Gaia: Unitarian Universalist Perspectives - Unitarian Universalism

UU school?

http://darthraspberry.gaia.com — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 19:03:49 GMT

Does anyone know of UU run charter schools? I never have but I think if other faiths can have their own school, we should too. I would love to start a free form-ish school with UU ties someday. Actually I would like to make it a community learning center central to an intentional community. I think this organization could be used for so much good (and it is)..I guess I'm just a little disillusioned with my little congregation...a lot of talk but not a lot of follow through and even less motivation for creative solutions. I think part of the reason kids often don't stay is because we are looking for something even a little bit more radical.

Re: UUA ad in Time magazine

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 18:12:25 GMT

There are also TV ads. I don't know when or where they will or have
aired, but one is on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_24X8YmNldk

UUA ad in Time magazine

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:27:57 GMT

What do you guys think of the new UUA ad in the current October 15 issue Time magazine? If you haven't seen the magazine, you can look at a PDF of the ad here:
http://www.uua.org/leaders/leaderslibrary/marketing/44189.shtml

Jim

Article on the Future of Unitarian Univeralism

http://mattwesley.gaia.com — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 00:21:18 GMT

I have posted a rather heady article I wrote on the future of Unitarian Universalism. Feel free to stop by to check it out. http://mattwesley.zaadz.com/blog If may be a bit iconoclastic and provocative, but it is an attempt to address some of the arguments made by Davidson Loehr and others.

Namaste,

Matt

Spiritual Practices

http://mattwesley.gaia.com — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 04:40:10 GMT

Greetings,

One criticism of our movement is that we are a "mile wide and an inch deep". As the recent Commission on Appraisal (Engaging our Theological Diversity) noted, our religious syncretism is an amazing strength but also, perhaps, an Achilles' heel.

I am currently chairing our Insight Committee (which covers adult RE). In that role, I have been toying with the notion that perhaps we want to explore the idea of spiritual practices as a way to deepen our individual experience and commitment. The idea that is gerninating has to do with consciously fostering individual depth (say committment to a specific practice - such as Zen or contemplative prayer, or journaling), while maintaining institutional breadth. The ultimate idea would be that we would gently expect new members to explore a practice that becomes an anchor to their lives (by creating a cultural norm) and that we would work with these new members and friends to help them discover what that practice is. Our breadth of Sources and traditions would become the wellspring from which individuals would draw their inspiration and support.

So here' are my two sets of questions:

1. Does anyone have deep commitment to a particular practice that integrates with their commitment to being a UU? What does it do for you?

2. What do you think of the notions above. (Knowing UUs I know I will get a lot of honest feedfack!)

Namaste,

Matt

Recognition of Large Donors during Stewardship Season

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 17:26:35 GMT

How does your UU congregation (or others you are familiar with) recognize your largest donors during stewardship season, if at all? If your congregation does it, what are they doing and how do they determine what a lead, or large donor is?

Jim

Re: Organizing UUs and Advocacy

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 14:26:59 GMT

This - like most of the discussions here - seems to be VERY quiet. But this is a time when we, as UUs, should be following our 7 Principles and be taking action - not just thinking about it, not just debating it. There are too many things wrong in our society - from wars of choice and torture; to government by lie and innuendo; to the decreasing social safety net for the homeless, minorities, and the impoverished; to the increasing gap between rich and poor and the destruction of the middle class. I have spoken here before of the need for us to organize ourselves to take defintive actions before our legislators. One promising alliance I see that we should be able to make is with Rabbi Michael Lerner's Tikkun community and specifically with his interfaith Network of Spiritual Progressives. The NSP - which is organized in local chapters in varying degrees of activity - advocates Lerner's proposal for a Spiritual Covernant with America - which is a detailed plan of action that meets the requirements of our 7 Principles. It would seem better for us to align ourselves with an organization with a comprehensive program that matches our ethic than - as we usually do - pick and choose different partners who suit us in addressing different issues. The NSP will be emerging very publicly this weekend with their observance nationwide of Generosity Sunday and the public rollout of their proposal for a Global Marshall Plan.

Thoughts? As we organize within ourselves to provide sustainable advocacy for our causes on the legislative level, should we be looking to form long-term coalitions or alliance with any organizations.... and specifically with this one?

Unitarians in London

http://victor7.gaia.com — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 20:05:02 GMT

A while ago I posted an inquiry here about whether UUs exist in England - and found that they do (though they're usually called just "Unitarians" rather than "Unitarian Universalists"). Anyway since then I have started to get involved in Unitarianism in London, and I'm particularly keen on a set of activities - workshops, discussions, retreats, etc. - organised by the North London Network for Spiritual Development, which is a network of Unitarians, though the activities are open to all.

You can find out more at
www.ukspirituality.org

- Victor

Re: Organizing UUs and Advocacy

Sun, 11 Feb 2007 19:55:11 GMT

One of lifes puzzles....

Here at RVUUF one of the laments I often hear is, "we don't communicate with each othe enouch.... Its so difficult to communicate with each other on matters of importance, etc.

We work and work on finding ways for communications in general. People find their own little groups, but it never seems to get more effective.

My great hope is that something like Zaadz may become a tool for more and better communications for UU's. I think the same goes for finding ways to energize real opportunities for meaningful "activiism" in UUs. First though, comes real honest meaningful communication..??!!

Organizing UUs and Advocacy

Sun, 11 Feb 2007 03:22:34 GMT

There are certain behavioral characteristic that UUs hold in common. We are thoughtful, committed people. We are devoted in various degrees to advocacy of social justice. Just as we seek spiritually in many directions and our fellowship gives us permission and support to seek, we seek and act in many directions toward social justice. We move in so many different directions and organizations that we are about as easy to organize as it is to herd cats.

Somehow - from my past history in "organized medicine" (now THERE'S an oxymoron for you!) - it seems that if want to succeed as agents of change we need to communicate and organize better. Given my Pennsylvania perspective, we have effective activist communities in Philadelphia - in Pittsburgh - and in Erie; but with little contact and even less communication between them. If we have a cause worth mounting as a state-wide advocacy action, we have no way of coordinating it effectively. Even within our congregations we frequently do not know who the other activists are or what causes they are involved with. (The majority of congregations in the Ohio-Meadville District do not even have a Social Justice or equivalent committee.)

If we could coordinate our activities effectively, we would have more impact and success in achieving the reforms we seek. We would also build a stronger identity and greater understanding in the public mind - and since we do not proselytize but grow by attraction of
like minds, that would be a very good thing for the future of our denomination. If we had some way to know who in a community of UUs was involved in which issues, we could build state-wide or district-wide tripwires to coordinate actions of advocacy to legislators.

I have spent much of the past year trying to develop this concept as co-chair of the UU PA Legislative Advocacy Network (UUPLAN). And as a UUA-UUSC project, there are currently UU State Advocacy Networks developing in 15 states, with more to be developed. I have been continually surprised by the resistances I have found - ego and territorialism resisting any interference with local projects; churches that have no organization of social advocacy actions and no way to being together the individual advocates to speak to them; and congregations that simply refuse to respond to any communication. I have been willing to travel around the state and meet with the appropriate people in any UU congregation in any manner they wish and work to shape the network in whatever way they need - and for the most part have been ignored. My co-chair on the Philadelphia side of the state has had similar problems but several months' head start on me.Such are the joys and frustrations of the first stages of grassroots organization.

The concept of the Network - at least in THIS state - is superstructure over local activites to coordinate advocates state-wide, and should neither intrude on any existing activities nor give even more work to already over-busy activists. Certainly the model is mature in some states - the UU Legislative Ministry in California being the best-established example - and it's possible to point to a record of very positive accomplishments by networks not only in CA, but in Michigan, Minnesota, and in the New England states. It escapes me that this concept should prove a problem to anyone seriously interested in social change.... and maybe we have approached it in too top-down a manner. Maybe it needs to grow from the individual congregations on up; certainly participation is a matter of congregational polity. I am convening a W PA regional organizational meeting in April and - assuming we have enough participation - would hope to have enough diverse representation and input to give us a better basis to build from.

This is not a post to express frustration; there is no magic to rapid organization in such a diverse group. Rather, it's a request for ideas and comments from outside my perspective as volunteer organizer and within UU. What's missing?

Gratefully appreciate all thoughts and ideas.

Peace and blessings.

Re: UU 7 Principles

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 03:09:05 GMT

Hey Jim, and all,

In our Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (RVUUF) bylaws, it says "...Through such signing the member enters into a covenant with the members of the Fellowship to use the ..." UU 7 Ps guiding values in our lives...

Many, many of our members didn't know this, and nobody was pointing out untill a few of us started making it known. The disagreement on meaning is also common. Thats why we're UU's I guess.

But we're making progress in learning that we do covenant to use them as guides.

Re: UU 7 Principles

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 01:06:18 GMT

This is one of the most attractive things about UU to me. We have no creed in terms of shared belief about the universe and a God - none is demanded. All that is expected is that we can share the covenant to uphold and live according to the 7 Principles. How you reached them as an ethical conclusion in your life is... irrelevant. I was living that way in any case - so there was no transition for me - just a perfect fit. Not everyone will uphold each Principle with the same vigor as the other - and since each one calls us to social justice and advocacy, I can live with that; if we're passionate about our advocacy and want it to make a real difference in the world, there is only so much time to devote. It provides a focus for being human.

However - what's the difference between a creed and a covenant? If we are covenanting together to uphold the 7 Principles, does that make them our creed in a "creedless" religion?

Peace and blessings from SW PA (Without Pittsburgh we'd be West Virginia)
Barry

Re: UU 7 Principles

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 20:54:29 GMT

The 7 Principles are also one of the things that made me try out UUism.

The thing about them that concerns me though, is that while congregations covenant to uphold them, individuals do not have to do that to be members. And, sadly, some UUs do not uphold them very well. I have also found that there is disagreement on their meaning, and whether there are secular or religious principles. I think that these issues contribute to keeping the number of UUs from growing as much as I would like to see it grow.

Jim

Re: Lifetime "member?" How did you find the church?

Mon, 22 Jan 2007 03:19:38 GMT

Growing up in Toronto in 60s and genetically Jewish (my family NEVER practiced) we knew of the Unitarian church as the only place that would marry interfaith couples.

I came to Jewish religious practice as an adult and even though it was a difficult fit I really never considered alternatives through my first marriage (24 years - first wife was Orthodox). As a lifelong social activist (that was my birth family's REAL religion) there was only so much I could put up with of organized Judaism's expectation that you support the state of Israel regardless of its actions. I saw a basic.... shall we say - disageement? - about working for social justice in my community and elsewhere in my life and being expected to tolerate and endorse active oppression as if there were a different standard to apply.

Around the life I left Judaism I began to feel a call to ministry and no spiritual home. I spent about 5 years exploring, reading every holy text of every faith I could find, attending a wide variety of services. "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" attracted me to Buddhism - but I'm too much of a scientist (as a physician) to accept the logical extension of some of the philosophic elements. As I read, I read more about UU - and the 7 Principles were the way I wanted to live my life - and by and large how I was living and interacting in my community. That it was creedless and that the path by which you got there was - for the most part - irrelevant was very attractive. So... I tried it. The major barrier I found - and it is a barrier for anyone culturally Jewish - is walking into a building called a "church".

I have been active and enthusiatic UU now going into my fourth year and have found my spiritual home and base for my activism as a proud Juunitarian (or - as some have said - a JuBuUU). I have validated as far as I can my calling to ministry, and I am scheduled to undergo the denomination's formal counseling and discernment process middle of next month. (The first entry in my Zaadz blog is an essay on what brought me to this point - in more detail than appropriate here, but much shorter than the 20-odd pages I had to write in advance of the discernment sessions.) I am working on configuring my life so that I leave medicine in September 08 to enter seminary.

Peace and blessings from SW PA (if it weren't for Pittsburgh we'd be West Virginia)

Barry

Re: UU 7 Principles

http://learnercurious1.gaia.com — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 19:14:45 GMT

I agree with you Steve.The UU Principals include All.THE 7 UP's is what drew me to UU.
UU is inclusive. am at home on thr journey with UU.learner

UU 7 Principles

Wed, 10 Jan 2007 13:14:32 GMT

The 7 Principles are what drew me to UU. They appeal to me so powerfully, I modified my value statements to include them. (see my profile) For me, they gather the most humane, salient points of all the world spiritual traditions into one place and make them meaningful.

I've heard many describe them as fluf, milk toast, not very meaningful, and that they are shallow. To me, they sum up humanities most challenging issues in one meaningful way.

For instance, "...inherent worth and dignity..." , to me implies that every person is born with that, and deserves to be treated that way. Even when in their lives they haven't behaved with these principles in their hearts. If we treat them with less than what that implies, then we lower ourselves also. Witness Saddams execution.

Re: What does being a Unitarian Universalist mean to you?

Mon, 18 Dec 2006 17:16:13 GMT

Here is a YouTubed news story about what it means to be Unitarian Universalist - from All Souls Church in Washington D.C.

Re: What does being a Unitarian Universalist mean to you?

http://back-to-the-garden.gaia.com — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 04:03:21 GMT

"Love is the doctrine of this church,
The quest of truth is its sacrament,
And service is its prayer.
To dwell together in peace,
To seek knowledge in freedom,
To serve life in fellowship,
To the end that all souls shall grow in harmony:
Thus do we covenant with each and with all."

That's the "why " I am a UU, I guess, plain and simple. I have been a UU for 30 years or so "officially," but probably unofficially all of my life. I come from a strict Southern Baptist family background, but as early as age eight had pretty much dismissed that theology, much to my mother's dismay. I just couldn't believe that an 8-year-old kid could have done anything to piss God off enough to send me straight to hell if I didn't accept Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour. In fact, I couldn't fathom myself needing to be saved from anything by anyone at that point. I really never looked back. I came to Unitarian Universalism through my boyfriend/now husband of 30+ years. He was born into a UU family, attended sporadically growing up, and then we both started attending more regularly when we were in college. We have been participants in four different Unitarian churches/fellowships and actual members of two. After being very active in our last church for years, we became inactive when the minister retired and our middle school age kids lost interest in the RE program. Through an odd set of circumstances, we discovered towards the end that there were people in our congregation who still didn't know our names or recognize us in public after seven or eight years of steady attendance, teaching RE, and serving on a number of church committees.

I guess there is such a thing as too loose a structure in a church community. I'm not particularly bothered by no longer being an active church member. Once you've gotten the UU approach to spirituality, you're pretty much on an individual spiritual journey anyway. As nice as it was to share that journey occasionally with other seekers, it is not necessary for continued commitment to Unitarian Univeralism.

Re: What does being a Unitarian Universalist mean to you?

http://learnercurious1.gaia.com — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 16:58:43 GMT

O.K. I just dropped my rock and I want throw at you.
I too have been a unitarian for about 3 years.The reason I am a UU
is that UUs are inclusive of everyone.
I attended my first Freethought meeting.I enjoyed the group and found them all
interesting and plan to go back.
learner

Re: What does being a Unitarian Universalist mean to you?

Wed, 13 Dec 2006 08:16:23 GMT

I've been thinking about this since I joined UU about 3 years ago.

This is the 2nd time I joined UU, but the first time I really "joined".

I've been part of the unchurched nearly all my life. I've read extensively about many faiths and phylosophies, The seven principles really hooked me this time.

My personal vision and mission fit nicely with UU, and I have modified and blended my values with the 7 principles. I am an athiest, and deeply spiritual. I see humanity and our world as the current results of the ongoing evolutionary process. I hope ferverently that we woun't screw it up to badly. I'm a systems person and really identify with principle 7 in that light.

I find people that woun't throw rocks at me when I speak my mind, so I don't throw rocks either, and I like that. I feel good and enjoy the flow.

Steve