Unitarian Universalist services
Submitted by Heather on December 06 1999 at 20:04:31
In reply to I see - it's Western Bahai Submitted by F.O.D. on December 06 1999 at 18:45:58
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The Baha'is? That's an interesting comparison, and I'd say it's half true. The Baha'i Faith is syncretic (everyone worshipping the same way, drawing from different faiths); the Unitarian Univeralist Association is eclectic (people of different faiths – including syncretic faiths – belonging to the same organization). A subtle difference, but a significant one. I answered your question in my reply to Jules, but it occurred to me that you might be interested in hearing about the various types of Unitarian Universalist services I've attended, since liturgy often embodies theology. The first Unitarian church I attended, in Maryland, was Humanist in orientation. The readings were mainly spiritual secular readings, with a few readings from world faiths, including Christianity. There were no prayers, but there was a meditation period. A service leaflet I kept for a Sunday on which the theme was homophobia reveals that the musical prelude that day was from La Cage aux Folles; that should give some sense of what the church was like. :) The second Unitarian church I attended, in Buffalo, was Theist in orientation. On the outside of the nineteenth-century church was written, "In the love of truth and the spirit of Jesus Christ, we unite for the worship of God and the service of man," a motto still used by many Unitarian Christian churches. My recollection is that the church's service leaflet edited the motto to remove the reference to Jesus. The majority of service readings were from world faiths, with a fair number from Christianity; God was mentioned often, but in a distant sort of manner. The third Unitarian church I attended was King's Chapel in Boston, whose service, as I mentioned in my post to Jules, is based on the Episcopal service. Later that day, I attended the annual meeting of the Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship (it just happened to be occurring on the day I was visiting Boston), where the communion service was in the traditional form, right down to "Lift up your hearts" and "Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid." The service was held on Trinity Sunday (a source of amusement to everyone), and the sermon was about the Holy Spirit, and how conservative churches are so successful because they recognize that there are times when the Church must fight the ways of the World. More recently, I've attended the Universalist National Memorial Church in Washington, D.C., which was, as its name implies, the national church for the Universalists at the time it was built. Both Christian and non-Christian readings are included in the service; the hymn book is Christian. The congregation is invited to voluntarily recite a 1935 Universalist avowal (not creed): "The bond of fellowship in this church shall be a common purpose to do the will of God as Jesus revealed it and to co-operate in establishing the kingdom for which he lived and died. To that end, we avow our faith in God as Eternal and All-conquering Love, in the spiritual leadership of Jesus, in the supreme worth of every human personality, in the authority of truth known or to be known, and in the power of men of good-will and sacrificial spirit to overcome evil and progressively stablish the Kingdom of God." So I think that the members of Christian UU churches would be more than a little miffed to be told that they don't know the Living God. :) Heather |