AboutJon Bond Expertise Will answer all questions regarding Unitarian Universalist (UU)church; including ancient history (Universalists go back to at least 250 A.D.) and medieval history (Unitarians look to 1553 A.D. as their beginning) up to merger of the two movements in 1961 and continuing up to present. Am familiar with Christian church organizations and relationship of UUs to traditional churches.
Experience Currently member of Unitarian Universalist Church of Boulder, Colorado. Past vice-president of Board of Trustees and currently on Membership Committee. Have taught UU history for over 20 years. Have attended Unitarian Universalist General Assemblies (annual meetings held in June) for past 15 years.
Organizations Unitarian Universalist Church of Boulder, Colorado
Expert: Jon Bond Date: 6/16/2004 Subject: Services
Question What is a typical church service like. If I'm not mistaken the Universalist Church allows all beliefs. If this is true how can you reach every belief in a church service? Thank you, Todd
Answer Todd –
I'll try to answer your question. Remember, I'm one of over 220,000 people and, if you ask another UU (Unitarian Universalist), you may get adifferent (but, hopefully, not conflicting) answer. I'd like to divide my answer into three parts: FIRST, a background of our association and then, SECOND, what a typical church service is like. THIRD, I'll give you my take on how we (a Unitarian Universalist Church) can reach every belief.
FIRST - a background (including where the two groups (Unitarian and Universalist) originated): The concept of Unitarianism generally looks to a Catholic priest, Michael Servetus, as a spiritual originator. Servetus was born in Spain in 1511 and died in 1553, after attacking the doctrines of the Trinity. Unitarianism is a doctrinal system characterized chiefly by a belief in the unipersonality of God and the normal humanity of Jesus,
as contrasted with the Trinity and the eternal deity (divinity) of Jesus. Most Unitarians I've spoken with reject the divinity of Jesus, but do
recognize him (Jesus) as a great moral teacher.
Universalism is the theological doctrine that all souls will ultimately be saved and that there are no torments of hell. Universalism has been asserted at various times in different contexts throughout the history of the "Christian church"--e.g., Origen in the 3rd century. The Universalists
also denied the miraculous element in Scripture, and rejected such important Bible doctrines as the total depravity of man and the Trinity.
The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) was created in May of 1961 as a merger of Unitarians and Universalists.
SECOND - In this part of my answer, Todd, I'll tell you what our services are like. As you may know, the Unitarian Universalist churches are each independent. That is, they are a “congregational” type of church which allows each church (group) to decide how they will spend their time. I've been to many UU churches and must say, that there is a lot of similarity in their “order of worship” but, still, there are many unique services that still amaze me with their variety. The church that I attend (the Unitarian Universalist Church of Boulder) generally follows this sequence of service. First, we have an introduction, explaining who we are and that we are a member of the The Unitarian Universalist Association. Then, we have a “chalice lighting” generally done with a short reading. Usually, a young child will light the chalice. After that, there will be a hymn and then we stand, hold hands, and recite a “covenant.” Then, we have a program for “all ages” where the children are asked to come to the front and someone reads them a story (usually, the story is related to that morning's topic.) After this, the congregation sings them on their way to Religious Education (same as traditional “Sunday School”) where the children learn about other religions, etc. Usually, we have another hymn and then the morning talk/message/serman is delivered by a speaker. The speaker will most probably be our minister, but could be an outside speaker or a lay speaker. After the talk/message/serman, there is usually a time for “responses from the gathered people” so that questions can be answered. The service moderator is now keeping a close eye on the clock and will ask that people “cut it short” so as to now delay “coffee hour.” Our last portion of the service is a “closing circle” where we hold hands and sing a simple, one line song. Then, we all head off to “coffee hour.”
THIRD, I'll give you my take on how we (a Unitarian Universalist Church) can reach every belief. Todd, I must first state that the Unitarian Church (hereinafter referred to as UUA) has no creeds, only statements of purpose (see my PostScript to you.) We pride ourselves in welcoming atheists and humanists, as well as Christians. Recently (in the last six years), the UU organization took a survey to find out what we believe is important in our religious lives. Almost 10,000 Unitarian Universalists took the time to fill out and return the survey, giving us all an invaluable snapshot of who we are. Our association has been enriched by the knowledge gained from the answers many UUs provided. This survey began a process designed to reach out to all UU individuals and congregations called "Fulfilling the Promise." This Concept was set in motion by the Unitarian Universalist Association's Board of Trustees. Its goal was to help us move toward agreement about why we come together as congregations and as an association, and what we hope to accomplish. The survey questions came from individual UUs, as did the suggested responses. More than 500 people helped create this survey. We hope you will find your own experience reflected in the questions and answers, even if the exact language you would use is not perfectly captured here. What follows are the total tabulations for the first 8118 surveys.
Question number 30 statement and results follow:
"Please check the one of the following which best describes your
theological perspective":
The balance of the questions (age, sex, length of church membership, etc.), gave us a picture of who are demographically and as church persons. They provide a picture of what we say our values in religious community are. As you can see, fewer than 10% of the UUA consider themselves Christian. The main differences would be the fact that the UUA welcomes people from all faiths (see results of survey.)
Now, Todd, let me address your query of “how can you reach every belief in a church service?” We do this in several ways; we will sometimes sing a Jewish song to acknowledge the Jewish faith. Our Easter service will try to mention that Easter comes from the Jewish tradition of “Passover” which, in turn, came from a pagan celebration of Ishtar, and before that, an ancient Spring (or rebirth of nature) ritual. At Christmas time, we will explain that Christmas (Christ's Mass) came from Hanukkah, which came from a celebration of the Winter Solstice. We always try to tie in all religious traditions to show the common threads.
Todd, for all our diversity, worship is the most common activity amoung UUs. Week after week, year after year, whatever else a congregation does, we gather for worship. The time is usually Sunday morning, though there may be services at other times.
Todd, I've given you more than you asked for. For more information about the UUA, please feel free to check out our web site http://uua.org/ A good book to check on is The Unitarian Universalist Pocket Guide - ISBN 0-933840-45-4
Thank you for taking the time to question our beliefs and good luck in your search.
Jon Bond
P.S. for Todd (what follows is the statement of Principles and Purposes which unites all of our members from different faiths.)
We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to 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 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 living tradition which we share draws from many sources:
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.
Grateful for the religious pluralism which enriches and ennobles our faith, we are inspired to deepen our understanding and expand our vision. As free congregations we enter into this covenant, promising to one another our mutual trust and support.
The Purposes of the Unitarian Universalist Association
The Unitarian Universalist Association shall devote its resources to and exercise its corporate powers for religious, educational and humanitarian purposes. The primary purpose of the Association is to serve the needs of its member congregations, organize new congregations, extend and strengthen Unitarian Universalist institutions and implement its principles.
The Association declares and affirms its special responsibility, and that of its member societies and organizations, to promote the full participation of persons in all of its and their activities and in the full range of human endeavor without regard to race, color, sex, disability, affectional or sexual orientation, age, or national origin and without requiring adherence to any particular interpretation of religion or to any particular religious belief or creed.
Nothing herein shall be deemed to infringe upon the individual freedom of belief which is inherent in the Universalist and Unitarian heritages or to conflict with any statement of purpose, covenant, or bond of union used by any society unless such is used as a creedal test.
