The topic today is how Christianity relates to Unitarian Universalism. I’m a minister of a Unitarian Universalist congregation on the North Side of Youngstown. I approach this question as a practitioner, as a minister, not an academic or historian. My hope is to give you a spirit of Unitarian Universalism, and to hopefully provoke a rich discussion. But before understanding the role Christianity plays in current Unitarian Universalism, I think it is important to first understand our context, for our deepest religious questions and searching always happens in a particular context.
Religious and non-religious alike are realizing the predicament that we are in. Scientists are surveying the impact of humans on the environment, and coming to the same conclusion as many of our sacred texts – the end is near. Unless we change our habits and levels of consumption, our planet is on a countdown toward the end, and even if we successfully change our habits, this is no guarantee that our planet and life as we know it will be saved.
Socially we are experiencing an awakening of pain and prejudice that has existed for many generations, and is becoming unbearable. We are seeing a rise in the level of gun violence, especially in schools. We are witnessing especially in Youngstown the impact of poverty, and the inability of our society to provide basic necessities like running water and grocery stores containing fresh food. We are witnessing the sin of racism and how it infects not just the individuals in our society, but our institutions, including our churches.
We are witnessing a culture that has condoned sexual violence toward women, putting women at risk in the workplace, on college campuses, and prone to be trafficked. We are witnessing the treatment of undocumented citizens, like Al Adi, a longtime citizen of Youngstown. We see the prejudice toward immigrant families. You don’t need to be religious to notice any of this. We have seen communal responses to this pain through various grassroots movements that have a chosen to affirm life rather than get mired down in despair – Black Lives Matter, Metoo, March for Our Lives, March for Climate Change, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration, Martin Luther King Planning Committee and Nonviolence Parade and many others.
Again, I will repeat – you don’t need to be religious to notice any of this. Most people I meet are unfamiliar with the denomination I serve within. They may have heard of Unitarian Universalism or had a cousin that went to one of those churches. Or sadly, they have a simplistic idea of this faith that usually focuses on negation, and is usually inaccurate.
One of those negations is plainly accurate. We don’t have a creed that our members or ministers need to adhere to. This is a radical departure from most organized religions – we don’t have a set of beliefs religiously or otherwise that one must ascribe to. to fully participate in our church. Instead we follow a covenant, an agreement that guides our thinking and actions with one another. Our covenant is this: “Love is the spirit of this church and service is its law. This is our great covenant: to dwell together in peace, to seek the truth in love, and to help one another.”
Our historical roots are in the Jewish and Christian traditions. During World War II Unitarian ministers helped Jews escape Nazi occupied territories. The symbol they would use to let Jews know where to find sanctuary was a chalice – the base representing the communion cup of Jesus, and the flame representing the spark of life in every one of us. This contemporary symbol has become a staple in nearly all our congregations. Our Universalist heritage is simple yet radical – theologically Universalism is the claim that no one is destined for hell.
All will be saved. We all share a common destiny. The image Universalists used was of God dragging each and every sinner by the feet into heaven. Historically we have believed in a God that would save every last one of us (whether we were looking for it or wanted it). In short, salvation is our birthright.
We don’t spend much time in our Sunday services talking about the afterlife however. Because of the diversity of histories and beliefs of the people in our pews, we focus on a simple yet profound question – How do we live a life of dignity and integrity with the time we are allotted on earth? People who come to First Unitarian Universalist Church of Youngstown are most interested in this question.
As I’ve said earlier, you don’t need to be religious to realize the environmental and social predicament we are in. You don’t need to be religious to participate in grassroots organizing and movement work. So what is the purpose of religion in this current era?
I believe the purpose of religion in this current era is simple yet radical. In joining our neighbors in a struggle for dignity and justice, we find our true life, we are transformed. As a religious person, we do not just work tirelessly toward an afterlife or an unknown future – we can know, deep in our bones that regardless of the outcome, this is our truest, most alive choice – to give ourselves wholeheartedly to the predicament we find ourselves in, and the people who are suffering because of it. This is not a new idea. You’ll find it in both the Jewish and Christian traditions, as well as others. We find our life by joining it to another, especially when things look dire, and the suffering is acute.
As Unitarian Universalists, we don’t participate in social struggle for a reward in the afterlife, or for some sense we are especially chosen by doing good works. We participate in social struggle to truly discover and find our true life – to find the aliveness and depth that is given to every one of us as our birthright.
Especially when circumstances don’t go the way we hope, I think it is necessary that our churches and various faiths offer a religious framework for our current struggles and opportunities.
We need a religion that can remind people that their true life is now, not someplace else, or in some other future time. Our life is happening now, and we have a precious opportunity to be in covenant with our neighbors, remaining faithful to the enduring spirit of love in the midst of uncertainty and pain. We have the opportunity to make our only law: Service. We will need a religious framework for social justice, and this framework must be interfaith, and include those of no faith. We are all in the same predicament – this much is plain.
How will we engage this predicament with a full heart and sense of calling? This is where our faith communities can help.
Our faith communities can serve as reminders that even when things look really hopeless and overwhelming, there is a choice.
We can choose to live a life of integrity and courage right now, no matter the outcome. Is this difficult? Yes, sometimes.
This is why it is important to have community for encouragement and support. With the help of a faith community, we can all be reminded that our life is not waiting for us somewhere else, but right here, in the predicament we’re in. That which matters most is available right here, in this time, in this place. Together, we can know this.
Is Unitarian Universalism a Christian faith? That’s a complicated question. If you would ask our membership if they identify as Christian, I would guess 80% would say no. Of the 20% who would identify as Christian, they would identify under very specific parameters. If you asked my membership if Jesus was the only Son of God, born of a virgin, who was crucified, resurrected, and brought to heaven – I would be surprised if you found one person who believed that in the literal sense. But if your litmus test for being a Christian is similar to the the test proposed in Matthew 25 of the New Testament: Did you clothe me when I was naked? Did you feed me when I was hungry? Did you visit me in prison?, I would argue you would find a good number of our membership following or wanting to follow this path. In the Torah, there is special attention given toward widows, orphans, and the stranger. In short, special attention and care toward the vulnerable. This practice has carried over from both the Jewish and Christian tradition, and has been centered in Unitarian Universalism.
We have Christian roots and cultural history. We find our roots go back to Transylvania during the 16th Century when the Reformation touched a Catholic priest named Francis David who professed he believed in one God, not three. He was martyred for this belief. We come from Universalist Christians who believed that salvation, or an afterlife in heaven, was available to all regardless of belief or actions.
You can find these thoughts expressed as early as the 3rd Century in Alexandria through Origen, a Biblical scholar and theologian in the Early Greek Church. You find these ideas made popular in America in the early 18th Century by English migrants to the colonies like John Murray.
Yet here we are in Youngstown, Ohio approaching the year 2020. If you asked our membership if they believed in God the Creator, you will get many different answers. As a church, we are agnostic in the deepest sense, open to mystery, and new revelation. Many of our most passionate and committed members are humanists, and find no use for a belief in God. You will find Muslim Unitarian Universalists, Hindu Unitarian Universalists, Buddhist Unitarian Universalists across the world. You will find secular Unitarian Universalists who follow ethics not religious scripture. There is no central theology any longer. Some believe this is a deficit of our faith. Some of my colleagues say this is holding us back. I think it is a great asset.
Unitarian Universalism is changing the paradigm of what religion is and might become. It does not devalue any of the great religious traditions. It values them only as far as they influence how one lives in their daily life. The test of religion is not a belief that is professed, but a full life of meaning lived in service.
If you would ask our members about prophets, they would probably be likely to list Martin Luther King Jr, Gandhi, Dorothy Day. They may list the person sitting in the pews next to them. We believe in the prophethood of all believers, which means each of us has the gift and role of prophecy. We are a people who pray with our feet. Our actions of love to our community in the broadest sense of the word are our prayer. Each protest, each visitation, each accompaniment of those who are vulnerable and suffering, each action taken on behalf of love, is our primary form of prayer.
Many believe in the power of love. If you asked those who professed belief in God, I would say most would equate God with love. Even those who would not believe in God the Creator, find love to be a meaningful and powerful source of transformation. Each person has their own definition of love, and perhaps this is as it should be.
For Unitarian Universalists, Judgement Day is everyday. We judge the impact of our words and actions on our environment, our neighbors, and ourselves. And we seek to live in alignment with our values of justice, compassion, and mercy. We do not wait for a final Judgement Day from something or someone outside our own conscience and accountable community.
Each act of goodness is an act of worship. Again, it is about daily life. Formal worship only works so far as it influences our daily life. Democracy as a practice is central to our religious understanding. We believe each person has worth and dignity, and should have a voice in issues that concern their lives. Especially in a time when our current democracy is so broken and corrupt, I see this value being an asset in making social change. Our congregation puts our power in the individual members who vote on everything from whether and who to call as minster, the budget, the goals and mission of the community.
In short, Unitarian Universalism is not a set of beliefs, though we come from a history with a large set of beliefs. Many of these beliefs still prove to be inspirational and meaningful, and many have fallen away in terms of their importance in how we live our daily lives. But more than anything, Unitarian Universalism is a path, a way to live one’s life with great meaning, depth, and modesty. Our focus is on our current environmental and social crisis, and how we may partner with our neighbors to create a more just and kind world, and in so doing transform our life. So right now I am praying with all of you. My sermon and your presence here is an answer to my prayer, that we may be One, to recognize in our beautiful differences and similarities, we are One. According to John 17:21, that may make me a Christian.
