It is clear, based on much anecdotal evidence, that there are any number of Unitarian Universalists who are feeling disenfranchised by the christification of their organization. What is not so clear is what they are doing about it. This Web site has received a number of clues that might help to answer that question, but we will need many more before we can begin to get a clear picture.
We have heard from UU members who have left the organization entirely, as have many of the fellows of the UUHS. That is, of course, one answer, and one form of protest. Perhaps it is not the most helpful, in some ways, but each of us reaches a point where we just can’t take any more. That point is different in different people.
We have also heard from UU Members who have stayed. Those intrepid souls have stayed behind to face the changes in their church. I, for one, salute them for their bravery. It cannot be easy to see a place you love deteriorate around you. It certainly was not for me.
Some members have been fighting back. There are those who have taken the podium to express their feelings of marginalization. Others have formed formal Humanist or Unbeliever groups within the larger congregation in order to leverage the power of numbers so that they may be heard. The success of these attempts varies, of course, mainly according to the response of the congregation.
Some have formed their own congregations, most famously the Wiccans of Kansas City, who moved themselves physically from increasingly christian UU congregations to a new fellowship of their own in the Kansas City area. That may sound extreme to some, but is would seem to me to be a logical response to their situation.
My question for you is, “What should a UU do?”
And we would really appreciate it if you would answer that question for us. Tell us, using the “Contact Us” or “Share Your Story” links in the menu, what you have already done, what you feel you might yet do, and what you have seen others do. All of us are finding our way through this maze that the UUA has built for us. Help us learn what works and what does not.
Please, take a moment, and tell us what you think a disenfranchised UU should do.
I facilitate our MVUUC Adult Forum. I use a lot of AHA, FFRF, and other secular pubs to stimulate discussion. We (the AF) have also put on sunday morning services based on the old Meeting Of The Minds TV show where well known historical figures discuss ideas. Many of my characters from ancient to modern times are free thinkers and the humanist messages are clear. The book “2000 years of disbelief ” is a great collection of statements that often shock some of the congregation when they find out that thru out history there have been so many great thinkers who are humanists. I hang in there and just finished being on a new minister’s review committee. She is an openly declared athiest and a remarkable person who during her practice sermons also helped the congregation to grow. Our UUA has so many good things going that nudging them in a more libereal is worth the effort. I also admit that over the last 5 years I have had my doubts as to where we are going.
Thank you for sharing with us what you are doing. Your resources sound excellent, not the least of which is your minister. She sounds like a true jewel. I am very happy that your successes have outnumbered your problems. Your message gives us hope.
I am greatly disturbed by the recent “christianization” of a church that held promise of wide acceptance of different ideas. From the very beginning of my involvement with the church over ten years ago, I have been one of the more vocal atheists and one of the more active members, particularly in the area of social justice. I also have appeared as “guest speaker” a number of times, speaking on numerous subjects, but particularly on atheism. My outspoken belief has generally been accepted, but little is said by anyone else who shares my ideas.
Another commitment I have taken on from time to time is to secure guest speakers for weeks when the minister is not scheduled to speak. I have speakers from a skeptic organization I am a member of and the leader of a local atheist organization.
I do what I can to allow other humanists to be a part of the choir that is being preached to, but it seems to be a mere drop in the ocean. Other Sundays, espcially when our minister preaches t message is more about christian beliefs. Mind you, she doesn’t preach a christian message, but does talk about the positive aspects in the bible.
I just discovered this website and I am considering organizing a humanist organization within the church. I’ll be doing this on the fly, but I might be able to find a few like-minded members who are interested.
Jerry-
The UUHS is considering offering consulting services that would make it easier for you to hit the ground running with the sort of organization that you seek. That is to say, management, continuing education, social outreach, and other consulting to take most of the bumps out of such a venture as you propose. Does this sound like something that you would take advantage of were we to put together such a service?
At the UU Congregation of Hillsborouth, NC, we don’t have any problem of “christianization” because most of our leaders are Humanist or Pagans. We have a half-time minister and fill half the sundays with members’ presentations or a variety of guest speakers. I think diversity in the types of services and speakers we have is the key.
It seems to me that the definition of a Humanist Religion is the belief that, no matter what one’s faith underpinnings are, the quality of life on this planet is the responsibility of humans = deed before creed. Universalism should avoid “Christianization” or any other bias, as Earth-justice is a human-centered.
This is an important question. Since the UU tradition is so flexible and broad, there will always be a few who think it is skewed too much one way or another. One might say, a UU is hard to please. Surely, we can be accepting of one anothers different views in an area where certainty is hardly to be expected. For some reason or another (early training and experience no doubt high among them) we are “atheists who like to go to church.” In the most recent two fellowships (I still balk at “church’) to which I have belonged (the most recent of which I have become President) I have found community, undertanding, support and shared knowledge that I know I would miss very much if I were to leave. There is talk of being “more spiritual” and religion is of the heart not just the head, that I usually let pass by occasionally asking “what is spiritual? I don’t understand it.” Behind these yearnings, I have decided, is the strong need to personify and romanticize cold, hard reality–to soften the edges of the fact that we live in a chance and meaningless universe that doesn’t give a shit about us. A sort of “to hell with the facts, let’s light a candle and sing a hymn and hold hands for the closing circle.” Huddling together is good and something we have been doing for a few hundred thousand years. Fortunately, I have encountered no efforts to “christianize” UU here in California. We are about to hire a part-time, one week-end a month minister and I am eager to dialogue with her about the latest from Scott King.