (using something called "deep listening") whatever the heck the topic is for the night...in my group, there is an aerospace engineer, a retired professor of German, a HR person that's worked in Antartica half a dozen times (its a seasonal job) and traveled the world the rest of the year, etc...and each and every one of them has a different religious philosophy and theological opinion and a different experience of the world and deity. There are also adult RE classes, for religious discussion among grown ups.
5) Pagan-centered and Pagan-friendly ritual and discussion. Our UU has a Pagan group (we also have a Humanist group and at one time, there was a Christian one, but it suffered from lack of interested parties)...actually, there are a few groups that fit into the Pagan framework, though not all of them are exclusively Pagan. There is a Pagan groups that organizes and celebrates rituals for the Sabbats, there is also 'Goddess Circle' which explores different goddesses and different aspects of women's spirituality, there is a drum circle, and there is a bellydance group/class.

[thalassa]

Re: Uu q&a

When you get together with the group, what is it that you do? Is there a service of some kind? Speakers on different subjects? Would it be different in different groups, or do all the groups do similar things?

I'm curious as to what a (possibly) very diverse group would focus on.

This is actually a bit from one of Andrew's sermons, which discussed everything from Dunbar's number to Psalm 133 (which it paraphrases):

Ours is an experiential faith. An essential component of creating dynamic
community that celebrates life and searches for truths is developing and deepening
fellowship. Listening with compassion and without judgment, offering a safe space
where people can truly share what is in their hearts, this is the greatest gift that we can
give one another. This fellowship of those who meet together is indeed lovely, but our
world is calling to us that it not be quite so rare.

In terms of traditional worship, we really don't do that...the best way I've heard it put is that ""worship" in the UU context is not a verb but an adverb that describes how a group of people come together intentionally to communally connect with the sacred dimension of life." Many UU services are fairly intellectual, but others are very experiential. Format and topics vary because UU's are congregational and each group is different. Some UU congregations are more Christian leaning, others more secular. Ours is pretty eclectic, as a reflection of our congregational make up--Pagan, Christian, atheist, humanist, Jewish and Buddhist.

In my experience though, many of them are set up in the same format as a mainline Protestant church (we have been discussing making some changes to that in our congregation). There are some noticeable differences--we have moments for "prayer, meditation or silent reflection" rather than a group led prayer (and we generally end our end of service moment of reflection with "Blessed be"); our services don't often contain Bible readings--we are just as likely (if not more) to have a reading from Emerson, Thomas Jefferson, Susan B Anthony, the Koran, Thoreau, Shakespeare, Steven Jay Gould, etc; and "sermons" don't make definitive statements about god. We do (at least half the time) have a "sermon" though sometimes we just have a big fat celebration (Yule and Midsummer) with a little reflection, occasionally we might have a more non-traditional service (our Memorial Day service for example, was almost entirely congregationally led), or a guest speaker or musician.

We make no bones about the fact that we expect everyone to undertake the spiritual work of figuring out what they believe for themselves while together we figure out how to live in community with one another and the world around us.

"Meat" by Terry Bisson, and a discussion of what humanity looks like from the outside...I've been to completely beautiful and fulfilling rituals for holidays, etc.




*Spirit of Life (by Carolyn McDade) is sort of the UU hymn...every congregation I've been to sings it regularly--we sing it every week. The lyrics are as follows:

Spirit of Life, come unto me.
Sing in my heart all the stirrings of compassion.
Blow in the wind, rise in the sea;
Move in the hand, giving life the shape of justice.
Roots hold me close; wings set me free;
Spirit of Life, come to me, come to me.

This is a version sang by All Souls Choir in DC (not sure who did the slide show)...we don't generally sing it that slowly, lol:

[Monk]

Re: Uu q&a

hummmm, Sounds interesting. I think there is a church(?) like this not far from my home. Maybe I'll look into it and see what they have going on in regrades to the information you have provided.


That made me jump. We must have hit the button at the same time. Kind of looked like the page had blown up.

[B. de Corbin]

Re: Uu q&a

Thanks- that sounds very interesting.

I'm also going to look into it. I'm not good at joining things, but my wife feels a need to belong to some sort of organization. This is actually something that might be fun to do along with her.

Shoot - I just checked the phone book. There doesn't seem to be a group around here - two pages of every imaginable Christian variant, but nothing else. I'll try asking around... That's the trouble with living out in the boonies, I guess.

[thalassa]

Re: Uu q&a

If you are interested in finding your local UU's, here's their handy-dandy congregation finder...Corbin, you are in the UP right? If so, it looks like there are only 3 in that region...

[B. de Corbin]

Re: Uu q&a

If you are interested in finding your local UU's, here's their handy-dandy congregation finder...Corbin, you are in the UP right? If so, it looks like there are only 3 in that region...

Nope - the UP is civilized compared to where I live...

If you check the map for Michigan in the link, I'm in that big area in the north eastern corner of the lower P with no flags anywhere - Alpena, where I work, is in the center right of the empty space. The closest location is in Grand Traverse on the other side of the state, about 2 hours dive away, or Midland, about the same distance south.

I really am in the middle of nowhere .

Still, I'm interesting enough that I should still check it out. I'm going to peruse their website a bit more.

[spartacandream]

Re: Uu q&a

I live around the corner from the UU church I attend. I originally went to the one closer towards where I used to live last year.

[Medusa]

Re: Uu q&a

When you go to church do they read out of the bible?
If so, which one?
If so and so, how do they handle the discrepancies from what they believe (as in everyone is good etc etc and the fact homosexuals and the ilk burn in a fiery hell etc etc)
Could I, as a Satanist, be welcomed and have my views worked into the church as well?

I'm all sorts of interested in this. I've had quite a few friends who said they were members. But I couldn't get quite a clear pic of what they were a member of.

[sadodosah]

Re: Uu q&a

Thank you very much for answering my questions as well as others. It has been an interesting insight into a possible method social outreach without needing to conform to be accepted.

It does seem to be more focused on bringing a community together in harmony than being an over-arching religion which I think would really benefit a lot of people. And the principles are general enough to be championed by most.

Thanks again for sharing. I find it very fascinating and wish I had something like that here.

[thalassa]

Re: Uu q&a

When you go to church do they read out of the bible?
If so, which one?

Sometimes...as blog of one UU minister, says:

Almost all UU's are Bible Interpreters. (There are a few UU's who insist on taking the Bible literally and rejecting it.) While we don't have a creed, we do have practices. In a few of our churches, the practice is to focus on the Bible. In some the practice is to include the Bible. In some, especially lay-led congregations, the practice is to ignore or reject the Bible.

...as for *which* Bible, there's no official Bible, simply because there is no "cannon" as there are in Christian churches. I would suspect that which ever Bible someone has handy, or which ever one they grew up with (if they liked it) or which ever translation/interpretation they prefer is they one they choose to read out of. I can ask Andrew how he decided which Bible to use if I get the chance.

The Bible is just of many sources of information and inspiration for UU's, including:

*Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an 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;
*Spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.
*These principles and sources of faith are the backbone of our religious community.

source

If so and so, how do they handle the discrepancies from what they believe (as in everyone is good etc etc and the fact homosexuals and the ilk burn in a fiery hell etc etc)

Ah...well, the Bible isn't officially considered the inerrant word of an infallible One True God. The UUA "does not hold as a dogma that the Bible is or is not anything" (not sure where I found this quote). From my experience interacting with people, I would suspect that an overwhelming majority of congregants would definitely agree with that, even if they would identify their belief as Christian...how individuals see the Bible and its relevancy is pretty varied. I generally get a kick out of this blog, by a sociologist and UU reading and blogging the Bible (especially her post about how Jacob=Flynn Rider from Disney's Rapunzel. I mean, everyone that reads the Bible interprets the Bible--some people are deluding themselves into thinking otherwise, and some people are honest about it.

Freedom from doctrinal creeds makes a big difference in how a person interprets a religious text. Often when a conservative church leader explains scriptures from a pulpit, listeners are led to believe that they are being given the “plain meaning” of the text. What they are actually hearing is an interpretation—usually one that has been handed down from a church council at some point in history, when an “authoritative” interpretation was defined, and dissenting interpretations were banned as heretical.

Unitarian Universalists tend to view scriptural interpretation, and which religious texts should be considered “authoritative,” as essentially political questions. Answers to these questions come from human beings who are not necessarily more divinely inspired than anyone else. In the end, each person depends on his or her own judgment to arrive at meaningful insights.
source

The following quotes are from an article in the UU World called "Why bother with the bible? Interpret, or others will do it for you..." (the article is pretty interesting of a read).

For the Bible, God and history are intertwined. Human history in all cultures is full of oppression, violence, and cruelty. So it is not surprising that the Bible should have mixed images of God’s role in history.
...
But we are dealing with a story that is thousands of years old. If God is just a character in the story, then perhaps we should at least notice this about God in the Bible: God gets better. Seemingly arbitrary, unforgiving, judgmental, and even cruel at first, God grows up and mellows. Perhaps as we read, so should we.
...
you don’t need to believe in the God of the Bible to understand its stories. You don’t even need to believe that the Bible is consistent in its image of God; it isn’t. Neither are we. At times, the Bible’s images of God seem tragic, oppressive, punitive, cruel, or destructive. So are we. We violate our covenants with one another and with God, who both judges our failings and constantly offers what the Hebrew Bible calls hesed—steadfast, enduring love. Even if the Bible remains for us only great literature, and not sacred scripture, we should try to approach it on its own terms

(and since the natural follow up question is probably "then why bother reading it?" I'll toss in another quote from the article too...

So why should skeptics, seekers, religious liberals, and political progressives bother with the Bible?

The first motivation could be called political: If you can’t or won’t understand the Bible, others surely will interpret it for you. The second could be called cultural or literary: Within this culture you can’t be fully literate or creative, artistically or rhetorically, without an acquaintance with the Bible. But now we come to the third and most personal reason: You also can’t be spiritually mature or wise by simply rejecting the Bible as oppressive. The oppressive uses of the Bible are real, but unless you learn to understand that there are other readings possible, the Bible will continue to be a source of oppression for you, and not a source of inspiration, liberation, creation, and even exultation as you understand it anew for yourself, at a deeper and less literal level.

An interesting sermon from another UU minister explores your question, pretty much from top to bottom...and does a better job than I am I think (I've been a bit kid distracted, so hopefully this all makes sense).

Could I, as a Satanist, be welcomed and have my views worked into the church as well?

Theoretically, yes. Around 18% of UUs consider themselves atheist, and another 33% are agnostic (though it depends on the survey and how the question was asked). So as atheist, your theological stance wouldn't be out of place. Of course...as we all know, there can be some sticker shock for many people when confronted with the label of Satanist.

Our services open with the same words every week: “All those of good will are welcome to join with us in our individual and collective search for truth and meaning, in a community where we commit ourselves daily to honoring the inherent worth and dignity of each person.” As far as most members of the congregation seem to be concerned, that's all that matters. I would imagine in practice and on an individual basis, it would depend on how educated individuals were on the matter, and how much and how often you want to explain what you mean by "Satanist"... In regular services though, there generally aren't "hey, what is your theological opinion and what do you call your religious philosophy" questions. If I wanted to, I could keep my Paganism and my UUism pretty much separate. UU congregations generally explore individual spirituality in smaller group settings.

I'm all sorts of interested in this. I've had quite a few friends who said they were members. But I couldn't get quite a clear pic of what they were a member of.

This is a pretty good "official" overview...but the simple fact is that you would have to find your local UU congregations and check them out--as a congregationalist organization, the specific focus of each fellowship/congregation/church depends on the members of that fellowship/congregation/church. It probably seems odd to someone that is more accustomed to a more orthodox and overarching religious organization (like Catholicism or LDS), for me...I grew up in a congregationalist tradition, albeit a Christian one...so I see a lot of parallels with Paganism in terms of the individuality of worship and interpretation versus strict obedience to dogma.