I’m interested in joining a congregation. Unfortunately the closest UU church is over 50 miles away from me so I’m considering online attendance for the most part.

Hello fellow redditors! First of all, I would like to apologize for the inevitable mistakes you'll find here and there through my post, as English is not my first language.

I've been in a spiritual crisis for the past fifteen years basically, but it has intensifies lately and I've been looking around for a direction to find a place and belief that might make me feel home. I was raised Catholic as it's the main religion in my country, but I've felt disconnected from it since I was11 or 12 I think. I have always been very attracted to pagan and pantheistic beliefs, but I cannot go past the absence of "structure" and guidance; in other words I feel lost without that sense of community and belonging that Churches can give, but I can't relate to the most mainstream Catholic and Christian teachings, way of behaving and seeing life. I've called myself agnostic for the longest time but I know it doesn't represent me.

I came across UU denomination and I really like the message and openness to others. I am living in the US at the moment and there's three UU congregations nearby that I would like to join sometime to have a "taste", although at the moment I work weekends and cannot attend the Sunday service. What's blocking me, apart from working Sundays, is that my husband and I plan to go back to my country in five years, and even though there's a lively UU community in Europe, there's nothing in my country. There's a Facebook group that only shares philosophical posts once in a while, a WordPress blog that's been inactive since 2017 and that's all. I am scared to get into it as I won't find any of the things I like about structured religion once we move back.

I a very sorry for the long post, but it's been bugging me for the longest time and I felt no one could have a better answer than people who are actually involved with it!

Thank you and have a wonderful Tuesday.

The minister who runs the nonprofit gang rehab org “Hugs Not Thugs” is introduced as Unitarian Universalist: “those fools are like hippies, but angry.” Great description of us, and a fun show.

Would you say that UU and CUUPs are a safe-enough space for a Black female pagan/witch?

Would you say that UUers in general and even UU pagans specifically, regardless of race, are more likely to believe that Spirit has no race and thus be committed to strengthening Collective Consciousness?

I ask this as I am still debating as to whether or not I should give the seemingly nice, local pagan meetup +/- the local Unitarian Universalist congregation the “old college try.”

I am concerned I will find the same (or even worse) racist, exclusionary, and/or megalomaniac tactics I have encountered in other religious communities including Seventh-day Adventist Christian, non-denomination Christian, African/Kemetic, and eclectic pagan spaces.

No words, really. Just wanting to put this down somewhere.

R. Rapey (R. Kelly) did some of the most disgusting abuse of children I have seen since reading the accounts a man gave of his mother's abuse in A Child It. Teenage Children were forced to eat feces and drink urine and engage in bondage.

What type of Charities could I contact for my Church to help me and my church help could help black victims of child sexual abuse like R. Rapey's?