Unitarian Universalist Church of Evansville

In my library, I own a book called “The Anthology of World Scriptures.”  Contained within that work is a myriad of different verses and sayings that pull from numerous religious traditions.  This huge volume is divided not by religion, but by topic, such as love, obedience, health, faith, etc.  If I were to grab all of the participants who contributed to the book and asked them to perform a worship service not based upon their religion, but upon those shared principles, we would have a close approximation of what a Unitarian Universalist Church looks like. 

The church of choice this week was the Unitarian Universalist Church of Evansville.  If one isn’t familiar with the Unitarian Universalist Church, it’s a liberal church built upon what they consider universal principles – love, hope, faith, charity, etc.  There are no creeds, no doctrines, and all are welcome.  Whether you’re a Christian, an Atheist, a Buddhist, a Muslim, whatever – the door is open to anyone and everyone.  Folks are allowed to have their own unique points of view; worship is individual, but as a community, all the differing types of beliefs gather together weekly to share views respectfully, and out of love, upon different topics.  There was no mention of God, Allah, Jesus, the Buddha, Mohammed, Moses, or any other religious figures during the service, nor were there appeals to any particular faith, praying, or anything of an inherently religious nature.  To me, it seemed more like a club than an actual church.  I’m taking the initiative to mention all of this now, because I want to remove the surprise factor one may have when I neglect to mention anything relative to any deity, because there was just no supernatural element to report upon here.  The Unitarian Church is, as they call themselves, a humanist church, and as I would call it, a confederacy of different religions and philosophies worshipping under democratic principles.  Knowing this as I entered, I was excited to see how a mish-mash of different beliefs jived in a church setting.

Whereas last week I attended what I would deem a “mega-church” (or one in training), the Unitarian Universalist Church of Evansville was one of the most unique churches I have ever been to, and one of almost exact opposites to my last experience.  Located off Morgan, it’s a small, nondescript building that looks almost like any other average small town church.  The parking is tiny, the worship area is small (seats about 50), and because of the vast differences in sizing, my friend and I who attended experienced a whole different type of worship service than I did last week.  Whereas it was the easiest thing in the world at Crossroads to blend in, it was virtually impossible here.

Upon entering the doors to the church, I was struck by how friendly the parishioners were.  Last week, I didn’t receive any sort of greeting or welcome aside from a friend I knew who went to the church.  Had he not been there, I would have gone unnoticed.  Not here, though.  As soon as my friend and I entered, we were greeted by at least three people, all older, but kind.  We were offered an envelope full of useful and vital information, we were offered hymnals, escorted to the sanctuary, and we carried on dialogue with a few of the members before the services actually began.  I have to say, in one of this church’s strong suites – kudos to the parishioners for making us feel welcome.  Once inside, my friend carried a discussion with a Buddhist, and the gentlemen I spoke with was a Sufi Muslim.  Both had unique life stories, were very friendly, and I had no problem telling them I was an Atheist.  That’s a fact I neglect to mention at most other churches (you can understand why), but it didn’t even faze them.  “There are quite a few atheists here,” was the response.  Like I said before, all are welcomed, and I admit – it is a strong selling point.  Being as such, once the service began, I noticed how relaxed the congregation was.  Dress was casual, the people were friendly; when the parishioners spoke, they attempted to do so out of an all-inclusive idea of love and tolerance.  We were offered donuts by a random parishioner and invited for ice cream later.  One gets the impression that the congregation is very intimate, close, and the followers of the church seek to connect with outsiders.  A point of interest that surprised me:  there were quite a few older folks here as opposed to what I thought would have been a younger crowd.  The youngest leader of the church was probably in his late 30s or early 40s, and there were maybe about 10 people out of the 50ish there that were under 30.

Now, here’s where the details get interesting, as worship was unique to anything I’ve experienced before.  If one knows my background, I come from a conservative Baptist background, with a rigid structure and a strong adherence to doctrine.  I’m used to a service that goes from A to Z with no deviations.  However, the entire service at the UU lacked such rigidity, and while there were hymnals, and moments or reflection, there were no Christian hymns, nor were their praise and worship songs, nor were there prayers.  The theme of the service was “the Latino problem?”, a discussion of the incorrect American perceptions of the Latin peoples.  The hymnals sung during the service were of Latino origin, intended to fit the message, and they praised concepts such as love, the sun, caring for your fellow man, etc.  The service opened with a Latino song from the hymnal/reading book, Singing the Living Tradition.  Thumbing through, it was an anthology of different cultural and spiritual songs and readings taken from all over the world.  There were Biblical texts, some from Buddhist works, Jewish, some from folks who were just “inspired” – it was such an interesting book that I almost wanted to pilfer one, but I declined out of respect.  The service then formally began with the lighting of the Unitarian chalice, a large…well…chalice that was upon the altar.  We were asked to introduce ourselves to the congregation (something I didn’t expect).  After we did so, we sang a few hymns, welcomed the introduction of a new member (who was given a red rose as a symbol of her commitment).  There was additionally a children’s time whereupon they discussed ethnic differences, and a reading followed by meditation/prayer and tithing (of which about half went to Habitat for Humanity).  One particular moment of worship that struck me as extremely unique was the sharing of joys and concerns.  The microphone was opened to the congregation to share the joys of their lives, or concerns.  Many “joys” were shared, but during the “concerns” moment of sharing, a family stood up, approached the microphone, and read their member resignation letters citing bullying as the factor in them leaving.  As outsiders, my friend and I were hesitant to make judgment calls on the validity of this situation, but we were taken aback that such a thing could happen.  Again, my background and my friend’s background are from more conservative congregations, where someone leaving the church is usually a subject of gossip as opposed to it being brought before the congregation.  Honestly, we were just astounded that someone was able to do that, but the congregation accepted it, some folks answered the criticisms, and the family walked out and things went on.  There was no uproar, no reason to be concerned…that’s just how open this church was.

I must digress for a moment to make a statement.  My friend and I, to be honest and fair in our assessment, believed that the church didn’t put its best foot forward, and that Murphy’s Law was quite prevalent during the entire course of the service.  The congregation was so worried that the family resigning would send the wrong message that visitors were repeatedly assured that there was no problem.  The guest speaker, the woman who was supposed to deliver the talk on “the Latino problem” neglected to show, so the church leader (who wasn’t really the official preacher; there wasn’t one, so the congregation was lay-led), opened the floor up to discussion.  Had the original speaker been there, she would have delivered her lecture, and the congregation, after the message, would have been allowed to ask questions and offer constructive criticism.  Once I found this out, my jaw almost dropped to the floor.  Never had I seen a church where it was actually encouraged to rationally dissent, especially during the service.  Again, questions are usually reserved for the preacher/priest after the service, and there are just certain questions one doesn’t ask.  If it was allowed, I daresay most churches wouldn’t be in business for long…and I would be attending church a lot more.  Rational and logical discourse was encouraged here, as were differing points of view.  We were told by one member that disagreements occurred all the time, and that while it was a source of weakness at times for the church, it was also their greatest strength.  Controversy and differing views are accepted here, and that resonated strongly with me.  Folks were free to raise hands and ask questions, to assist each other in speaking, to raise points, and to basically communicate however/whenever they wanted during the service within rational boundaries.  Audience participation in worship and the message were strong, and highly encouraged.

The actual message, “The Latino Problem?” was more of a discussion due to the unforeseen absence of the scheduled speaker.  The microphone was again left open for people to discuss the Latino community here in Evansville, how we can assist them, the struggles they go through, and what life is like through their eyes.  No mention of God, faith, or any theological issues.  Just “how do we help the Latino community?”  While I wasn’t very fascinated with the topic itself, I was thrilled with the approach they took.  They discuss quite a bit of topics in their services, and had the issue been one I felt passionately about, even I as a visitor might have offered a bit for the congregation to chew one.  This particular one, though, was a bit different.  For about half an hour, I listened to secular and liberal solutions to the issue of Latinos in America.  I will go ahead and state that I am fairly conservative when it comes to issues of immigration, especially illegal immigration, and while I could have approached the microphone, I decided not to out of respect.  Though everyone differed in their views, they all agreed that love and understanding were the keys to offering a better life to Latin Americans.

After the message, we sang one more song (“The Colors” – another Latin American piece) and the chalice was extinguished, with a final reading from Hebrews (where they freely admitted that Paul may or may not have been the author).  Once the service concluded, we were approached by a few other members, welcomed with their express wishes that we returned, and I was able to field some questions to them.  On matters of outreach, my assessment is based on how many programs they have relative to the number of members present.  The Unitarian Church has a congregation of somewhere around 150, and for that number of folks, they have about eight to ten different programs.  They volunteer in soup kitchens, do work with children of poverty, are looking for people to assist in committees, hospitality, grounds-keeping, and, really, just anywhere they can receive help.  They’re always looking for committed, proactive volunteers, which is understandable – I felt if I joined, I could easily busy myself with something here.  In actually joining, membership requires a few classes (like catechism), a pledge to give a minimum of $100 a year in tithes (which isn’t horribly bad), and the taking of an oath to respect all peoples, faiths, and creeds.

Information-wise, the members were more than willing to answer my questions, and the packet of information I received was very thorough.  I think only a wikipedia entry would have given me more details on the church than the envelope, so I was pleasantly surprised that, if I went back, I would know what to expect and how the Unitarian’s conduct their business on Sundays.

So, for the breakdown:

1. Congregation
1. Friendliness (.9/1)
2. Message
1. Topic Interest (.6/1)
2. Value (.8/1)
3. Clarity (.6/1)
4. Applicability (.8/1)
3. Worship
1. Content (.7/1)
2. Audience Participation (1/1)
4. Outreach
1. Community Involvement (1/1)
2. Variety of Activities (.9/1)
5. Information
1. Accessibility (1/1)

Now, for myself, after I finish my rotation of churches, I will probably join this church.  It works for me.  I like its principles, I like how they conduct themselves, and I genuinely had a good time.  I also see plenty of volunteering opportunities here, and I like the variety of both people and subjects.  I still desire to do this blog, and I would hate to say that I’m settling down after only two churches, but I really enjoyed this church, the people, and the environment.  I foresee myself being able to discuss all the religion, theology, and philosophy I could ever want in a respectful, welcoming, and loving environment.  I can ask the tough questions, disagree, and raise concerns without raising the ire of folks.  However, I’m thinking of striking a balance where I may go back to this church every few weeks, and do the church rotation the other weeks.  I’ll let you know next week what I decide.  8.3/10