Responding to ‘Congregations and Beyond’

UU social media continues to buzz this week with reactions to UUA President Peter Morales’ vision statement, “Congregations and Beyond.” In addition to a face-to-face, UUA-sponsored consultation in Orlando, many individual Unitarian Universalists are participating in vigorous online discussion in a Facebook group dedicated to this topic, and conversation on Twitter is gathering around the hashtag #congbeyond. UU bloggers also continue to engage with Morales’ vision statement.

Liz James shares the perspectives of the members of her Digital Literacy Class at Meadville Lombard.

When the price of membership is conformity to a structure that is culturally foreign or negative, people might say “I’m a UU but not a church person”. Unfortunately, “not a church person” currently translates into “nearly completely shut out of the movement.” (Hummingbird Homemaker, February 1)

The Rev. Tom Schade asks, “What’s a religious movement?”

When some people hear that President Morales wants us to think of ourselves as “a religious movement,” they get anxious. It sounds like the UUA will become even more boundary-less and intentionally less organized. As I understand it, the UUA will never be a “religious movement”. (The Lively Tradition, January 30)

According to the Rev. Christine Robinson, Unitarian Universalists do have a common theology, one that helps us define who we are.

Life is good, and so are you. Reason and Intellectual Faculties are good. You can trust them to understand life. However it’s a Very Big Universe out there, and many important things can’t be known through reason and intellect. For this we have intuition, heart, spirituality, and other faculties which are useful but don’t lead everyone to the same conclusions. Truth on these Very Big matters is best found in conversations, actual, virtual, literary, and internal. It is to be expected that there will be differences. They enrich us. (iMinister, February 1)

Strange Attractor compares the experience of her local congregation and beyond, in the UU blogosphere.

Peter Morales’s recent article and all the responses to it remind me that I often feel like I walk in two separate, but over-lapping Unitarian-Universalist worlds: my church, and the UU blogosphere. . . . I believe strongly in the power of the internet and social media as connecting and community-building tools. If we want to use these tools for evangelism to unchurched UUs, we have to spend less time with self-flagellation. (Strange Attractor, February 2)

Kim Hampton’s view of “Congregations and Beyond” is that the emperor has no clothes.

Maybe it’s because I’m exploring my options with the Disciples of Christ. Maybe it’s because this reads as four pages of words signifying nothing. . . . The longer that I’ve sat with “Congregations and Beyond” the more I get stuck on a question that I don’t think this document even remotely tries to answer–how do you measure success? (East of Midnight, February 1)

UU World editor Chris Walton has created a Storify summary, tracking the conversation about “Congregations and Beyond,” and additional blogging can be found at UUpdates.com.

Celebrating Black History Month

The Rev. Amy Zucker Morgenstern celebrates Black History Month with the first in a series of posts.

The state office building has a “Jim Crow voting obstacle course” in its atrium for Black History Month. Each station explains one of the obstacles, and the choice it poses. You could skip the obstacle; for example, if you skip the “literacy test,” the good news is you’re spared humiliation. The bad news is you don’t get to vote. (Sermons in Stones, February 1)

Plaidshoes, blogging at Everyday Unitarian, lives in an integrated neighborhood in St. Louis.

Due to the housing collapse, a lot of the flight has stopped and people are starting to get used to each other. The misunderstandings and assumptions are fading. . . . To my kids, the world is not segregated. Skin color is just a color. Their best friends are African American and that is completely normal. (Everyday Unitarian, February 2)

The Rev. Dan Harper posts the text of his presentation on race and liberal religion.

[All] too often when I bring up the topic of race or racism, all the white people find something better to do; either that, or they act overly outraged, to the point where I can’t actually have a serious discussion with them about the nuances and fine distinctions and uncertain implications of trying to better define race and racism. (Yet Another Unitarian Universalist, January 30)

Around the blogosphere

UUA President Peter Morales visits with undocumented students in Tucson who cannot go to college, despite their excellent academic records.

What madness! What human waste! I find myself wanting to scream. I find myself feeling as powerless as they are feeling. But I know that I am not powerless, that we are not powerless. (Beyond Belief, January 27)

The Rev. Erik Walker Wikstrom reports that the congregation he serves tried transforming their business meeting into a worship service.

[While] there are some who are still skeptical—and no doubt some who are displeased—most of the feedback I’ve received so far is extremely positive. Some are even declaring it “a success” and saying that we should plan on doing our May meeting in this same way. (A Minister’s Musings, February 2)

Taz the Belgian Tervuren tells us what dogs know about hospitality.

I say that you should open the door and get a good whiff of the person on the other side. If they’re the rare person who smells like they are up to no good, you can close it up again. Otherwise, why not open your heart to the leaping, tail-wagging joy of meeting someone new? (Quest for Meaning, February 1)

‘Congregations and Beyond’

This past week Unitarian Universalist Association President Peter Morales published “Congregations and Beyond,” encouraging all Unitarian Universalists to “read, discuss, and share” his “vision of the opportunities and challenges that face Unitarian Universalism as an international movement.” Bloggers have been obliging.

The Rev. David Pyle is representative of many responses in wanting to go farther than Morales’s paper does.

Let us open up membership and identity as a Unitarian Universalist to any and all who can connect with us. Let us join with them not how we are used to, or how we are comfortable joining with others, but however the hundreds of thousands out there need us to join with them. Let us accept that they will transform who we are, as our radical faith calls us to accept such transforming power and grace. Let us find any way we can to bring people to the point where they can say, in their hearts and with their voices, “I am a Unitarian Universalist” . . . and to know what that means.

But let us do this for the right reason . . . not because of what we might expect to gain, but because of what we have to give to this wounded, broken, hurting world. What we have to give is our saving, transforming, and healing message. (Celestial Lands, January 20)

The Rev. Chip Roush points out that UUs are not unique.

I agree with much of Peter’s analysis – and I had virtually the same conversation, with a friend about her Lutheran church, two days ago. We UUs are not unique in facing this issue. Nor are we unique in trying to solve it through marketing. (So May We Be, January 21)

The Rev. Christine Robinson considers three circles of engagement in a congregation: “leaders,” “members,” and “the audience.”

The audience includes the people who come to services but don’t join or contribute, sometimes just on Christmas Eve, or when they are between relationships, or when their mother comes to town. They are the people who use the church parking lot as a staging ground for group hikes, who rely on the food pantry, whose children go to the child care center which only pays it’s direct expenses in rent, but not the cost of the capital investment in the physical plant. The audience includes the people who read the op-ed’s which the minister produces, whose organizations meet for free in the meeting rooms, and those who are considering membership and getting involved. (iMinister, January 21; see also January 23)

Patrick Murfin places Morales’s statement into the context of changes in governance within the UUA. (Heretic, Rebel, a Thing to Flout, January 24)

Bill Baar doesn’t think it’s worth reaching out to people who identify as UUs but are not members.

You can’t build Churches (or a Movement) with folks who will not commit to do the hard work of building either.
(Pfarrer Streccius, January 25)

The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Landrum says Morales is “vague.”

But the question that he points to, well, that’s intriguing. Morales points out the there are, as we’ve known, bunches of people who identify as UU and who don’t attend UU churches. And there are bunches of people who were raised UU who don’t attend UU churches. Some of them are fairly well connected to UUism in other ways—he points to the fact that a significant number of people who attend SUUSI don’t attend any UU congregation. . . .

But what I think is new about “Congregations and Beyond” is that Peter Morales is not suggesting we find out why they’re not in churches, but, rather, find out what they are interested in doing that would connect them to our movement in other ways. Some people will never be church-goers, he’s saying, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t be part of the UU religious movement. (Rev. Cyn, January 24)

The Rev. Scott Wells thinks there’s too little in the report for him “to be hopeful—or upset.” (Boy in the Bands, January 24)

Christine L. Slocum does not experience her faith as membership in her congregation.

I agree with him 100%. I also share a lot of the reaction that various other UUs have – this is not exactly earth shattering. In fact, I am already active with many of the suggestions that Rev. Morales gives. Being somewhat uninterested and somewhat ignorant of UUA politics, I already thought of UUism as a religious movement. Imagine my surprised when, in the ensuing discussion, I discovered that I had the wrong idea the entire time. (Seattleite from Syracuse, January 24)

The Rev. Peter Boullata is “thankful that Rev. Morales envisions the continued central place for congregations and is imagining other experimental forms,” but is concerned about the difference between an institution, such as the UUA, and a religious movement.

The relationship between an organized religion and religious movement, it seems to me, is one of grassroots momentum and institutional response. How does a religious organization spawn a religious movement? . . . [W]here is the movement on the ground that the UUA will respond to? What are the theological and ecclesiastical distinctives among us today around which a movement is moving? (Held in the Light, January 25)

The Rev. Dr. Victoria Weinstein, on her ecumenical blog for clergy, Beauty Tips for Ministers, explores her personal grief at the changes in congregational life.

I do not want to be a “Churchitarian,” worshiping buildings and traditions that may not minister to seekers of today. But there is a difference between false worship, or idolatry, and love. The Church has earned my love, respect and loyalty. It has changed my life in all good ways. The discipline of Sunday morning worship has been a challenging spiritual practice that has hammered a lot of alienation and unkindness out of me. (Beauty Tips for Ministers, January 24)

Around the blogosphere

The Rev. Naomi King was waiting for her life “to really begin.”

Perhaps I would have waited longer, if I hadn’t tumbled to the fact that there’s no cure for what I have. I find mercy in that. I’m free to live as I am now, without waiting for something to perfect me first. (City of Refuge, January 20)

Vance Bass, the contemporary music director at First Unitarian Church in Albuquerque, N.Mex., regrets the name he chose for his blog, Liberal Religion Gets Loud:

When I named this blog, I made a mistake: “loud” is not the defining characteristic of contemporary worship or contemporary worship music. . . . We’re no louder than the Steinway, which is to say no louder than the choir. (Liberal Religion Gets Loud, January 20)

The Rev. Kit Ketcham give a peek into the minsterial credentialing experience. (Ms. Kitty’s Saloon and Road Show, January 20)

The Rev. Justin Schroeder explains (on day 21 of blogging about spiritual practices) what he means by “spiritual practice.”

Spiritual practices/disciplines are about growing the soul, about paying attention in such a way that the “soul” expands. Spiritual practices are about noticing the ways our inner lives, the world, and something larger than ourselves are woven together. (The Well, January 22)

Crystal St. Marie Lewis looks at religion through the analogy of learning to ride a bicycle.

I do not oppose the guiding hand of tradition. In fact, I fully acknowledge that tradition seems to work like a charm for some people. However, for others, organized religion works better as a springboard to becoming independently spiritual. I think it’s important to understand religion in these terms and affirm the validity of both experiences. Some people prefer the guidance that organized religion can offer, while others prefer to break free and ride more independently. (Crystal St. Marie Lewis, January 22)

Andy Coate draws attention to expressions meant to be inclusive that are actually gendered (and exclusionary), and offers some specific suggestions.

When an assembled body of people is referred to as “ladies and gentleman,” or “men and women” or anything along those lines there is a group of people you’re ignoring. When you sing “brothers and sisters” or “oh, fathers/mothers let’s go down,” or do a reading that calls on “men” to do one thing while “women” do another you are ignoring all of the “me’s” out there. You’re ignoring my existence. I don’t think it’s intentional but I do think it’s something that needs to change. (thoughts ON, January 22)

Linda Laskowski continues her series of posts on the recent meeting of the UUA Board of Trustees at UUA View from Berkeley.

Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr.

Crystal St. Marie Lewis asks, “Will you go to the mountaintop?”

On this, the observance of Dr. King’s 83rd birthday, I am reminded of the repeated call in scripture that we return to the mountaintop—if for no other reason than to hear the call of God, or weep tears of love for the societies we serve, or to demonstrate the love of God which overtakes us so relentlessly, or to dream of the future.  (Crystal St. Marie Lewis, January 16)

Kim Hampton wonders, “Next year, can we have an A. Philip Randolph and Fannie Lou Hamer Day instead?”

[When] we’re talking about something like civil rights, something that has such a long arc, why put all of the focus on that one man? Doesn’t that ignore the people and the work that made him possible? (East of Midnight, January 16)

Lizard Eater is learning about love from Martin Luther King, Jr., and from JT, an African-American classmate, who “lives in a world that sees him as the bogeyman.”

Over and over, through his sermons, through his speeches, [King] counseled love. He knew that to cede the power of love was to lose part of yourself. JT shows me how very hard this is. That to forgive others, others who have never even realized how wrong they were, is a herculean task. (The Journey, January 16)

The most hated girl in America

The Rev. Cynthia Landrum is stunned by the deluge of hatred directed toward Jessica Ahlquist, the teenage atheist who successfully fought to have a prayer banner removed from her high school.

The obvious irony is that the words of the prayer call on people to grow morally, to be kind, to conduct themselves in a way that brings credit to the school, and to be good sports and smile when we lose.

If only everyone who wants the prayer to hang could at least try to live up to it. (Rev Cyn, January 19)

Searching for common ground

After a confrontational social media encounter, Sarah MacLeod reaffirms her commitment to dialogue and the search common ground.

Why bother? . . . Because, like it or not, much of life is a mystery, as is all of the future.  None of us have the market cornered on the best way of living in this remarkably complicated world.  Really. And no amount of vitriol and rhetoric actually changes anyone’s mind. (Finding My Ground, January 13 and 17)

Amy Peterson Derrick is giving up one of her favorite pastimes—yelling at her television and radio.

Perhaps my energy would be better spent writing letters and having an actual conversation with somebody. So, with our cable service cancelled and the local talk radio channel erased from my presets, I have decided that it is time to have real conversations with people while engaging in a new spiritual practice: listening. Really listening. (UU@Home, January 14)

Worship experiments and evolution

The Rev. Christine Robinson, who serves the UU congregation in Albuquerque, reports on the staff’s visits to contemporary worship services at neighboring churches.

Some of those [who attend these evangelical churches] are someday going to say to themselves,  ”I just don’t buy this!” and walk.  If this has been their experience of worship, they are not going to find my church’s eclectic but more formal music interesting, no matter how much freedom they are looking for. . . . Therefore we are experimenting with contemporary worship.  So that we can be hospitable to the next generation of seekers, most of whom attend churches with bands, not organs. (iMinister, January 16)

Vance Bass, Albuquerque’s contemporary worship director, shares his perspective on the congregation’s learning journey.

The really important thing here is that the ministers understand what contemporary worship is all about, why it’s vital to UUism, and are totally on board with making changes in that direction. We as musicians—even the music ministers among us—don’t usually have the authority or influence to make this kind of change happen alone. But we can educate our colleagues in the pulpit, assist them or guide them, and learn along with them. (Liberal Religion Gets Loud, January 16)

The Rev. Adam Tierney-Eliot weighs in on music choices in his congregation.

I usually try to avoid the terms “traditional” and “contemporary” when talking about worship because they are more of a hindrance than a help. . . . The real question for people is whether or not our worship experience fits the context  we find ourselves in. Each week we ask our selves if what we see and hear is in some way us. One thing we must all remember, though, is that this context evolves over time.  (Burbania Posts, January 18)

Learning to pray

The Rev. Lisa Ward admits that “Prayer has not come easily to me.”

It wasn’t until my twenties that I gave it a good go, and, thirty years later, I am beginning to feel a resonance, a “prayer life.”  I slowly came to realize that I do not have to know, specifically, who or what I am praying to.  In fact, that may limit the flow of energy, healing or wisdom I seek;  because it would then be a conversation with my definitions, not an invocation of that which encompasses more than me.  (Pondering on the Path, January 14)

The Rev. Naomi King answers some of the questions people ask her about prayer.

Is prayer answered? Yes, but maybe not the way we would prefer or can easily understand. Getting what I wish for is not how I judge the efficacy or use of prayer. Prayer doesn’t work from scarcity, and it can’t treat the Holy as a vending machine. (The Wonderment, January 19)

Around the blogosphere

Will Shetterley remembers his mother, who died this week, saying that she “gave me my heart.”

She taught me how to love—none of my flaws as a pupil are her fault. She loved indiscriminately. Children naturally exaggerate the virtues or flaws of their parents, but I was always able to test my belief that Mom was a great mom by seeing how people everywhere adored her. (it’s all one thing, January 19)

The Rev. Ellen Cooper-Davis responds to questions about Unitarian Univeralism in a guest post on Rachel Held Evans’ blog.

Unitarian Universalist churches certainly began as Christian paths, and their theological positions were derived from those who read the Bible, and found evidence there for rejecting both the Trinity and hell. But today, in our modern North American form, we are best considered Post-Christian. That is to say, we have roots in and influence from Christianity, but solidly mainline Christian churches would not recognize as Christian. (Rachel Held Evans, January 19)

Meadville-Lombard seminarian Jim Magaw reflects on lessons learned in a UU polity course.

As faith communities, we need to be . . . . arteries that supply the blood that nourishes the world’s muscle and the world’s heart. The extent to which congregational polity helps us become open channels for this lifeblood determines how relevant and vital we will be to the rest of the world.(Jim’s Meadville Journal, January 16)

Trustee Linda Laskowski begins a series about the UUA Board’s January meeting in New Orleans.  (UUA View from Berkeley, January 14)