how 'christian' is UU?

[nathanielfirst]

I am trying to learn more about unitarian Uism. I have read a bit about it, and I cannot help but figure that most of the people sitting in the pews are liberals, vegetarians, yuppies, buddhists... (this is not that big of a problem to me - no offense - buddhism is fascinating I've read a few scriptures and I myself am vegetarian, somewhat a liberal) - but I am trying to find how 'Christian' it is... I've heard that a few unitarians consider themselves to be Christian, 10-15% or something...
It is hard to define what I mean so I guess I'll use concepts from the bible - a very difficult to understand book-
'if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out'
'god tests, satan tempts'
a protestant, puritan work ethic
'there is a god, gods, an afterlife. people who do right will have more of a reward there. '
'life is a test'

how serious, or 'hardcore', is UU about these things.

I've studied bahai a bit. but i'm a fan of precision. and I do not believe in Precisely that. Unitarianism through it's diversity might approach what I want, IF it is not all secular humanists, buddhists, pagans, etc., if it is Christian-Like, somewhere
as a liberal, do not condemn people who drink, gamble, worse, etc., a lot - bend over backwards to allow them to. as a religious person, attempt to convince them not to, and avoid being around it in social circles.

I am sure many congregations vary, even the syncretic nature encourages it, fine, but I wonder if there ARE congregations which are more 'conservative' in these ways than my mental picture allows, or is my mental picture of UU simply wrong?

 

[Storm]

Well, as you guessed, it varies. That said, UU isn't really compatible with the idea that this life is just a test for the next. If that's what you're looking for, UU isn't for you.

 

[bicker]

Individual UUs may or may not choose to subscribe to such things, but UU, itself, does not. While most UU congregations can trace some line of history back to Unitarian Christianity or Universalist Christianity, that relationship is now mostly historical, and many UUs would be clear about the fact that if UU, itself, was still a Christian religion, they wouldn't be part of it.

It is best to understand that UU, generally, derives wisdom from a variety of faith traditions, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism, and none of these faith traditions are placed above the rest. Therefore, in matters where these faith traditional fly in the face of each other, you can figure that UU does not integrate those beliefs at all. The strength of UU for many UUs is the fact that UU is built on a foundation of the "most likely truths" i.e., those things that all major faith traditions actually agree with each other about.

 

[Gaura Priya]

Sometimes I wonder if I am a Unitarian Universalist at heart, even if I don't wear a flaming chalice or sing from that aweful hymnbook and hold hands with the congregation...

The actual one thing that is stopping me from attending a Unitarian Universalist congregation is that the services are so, well, Protestant. Song, chalice lighting, song, sermon, children's story, song, etc. If the Unitarian Universalist services were more Hindu styled (offering of the different elements, as an arti ceremony), Bahai (like Bahai devotionals), or even Islamic, that would whet my appetite for spiritual stimulation so much more.

But I just find worship so... dry. The general trend is either Protestant-y or Pagan-y. I thrive on colours, variety and stimulation, unfortunately.

 

[Onkara]

That is the impression of UU that I have, madanbhakta.

UU looks like a great thing. A way to find God in modern society without limiting oneself to tradition (not that that is bad either). Each time I read about it I am left with the feeling it is Christian.

 

[Storm]

Sometimes I wonder if I am a Unitarian Universalist at heart, even if I don't wear a flaming chalice or sing from that aweful hymnbook and hold hands with the congregation...

The actual one thing that is stopping me from attending a Unitarian Universalist congregation is that the services are so, well, Protestant. Song, chalice lighting, song, sermon, children's story, song, etc. If the Unitarian Universalist services were more Hindu styled (offering of the different elements, as an arti ceremony), Bahai (like Bahai devotionals), or even Islamic, that would whet my appetite for spiritual stimulation so much more.

But I just find worship so... dry. The general trend is either Protestant-y or Pagan-y. I thrive on colours, variety and stimulation, unfortunately.

Well, that's the tradition we're rooted in. I'm so very sorry that our cultural history bores you.

That is the impression of UU that I have, madanbhakta.

UU looks like a great thing. A way to find God in modern society without limiting oneself to tradition (not that that is bad either). Each time I read about it I am left with the feeling it is Christian.

I strike you as Christian? Well, that's a new one.

 

[Onkara]

I strike you as Christian? Well, that's a new one.

Far from Christian Storm, which why I think first impressions are wrong of UU.

 

[Smoke]

UU looks like a great thing. A way to find God in modern society without limiting oneself to tradition (not that that is bad either). Each time I read about it I am left with the feeling it is Christian.

In general I'd characterize the UUA as postchristian.

The actual one thing that is stopping me from attending a Unitarian Universalist congregation is that the services are so, well, Protestant.

<--snip-->

But I just find worship so... dry. The general trend is either Protestant-y or Pagan-y. I thrive on colours, variety and stimulation, unfortunately.

That's been my experience, too. Love the people, but don't find the service that interesting. But they developed from a Protestant background, so it's not that surprising.

 

[uu_sage]

As a Christian UU who is aligned with the UU Christian Fellowship, the Christian Universalist Association, and the United Church of Christ (UCC), there is a range of opinion within the larger UUA about the role of Christian tradition in local parish. There is the Council of Christian Churches in the UUA that are the explicitly Christian Universalist or Christian Unitarian churches in the tradition of King's Chapel in Boston, Universalist National Memorial Church in DC, All Souls Bethlehem Church in Brooklyn, or Church of the Open Door in Chicago. There are others like All Souls, Unitarian in Tulsa, New York, or DC that while pluralistic, keeps the Christian tradition alive. Yet there are others usually those parishes on the West Coast or the Midwest that were founded in the Fellowship Movement or after that are religiously generic or narrowly defined as humanistic.

 

[Onkara]

Hi UU Sage
Do the services change depending on the background or the interest of the people attending? I hope I have the chance to go one day to see for myself.

 

[Rainbow Mage]

Curious, isn't UU's roots in Christianity historically?

 

[Gaura Priya]

Maybe I just want to see more Unitarian Universalist Hindus out there... I reckon that Unitarian Universalism is a Protestant-modelled syncretic religion... but it would be curious to see if Unitarian Universalist service would actually be modelled differently if it became popular in other countries.

A Bahai-inspired service, would be fairly easy... instead of a lecture of some sort, they would be replaced with designated readers to read nine inspiring passages on the theme of the week from various religionists and philosophers, as well as nine prayers from different traditions may be read or sung.

Or instead of having communion, people are offered the sacraments from a Hindu arti ceremony, which would go well with earth-centred spirituality (fire in the form of a ghee lamp, water, a flower). They can express a joy or concern and then receive the blessings of the ghee lamp over their heads...

I would wonder how a more Islamic Unitarian Universalist service would look like.

 

[SageTree]

The answers here are good in my experience.

thanks folks.

 

[uu_sage]

Worship services and traditions vary based on the their theological leanings and the area they are situated. Whether the parish is explicitly Christian, Christian friendly, eclectic or humanist, all are welcome and no two parishes are alike.

Hi UU Sage
Do the services change depending on the background or the interest of the people attending? I hope I have the chance to go one day to see for myself.

 

[nathanielfirst]

thanks!
uu_sage- you seem to know a lot about this, so I have a question for you, how do you think one would go about figuring out WHICH congregations are in which category you described, how did you find this out? The only way I can figure is, contact the pastor of each... rather laborious.
as in, one of the factors for me moving to a town when I do, if I can find a religious association that matches what I believe...

 

[uu_sage]

If you go to uua.org/CONG/ it offers a search for churches in your local area either by entering a zip code or state.

Churches that are humanist or religiously generic refer to their parishes by the names of "society" "congregation" or "fellowship"

Explicitly Christian churches not only have the word church in their name but references Christian ideas or themes like "Christ", "Bethlehem" "Epiphany", these churches also include the titles "Federated Church" or "First Parish", "Community Church, "Independent Christian Church", or "Church of the Mediator". There may an occasional All Souls. Many churches have these titles in addition to the words "Unitarian" or "Universalist"

Christian friendly churches include names like "All Souls", "Universalist" in front of the word Unitarian. These Christian friendly churches can include names like Unity Temple.

You can also tell by looking at a church's website and looking at their "about us page"

thanks!
uu_sage- you seem to know a lot about this, so I have a question for you, how do you think one would go about figuring out WHICH congregations are in which category you described, how did you find this out? The only way I can figure is, contact the pastor of each... rather laborious.
as in, one of the factors for me moving to a town when I do, if I can find a religious association that matches what I believe...

Hi UU Sage
Do the services change depending on the background or the interest of the people attending? I hope I have the chance to go one day to see for myself.

 

[SageTree]

I know many UU's I attend Worship with also regularly attend Quaker services.

UU worship is centric on the membership I feel, but Quakers will almost always have a Christo-centric vantage.

:namaste
SageTree

 

[uu_sage]

Some of the explicitly Christian churches are also aligned with the United Church of Christ (UCC), the Disciples of Christ, the American Baptists, or the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches (NACCC)

If you go to uua.org/CONG/ it offers a search for churches in your local area either by entering a zip code or state.

Churches that are humanist or religiously generic refer to their parishes by the names of "society" "congregation" or "fellowship"

Explicitly Christian churches not only have the word church in their name but references Christian ideas or themes like "Christ", "Bethlehem" "Epiphany", these churches also include the titles "Federated Church" or "First Parish", "Community Church, "Independent Christian Church", or "Church of the Mediator". There may an occasional All Souls. Many churches have these titles in addition to the words "Unitarian" or "Universalist"

Christian friendly churches include names like "All Souls", "Universalist" in front of the word Unitarian. These Christian friendly churches can include names like Unity Temple.

You can also tell by looking at a church's website and looking at their "about us page"

 

[GabrielWithoutWings]

Sometimes I wonder if I am a Unitarian Universalist at heart, even if I don't wear a flaming chalice or sing from that aweful hymnbook and hold hands with the congregation...

The actual one thing that is stopping me from attending a Unitarian Universalist congregation is that the services are so, well, Protestant. Song, chalice lighting, song, sermon, children's story, song, etc. If the Unitarian Universalist services were more Hindu styled (offering of the different elements, as an arti ceremony), Bahai (like Bahai devotionals), or even Islamic, that would whet my appetite for spiritual stimulation so much more.

But I just find worship so... dry. The general trend is either Protestant-y or Pagan-y. I thrive on colours, variety and stimulation, unfortunately.

Agreed.

Honestly. After attending Orthodox *churches... I'm afraid every other church is rather drab looking.

 

[seeker57]

thanks!
uu_sage- you seem to know a lot about this, so I have a question for you, how do you think one would go about figuring out WHICH congregations are in which category you described, how did you find this out? The only way I can figure is, contact the pastor of each... rather laborious.
as in, one of the factors for me moving to a town when I do, if I can find a religious association that matches what I believe...

For more information, you might try going to the UUA web site and then clicking on the UU Christian link.

There are UU churches which are specifically Christian, and usually they say so up front.

Most of the others I have encountered may use Christ's teachings to encourage love and compassion for our fellow humans, but don't revere him as a divinity.

Also, I might disagree with the posting by uu sage regarding the names on the churches.

From my experience, larger congregations that have a paid minister are often called churches.

Those called fellowships are usually smaller and lay led, and often are fiercely independent.

Just my 2¢ worth,

Seeker