Elements of Religion, But Not the Core

Elements of Religion, But Not the Core - Part 1

"I think it would be very nice if we really tried to examine what it is we are up to and try to clarify what it is we are doing or what we’re trying to do." -- Rev. Gordon McKeeman

I am not a Unitarian. I am not a Universalist. Born in 1969, I am a Unitarian Universalist.

What is at the core of what we do?

I have struggled with this. What is the theological center of our religion? It was the Rev. Mark Edmiston-Lange who helped focus my thoughts. "I don't think it's theological. I think it's ontological."

I mused on that for several days, thinking him wrong, until I traced back why we are so different, and realized ... Eureka! Mark is right, again!

We often get confused, thinking one of the elements of our religion is the core. It happened with Humanism. The core was that humans have both the capability and the responsibility to make the world better. One of the elements coming off that was "God is not necessary." It wasn't the core, but some future Humanists made it the core. "God is not necessary!" becoming "God is NOT!"

But that wasn't the core.

With Unitarian Universalism, we have done the same. One of those offset elements was "non-creedalism." Or "we don't have to believe the same way." A worthy, important element. But not the core, the center, the raison d'etre of our religion. And yet, we have acted as if it is.

"We don't have to believe the same way!" Okay, nice. Gets new people in the door. But then what?

Tomorrow ... Part 2, The Core of Unitarian Universalism

Comments

Hey, Vampire Slayer -- Who's Your "Watcher"?

I was watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer* one day, like you do, and I thought, "Wow. I wish I had a Watcher." According to the Buffy Wiki , a Watcher is: a member of the Watchers Council, devoted to tracking and combating malevolent supernatural entities (and particularly vampires), primarily by locating individuals with the talents required to fight such beings and win. More specifically, Watchers were assigned to train and guide Slayers, girls that were part of a succession of mystically powered young women who were destined to face the forces of darkness. And then, quick as a vampire turns to dust when stabbed with a wooden stake, I realized, "Ohmygosh, I TOTALLY have a Watcher." My Watcher is named Ken, and he's an expert in Bowen Systems Theory, and he coaches me, teaching me about the vampires I encounter, and drilling me in how to slay them. No, the Vampires aren't people around me! Far from it. The Vampires are my own responses to anxiety...

Me and My Collar

You may run into me on a Friday, in my neighborhood, so it's time I let you know what you might see. When I was doing my required unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), my supervisor suggested that any of us who came from traditions where a clerical collar was an option, take one "collar week," to see how we were treated, as opposed to wearing regular professional clothes. After a couple of days, I joked to the Catholic priest, "How do you manage the power?" In regular clothes, I would walk into a patient's room, and it would take about 5 or so minutes of introductions and pleasantries before we could really get down to talking about their feelings, their fears, the deep stuff. With most people, as soon as that clerical collar walked in the room, with me attached, they began pouring out all the heavy stuff they were carrying. I was riding the bus back and forth every day, and though not quite so dramatic, the collar effect was alive there, to...

Whole Church Worship

TL;dr -- Our church does "Whole Church Worship," or "All Ages Are Together for the Whole Service, Every Service, Every Week." I've been getting a lot of questions about this. Here are some answers. Preface: For some reason, I occasionally run into people from other churches who want to explain to me all the reasons this won't work at their church. Sure. I'm not trying to talk you into this. You do you, Bub. Whole Church Worship is working at our church, at this time. Live Oak is pretty special, and I don't know that there are many things we do that would work any other place, including our Chili, Chocolate, and Karaoke Party. But that's a post for another day. Okay, then. So, I first got involved in Whole Church Worship as a result of a fit of pique - my own. This was before I was a minister. At my home congregation, we had "Children's Chapel," and we had reached the point where we couldn't get anyone signed up to coordin...

Boots and Blessings

Search This Blog