I’ve been attending my church since early this year. I started out lurking in online services and then started coming in person when we opened back up for that. I grew up with no religion in particular. I never felt much of a need for it in my life. But now I’m in my late thirties and after the isolation of the pandemic I felt a real need for community, and a welcoming place for open spiritual inquiry.

So now I finally found a weekend Journey to Membership class that works with my schedule. I would have done it sooner—I’m not having cold feet or waffling on commitment—I just have a conflict with the usual dates they’re held. And I’m kind of excited. Membership isn’t a prerequisite for most church activities, but I feel like I want to more meaningfully participate in the community. I’ve started to really appreciate having ritual, and even social obligation, in my life. I see it less as a burden and more about contributing to the larger human project.

Guess I just wanted to put that out there. I’m a little introverted and I want to be more of a “joiner” in general but I also don’t want to overcommit to things and lose interest when the novelty wears off. So I think I’m taking a good step.

Last week several members from our local UU had our first unofficial atheist meeting. We all had a great time, and have decided to meet every few weeks and try to build a secular community in our congregation. The problem is we have no idea how this will look in practice. We all enjoy the social aspect of hanging out with like minded people, but as far as possibilities for affinity groups or ways to contribute to a service we don't have any refrence of how that looks. If anyone has a humanist group at their UU I would love to hear about your experiences.

So I've heard of this church and the jist I've gotten is that it's very human rights oriented and open minded but I don't exactly understand the particulars.

Atheist here but I respect peoples' faith (as long as they don't use it to hurt others) so I'm wondering if it would be a good community for me and my family.

Hi are there any unitarian churches on the united states territories like Guam and Puerto rico?

I just saw a big "Flatch Unitarian" sign on a promo for a new Fox sitcom. Anybody else notice?

https://sports.yahoo.com/locally-shot-welcome-flatch-premieres-182135669.html ... I guess that's what this show is about.

Could be good, could be terrible. It is weird seeing mainstream culture acknowledge that UU's exist, outside the random Simpsons joke.

I have gone back and forth about pursuing a M.Div. for nearly 20 years. I had once gotten to the point where I was applying to several programs but rescinded my applications and pursued doctoral work in Psychology instead (I'm a Psychologist, by training and practice).

That said, I read, most often, about Unitarian and Universalist history and often find myself writing and drafting sermons but never delivering them anywhere, even as a layperson--mostly because we don't have a Congregation or CC in my Rural area.

I'm happy in my role as a Psychologist, but often wonder if it'd be possible to "do both" [i.e., become a part-time UU minister or associate AND practice as a psychologist].

If I pursued the M.Div., I'd want to complete via a part time option online at either ML, SK, or HDS (I know HDS is a FT program, and unlikely to work out).

Any thoughts? Any seminarians with advice? Comments about their own experiences with PT M.Div at ML or SK?

Hey all.

So I have been struggling much with my faith, especially where issues of the nature of Jesus and the afterlife are concerned. After much study, I think I align with unitarianism and universalism more than most.

I believe there is only one god, and the trinity doctrine is not accurate. I believe the plan is to reconcile all things through Christ "And I, if I am raised up, shall draw all men unto me."

However, after reading around UU resources, it looks like the movement leans left liberal. I myself am somewhat of a moderate. I embrace the welfare state, believe in gender and racial equity, oppose the death penalty, advocate for a more compassionate immigration system, etc. On the other hand, while I belive members of the LGBTQ community should have all the rights every citizen is entitled to and should be free from persecution, I am not particularly affirming. I am also pro life when it comes to elective abortions.

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Generally, I know positions are not suppose to matter. But in a world where you are with us or against us, it kind of does.

The long and short: Are there corners of the UU movement where moderates are welcome?

As UUs are deeply committed to diversity and inclusion, I wanted to share a link to a conference — Counterweight — which is exploring liberal (instead of radical left) approaches to these issues.

https://cw.heysummit.com/

The conference can be attended for free. If you choose the free option, you can view all the talks (for free) up to 24 hours after they have been given. The conference started yesterday, Sep 22nd and goes on for 4 days.

Just curious. I do believe consciousness continues after death, but am wondering if I'd fit in as a UU believing this

View Poll

I'm curious, as someone searching for a liberal religion but believes in a hereafter, if I'd fit in as a UU

View Poll

I notice that the moderators of this liberal religion forum censor the voices of minority and marginalized UUs if their beliefs are different from the moderators. I also ironically notice that the minister moderator of this forum is a white man.

Perhaps the moderators can explain what "centering the voices of minorities and marginalized peoples" actually means. In practice here, it appears to mean centering the voices of minorities who follow your personal views. The idea that minority UUs should only have and express one view is an ignorant, condescending, narrow-minded, and, frankly, bigoted philosophy.

I have noticed other racial and ethnic minorities in this forum have expressed that they left their UU congregations because of the expectations of narrow ideological and political conformity. Such expectations of conformity, censorship, and "we only welcome and listen to minorities who believe what we expect them to believe" makes UU only more unwelcoming to most minorities. This is in particular as the prevailing expressed UUA positions run counter to the views of most minorities in this country.

Many white privileged American progressives have had a long history of arrogantly and condescendingly informing minorities "what they should believe" "for their own good." The new UUA, new UU ministers, "white allies" and this forum appear to be continuing this self-righteous tradition.

This is how you create a really tiny church, and, ironically, a really tiny church that most minorities in this country will not want to join.

It appears that the UUA and many UU ministers have forgotten what liberal religion means.

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(Hoping to find ways our congregation can improve and learn from others.)

-sign people in for Sunday service - reach out to people when they haven’t been in ___ weeks? - do anything special for new visitors? - have a Church Management system, for example Planning Center - post recorded Sunday services online? (Private, secured?) - have 40 to 70 on Sundays, and 70-150? Etc. - have “Sunday school” aka faith formation for youth? - have a full time minister?