I grew up within the Baptist denomination, and it's hard to shake some preconceptions that come with terms like "outreach" and "missions". There was usually an ulterior motive attached - everything was done in hopes that people would hear about Jesus and do the "personal savior" thing. I put those notions away decades ago along with that theology. Now we are part of a lay-led UU church and I'm interested in and involved with coordinating some things labeled "outreach" or "missions" - relief agencies, Pride festivals. Just wondering if anyone has found alternate terminology. I'm collecting thoughts/ideas for an upcoming sermon on the topic.

A big reason we became involved in our UU group (right after the November election) was that we wanted to be engaged in our world - from our neighborhood/family level on up - and represent an alternative to the de facto "Christian" perspectives that permeate a lot of activities and relationships. I'm especially troubled by the pseudo-apocalyptic undercurrents that are present in conservative political thought. So there's not a goal of "saving souls", but there is a notion of wanting to make it known that you don't need an ulterior motive for being and doing good in the world.

My wife and I have been involved in a UU community in Cincinnati since November 2024, but I've been "UU adjacent" for a long time - reading publications, listening to musicians, absorbing the culture. I have a hard time imagining our lives in the last 8 months without this UU community.

One of my primary inspirations has been musician Jim Scott. I first heard him as part of the Paul Winter Consort back in the late 1970s. His solo recordings have been a part of my library for many years, and we are using some of his songs now in our UU community. (He has a number of songs in "Singing the Journey" and the new virtual hymnal.) He's continues to be a voice for progressive beliefs and practices, especially focused on environmental causes. I wanted to share his new presence on Substack that I wanted to share - hopefully that is allowed.

https://jimscott.substack.com/

"What do you believe in"? Is a possible question/response "What don't I believe in?"

My wife and I are atheist, but have gotten there via a lot of church background/baggage. We just found our way to a lay-led UU gathering in the months since the November election (after zero church involvement for over 15 years). We have close friends with similar beliefs, but I think our overall community (neighborhood, town, city) is more religious (aka American Christian) than not - a lot of that via culture and family transference.

I sometimes find myself answering a hypothetical question I would expect (and have occasionally gotten) about what "you people" believe. I'm also a pretty militant realist/empiricist. If there's not proof for something, or an identifiable path for exploration, I'd rather leave it unanswered for now, rather than waste time and energy speculating. My primary beliefs and counterpart to "religious inspiration" mostly come from moderately popular writings on topics such as astrophysics, evolution, biology, and technology. A lot of more subjective ideas come from music. I think a common opinion from people outside of liberal religion think we don't believe in much. My response at this point in time is, "I believe in soooo much stuff" I can barely contain the enthusiasm. I guess that's ecstatic scientific joy or something.

Inspiring quote for the day from Neil de Grasse Tyson:

I know that the molecules in my body are traceable
To phenomena in the cosmos
That makes me want to grab people in the street
And say, have you heard this??