The UUA has a very interesting story and potential but I see that does not attract many ethnic minorities. It is a church for liberal white people with $$ (that is the perception outthere)

Maybe part of it is that the denomination tends to minimize/hide its Protestant and Christian roots, which I think was/is a mistake.

Hi folks! I grew up "Jew...ish" if that makes sense, but consider myself atheist. I've recently moved to a rural area in the belly button of the Bible belt, and am looking for a community for my family to join that is focused on community works, kindness, equality, etc. There's a UU congregation right down the road that I'm interested in trying out tomorrow. My research tells me that it's very inclusive and along the lines of what I'm looking for. So I guess the question is, what should I expect at my first visit? What's the dress code? I have a 5 year old that I'd like to bring, is that OK? It looks like they have kids "services" but I'm not sure if I should keep him with me at first. I'm definitely a bit anxious about going, since "church" is not something I'm used to at all. Any help is appreciated!

Hello! I was raised UU and have been living in a fairly religiously conservative rural location. My partner and I moved around a lot for several years before settling into our current location. Lately, I've been feeling drawn to developing a UU-based community / service in our rural area. I reached out to UUA and they had encouraged us to reach out to our Regional Representative and/or consider starting a Covenanting Community. I did this and they encouraged us to participate in our nearest fellowships virtually. There are well established UU Fellowships within 100 miles in two directions, but the travel on a Sunday is too much for our family. We are also craving human connection (in lieu of virtual services). I'd like to have services here, but we don't have space to host in our small house. Any thoughts about how to bring people together? I don't use Facebook, but had been thinking of posting a newspaper ad. Thoughts?

I am becoming less and less comfortable with the overt political partisanism I see in my church (and am supposing that my church is not an outlier here).

Just one example: I found the overturning of Roe shocking and tragic. I have always whole-heartedly supported a woman’s right to choose and find this new ultra-conservative attack on woman’s autonomy scarily regressive.

However, just because I (as well as many other people in our congregation) feel this way, doesn’t mean that I want our minister to make a public statement condemning this decision (I.e. taking an explicitly partisan stand). I don’t want a minister that says: “We need to yell louder.” I don’t want a minister that essentially declares our congregation a safe space for any person who wants an abortion. I don’t want my minister to simple echo whatever the political consensus of the congregation is (or seems to be).

Why? Well, I believe that first and foremost, churches should be models of ideal communities. And ideal communities should (in my view) be open to the “other” — to people who don’t necessarily think exactly like us and yet still agree with all our principles. It is perfectly possible to be pro-life and see oneself as living according to our principles. It is perfectly possible to want stricter immigration policy and still see oneself living according to our principles. It is perfectly possible to ask questions about various controversies swirling around transgenderism and still see oneself living according to our principles.

Our minister likes to go on about how our church is a sacred space. I am an atheist, so I definitely grin and bear it. But I was quite spiritual for a long time and have a sense of what a sacred space is. To me, a sacred space is a space that stands apart from and against the world and the failings thereof. It is a space in which to be our best selves along with other people who are trying to be their best selves.

However our minister openly suggest that our sacred space needs to be a political space. She actively promotes the use of sacred language as a political weapon. In fact, the sermon we heard last week was all about wielding sacred language to make political change. Is the answer to the Right‘s politicization of conservative Christianity to go ahead and build a politically left religion? Do two wrongs make a right? I don’t think so.

I feel so despairing about politics in this country, but don’t believe the “both sides“ thing. Sure, the left has its issues, but fortunately they have not gone off the deep end in the unbridled pursuit of power for power’s sake. I would love more than anything else for us to regain political sameness and balance. I don’t know how that can happen at the moment. But I sure as hell know it’s not going to happen by having UU’s wrap themselves in a ball of anger and yell louder.

If any change is going to come, it going to take many years of concerted strategic political effort. I suppose this could happen in UU congregations (just as Black churches were instrumental in the Civil Rights movement). But I don’t see any of this happening. I just see a lot of rage, political othering and using leftish politics as a church brand-building exercise, as a form of collective identity construction.

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So, in short, I’d like to see one of two things either:

1. Having our “sacred space,” be informed by a broad, generous interpretation of our principles and hence be de-politicized.
2. Fully commit to one issue and actually make change (which would involve analysis, having a plan, organization, etc.) and not merely yelling, whining, getting upset then trying to calm ourselves, building a collective identity as “justice seekers,” etc., etc.,

One or the other.

Im curious to know what others think about this?

I regularly attend an online-only congregation of the Christian Universalist Association, and it got me thinking. Does the UUA have anything similar?

I watch live streams of services, like from All Souls in Tulsa, but that's not quite the same!

So I was raised in a UU church, but this is the first time our minister has willingly stopped being our minister. (Our first minister was caught in a compromising situation with a married member of the church).

So our church has been making announcements for months that our minister was moving on, lots of plans for the goodbye event, when suddenly we get an email.

Basically the email says that normally the departing minister leaves the town he was living in to go minister elsewhere, but our minister isn't moving, he's decided to continue living here.

That means, according to the email, that we have to stop interacting with him, stop being his friend, because if we continue to talk to him and bring our religious problems to him, then the new minister, who ever that might be, will never feel fully welcome and feel like they're the minister of the congregation.

Our departing minister has been with us for about 20 years, so how do we as a congregation just stop being friends with him?

Is this normal for UU churches?

So I was raised in a UU church, but this is the first time our minister has willingly stopped being our minister. (Our first minister was caught in a compromising situation with a married member of the church).

So our church has been making announcements for months that our minister was moving on, lots of plans for the goodbye event, when suddenly we get an email.

Basically the email says that normally the departing minister leaves the town he was living in to go minister elsewhere, but our minister isn't moving, he's decided to continue living here.

That means, according to the email, that we have to stop interacting with him, stop being his friend, because if we continue to talk to him and bring our religious problems to him, then the new minister, who ever that might be, will never feel fully welcome and feel like they're the minister of the congregation.

Our departing minister has been with us for about 20 years, so how do we as a congregation just stop being friends with him?

Is this normal for UU churches?

Just wondering if there is an over-arching theme for the upcoming GA. I looked on the UUA website and other places on line and see lots of information about registration and logistics, but nothing about the content of the meeting itself. Is it just going to be about everything UU? Or something even slightly more specific?