Over the last few days, I’ve chatted with some minister friends about the appeal of the Coptic church, particularly with respect to its antiquity, perseverance under genuine persecution (particularly lately) and the beauty of its liturgy. And I almost decided not to mention these attributes in blog post, and I wondered why I felt that… Continue reading The charisma of the Universalists
Category: Unitarian Universalist Association
The anxious presence
A few days ago I experimented with my Facebook and Twitter feeds. This was about when the crisis in Baltimore was getting hot, and I could already see the signs. Unitarian Universalists — I’m thinking of ministers particularly, because that’s who I know mostly, but I see lay persons do this, too — would bring… Continue reading The anxious presence
Checking in on the book project
Get used to these check-ins; otherwise, it may be too easy to throw the idea of a book on the scrapheap of good intentions. For one thing, it looks like I may be envisioning not one work, but three. A book about what Universalist Christianity, in a liberal vein, might look like today. And not… Continue reading Checking in on the book project
New congregations to be considered at March UUA Board meeting
The Unitarian Universalist Association Board meets, starting this Thursday (tomorrow). Two congregations have applied for membership. Open Door Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Owensboro, Kentucky. It was organized in 2013 with nine members and applied for membership with 36 members about a month ago. St. Croix Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Saint Croix Falls, Wisconsin. It was organized in… Continue reading New congregations to be considered at March UUA Board meeting
The only thing people are going to talk about today
The only thing people are going to talk about today in Unitarian Universalist-land is the announcement yesterday from Starr King School for the Ministry that their Ad-Hoc Committee had reported out about the crises associated with their presidential search process last year. There’s just so much in the letter and the three documents you can… Continue reading The only thing people are going to talk about today
Preserving Unitarian Universalism
So, I’m waiting for Lucky Dog to come on this morning, with CBS This Morning (which comes on just before) on in the background so I don’t miss it. There was a segment about digitizing The Spirit of St. Louis and other Smithsonian-held artifacts through 3-D scanning. Even President Obama got the treatment, like President… Continue reading Preserving Unitarian Universalism
UUA certification numbers roundup, 2015
Analyzing UUA member congregation numbers is so much easier now that you can bulk-download the data, which includes helpful tidbits like pledge income and average attendance. The stats were due on Monday, and so I hope they’re complete. [Scratch that: the deadline was extended to last night, due to recent bad weather in Boston.] I’ll… Continue reading UUA certification numbers roundup, 2015
Is Unitarian Universalism too large?
I’ve been thinking about the general fellowship of Unitarian Universalists — I often do, and I mean more than the membership of churches though the UUA — both because of the current crises at Starr King School for the Ministry, and the pan-mainline concern about ministerial salaries, maintaining buildings and (generally) the survival of theological… Continue reading Is Unitarian Universalism too large?
(Talk about) the Fellowship movement never dies
So, there was a discussion on Facebook about — in so many words — the Fellowship movement, midcentury Humanism and church development. But with all things Facebook, it’s as hard as Hades to find it once the thread grows cold. And since my long comment was essentially a blog post, I thought I share it… Continue reading (Talk about) the Fellowship movement never dies
New congregation, but net loss of two
So, I look forward to the Unitarian Universalist Association Board of Trustee meetings packets. They get posted online, and there’s a January meeting. That one got posted yesterday. The good news in that the Unitarian Universalist Bay de Noc Fellowship, Escanaba, in the upper peninsula of Michigan, is being proposed for membership, and I have… Continue reading New congregation, but net loss of two