Category Archives: Liberal religion

UU Emergence overview

Here’s a brief excerpt from the sermon I preached last night at our 300th anniversary bash. In remarking on the many changes our congregation has seen over the years, I gave a brief overview of how we’re incorporating Emergent Church theories and techniques into our worship services. After the service, a 20 year old man told me he liked these Emergent Church ideas, and that they express the needs of his generation (at least, as he experiences those needs). Based on his response, I thought it might be worth sharing this excerpt here.

Over the past two years, the Religious Services Committee and I have been experimenting with new ways of conducting worship services. In initiating these changes, I had been inspired by the innovations of the Emergent Church movement.

The Emergent Church movement started when a number of evangelical Christians realized that an entire generation of Americans, Generation X, was drifting away from church. The majority of Gen-Xers were steeped in a postmodern mindset that questioned authority; questioned absolutes and demanded multiple points of view; was more interested in aesthetics than ontology; and loved the feeling of ancient and medieval religious forms. And so the Emergent Church movement created worship services that questioned authority by bringing the preacher out of the unassailable pulpit and down on the floor among the congregation; included many voices in the worship service, not just the preacher’s voice, to present more than one point of view; emphasized the arts and new media rather than systematic theology; and brought the feel of ancient and medieval religion into their services. And because the Emergent Church movement knew that Gen-Xers did not grow up in churches, they explained every element of the worship service.

I had been inspired by this Emergent Church movement, and the Religious Services Committee and I started using some their ideas in our worship services. We brought the minister out of the pulpit for parts of the service. We began using worship associates, so you’d hear more than just one voice. We’re working on including more arts in worship: poetry, and fabric arts, and lighting up our Tiffany mosaic, and putting art on the cover of the order of service. Fortunately, we already have this neo-Gothic building, so we already have that medieval feeling. And we have begun explaining every element of the worship service.

None of this has changed the eternal and permanent truths of religion; indeed, all these changes in our worship service are evanescent and impermanent, and will be swept away by future changes. But in the mean time, we have begun to attract people in their 20’s and 30’s to our worship services….

Not-so-new biography

Somehow I missed it. John Buescher published a biography of John Murray Spear, the first minister of First Universalist Church of New Bedford, back in 2006. I had read Buescher’s The Other Side of Salvation: Spiritualism and Nineteenth Century Religious Experience, with its chapter on Spear, and had known then that Buescher was preparing a full-length biography of Spear. But somehow I missed the fact that Buescher had published The Remarkable Life of John Murray Spear: Agitator for the Spirit Land a year and a half ago.

Spear’s tenure at First Universalist here in New Bedford was remarkable in of itself. Spear was an ardent abolitionist, and managed to attract the prominent African American Nathan Johnson to join the Universalist church — Johnson was active with the Underground Railroad, and is probably most famous for providing shelter and a new name for Frederick Douglass when Douglass finally made it to the safety of New Bedford in 1837.

In midlife, Spear left Universalism to become a spiritualist — and perhaps it because of this that today’s Unitarian Universalists don’t talk about him much. But that doesn’t mean that you have to ignore Spear. You can buy his biography here.

Undecided

June 8 of this year will mark the 300th anniversary of First Unitarian in New Bedford. Well, that’s not exactly true. It’s really the date of the oldest extant written record of the congregation. June 8, 1708, is when the the Massachusetts provincial legislature ordered that a Puritan minister be settled in the town of Dartmouth (much against the will of most of the people who lived here, since at that time 80% of the town was Quaker and most of the rest were Baptists, and they had no desire to see their tax money go towards supporting an established Puritan church).

We are kicking off our year-long celebration this Friday with an evening worship service. The mayor of New Bedford has kindly agreed to come and read the original act of the legislature that established the congregation. The minister from the First Congregational Church in Fairhaven, which amicably split off from our church in 1794, is coming to read the earliest church covenant we have. Everett Hoagland, the former poet laureate of New Bedford, will read one of his poems. And — this just sunk in today — I have to preach a sermon suitable for a three hundredth anniversary.

I have to say, I don’t have much inclination to preach a sermon on history. My personal attitude is: the past three hundred years have been fun, let’s celebrate them, but let’s really look ahead to the next three hundred years. What will it take to keep this congregation going for another three hundred years? And what will the surrounding society need from us over the next three hundred years?

So what would you do: preach a nice safe historical sermon, or talk about the moral imperative of facing up to things like global warming, peak oil, the legacies of racism and colonialism?

For you history geeks, below I’ve included the text of the act that established a Puritan church in the old town of Dartmouth… Continue reading →

Jenkin Lloyd Jones and Emerson meet

Ellen Tucker Emerson, daughter of Ralph Waldo Emerson, was an engaging writer in her own right. She never bothered to publish anything, writing instead for the enjoyment of her family and friends. Recently, I’ve been dabbling in the two volume set of her letters (Kent State University Press, 1982), and I came across a letter in which she describes going to a Unitarian summer conference with her father in 1879; by which time her father’s memory loss was fairly pronounced. In addition to giving a fascinating glimpse into the very beginnings of the kind of summer religious conferences that still continue today at places like Star Island and Ferry Beach, she also writes about how she happened to meet Jenkin Lloyd Jones, the secretary of the Western Unitarian Conference:

Weir’s N.H. July 22nd 1879

Dear Mother,

We all met at Nashua and came in high spirits to Lake Winnepisagee. We landed on a platform right over its waters, and felt all that sense of coolness & stillness & relief of getting out of the cars into beautiful nature that we have all often enjoyed. A friendly voice cried out “All who wish to go to Concord Building, follow me,” so we all followed, presented our credentials which were received with laughter and pocketed unread, because they said we didn’t need any, and the we were told the evening meeting was just beginning. The Meeting consisted of a welcoming address from Mr Powell of Laconia, who said he was chairman of the Reception Committee appointed by the N.H. Unitarian Assn. as their representative, as such, servants of all who arrived, to take good care of us, and that they would do it to the utmost. Then one Rev. from Mr Beane of Concord N.H. telling us about the lat Grove-Meeting, and that all who attended it learned the lesson that religion was more a social & less a solitary sentiment than they used to think, and that the cumulative effect of making it the business & study of a whole week night and day had been very great so that not only in general the Unitarians of N.H. had been more active, zealous and mutually attached ever since than they had been before, but that individual men had felt through the whole year the lift they got here last July, it was true of him, and he believed almost all who were here would be able to give the same testimony. So he congratulated us that we had come, and said we couldn’t help expecting much from this week. Then some notices, and we were dismissed and brought by Mr Powell to our present abode, Mrs Lovett’s house, quite near the Ground on a hill overlooking the lake and having a fine view of the Gunstock Mountain and the right and Ossippee Mountain on the left. The cooking is admirable, and there is plenty of new milk. Of course the mountain water is excellent. We arrived just a little late at the 8.30 morning prayer-meeting. There was the “Rev. Jenk. Ll. Jones” addressing us, not from the stand but down in the aisle. What he said was good and in a quiet sincere voice. Someone else spoke. Then there was silence, and Mr Powers said “If the Spirit doesn’t move us, we will close the meeting.” Notices were given, a hymn was sung, and Mr Jones gave the blessing. We were told that Mr Tiffany would preach at 10.30…. We were pleased, I of course most of all, that dear Mr Tiffany was here and we enjoyed his sermon. It was “Physician heal thyself”, learn something before you attempt to impart. In the course of it he couldn’t help saying that Mr Emerson was an example of the true way of teaching. Then arose his brother ministers and “hackit him in pieces sma’ ” (not on the point of Papa) except Rev. J. Ll. Jones who had a great deal to say about Father, in much the same strain as Mr Tiffany, and what did the man do, but standing within a rod of me insist on looking me in the eye all the time he wa speaking of Father. I stood it a little, but kept him out of focus a great deal….

I love the way she slides from dead serious to dryly humorous to slyly witty, sometimes in the space of one sentence. And I like the way she threads together small observations and minor incidents, seemingly quite unrelated, to make her narrative. But to conclude her miniature portrait of Jenkin Lloyd Jones….

In a letter to her sister, dated two days later, she wrote, “I have here had a chance to see the Western Unitarian Minister side by side with the Eastern. They are the most different creatures imaginable.” I suppose one difference was that the Eastern Unitarian Minister would preach from behind a pulpit; while Jenkin Lloyd Jones, a Western Unitarian Minister, came down from the stand to speak from the aisle. Ellen concludes, “On the whole my hero is the Rev. Jenk. Ll Jones…. Mr Jones spoke on the subject of the afternoon “If Life worth living?” I heard more clearly now than I had before the advantages, the joys, the light of Unitarianism. It was a beautiful, beautiful speech.”

Intergenerational installation services?

Recently, someone asked how to have child-friendly installation services for new ministers. There’s no one answer to this question, but drawing on the dozen years I spent in religious education, I offered some ideas on how it might be done — and I thought I’d share those ideas here, especially because some of my readers might have even better ideas on how it might be done.

Here are some of my ideas on how to create an intergenerational installation service….

(1) 60 minutes tops First and foremost, someone has to keep the installation service to 60 minutes, tops. This is absolutely the hardest thing to do — installation services have a tendency to go on and on, often lasting for 90 or 120 minutes, which is too long for many young children. In my experience, you can limit an installation service to 60 minutes if the minister being installed and/or the installation committee tell each participant exactly how many minute the participant will be allowed to speak. (Scroll all the way down to find a sample schedule, from my own installation service in 2005.)

If it is impossible to limit the service to 60 minutes, and if there is unwillingness to select at least a few speakers who are known for being able to relate to children, then in my opinion it is best to arrange for the children to leave partway through the service and go off to other activities.

(2) Kid’s order of service I often try to create a Kid’s Order of Service for intergenerational services. A Kid’s Order of Service has puzzles and games and coloring pages, often with a religious theme. I like to give out the Kid’s Order of Service with a box of crayons (the cheapo boxes with 8 crayons are fine), along with a couple of colorful pipe cleaners. The kids like to get this packet of goodies, and it helps makes them feel welcome in the service.

A sample Kid’s Order of Service might have the following:

  • A page with the order of service in large type, with simple explanations of each item. (aimed at about age 9-11)
  • Two or three coloring pages using copyright-free material. I have used Beatrix Potter illustrations (she was a Unitarian), designs based on Frank Lloyd Wright stained glass (he was a Unitarian), and pictures by members of the congregation. (aimed at younger children)
  • Two word search puzzles, one easy and one more difficult, with Unitarian Universalist theme — I often use the Puzzlemaker Web site to generate the puzzle for me. (aimed at 8 and up)
  • Three or four mazes, ranging from easy to hard, and I might place a flaming chalice graphic or graphic of our church at the end of the maze — again, the Puzzlemaker Web site will generate mazes. (aimed at 6 and up)
  • A copyright-free story on a religious theme, such as a fable, or a story from Ellen Babbit’s book of Jataka tales (aimed at 9 and up)
  • Other pages of activities to total a dozen or more pages.

(3) Let parents know it’s OK to bring kids Of critical importance is selling the parents on the whole idea. They need to be assured that an intergenerational service is good for the kids. Parents should be reassured that it’s OK to bring quiet toys for children to play with during the service. Also, be sure to let them know that there will be childcare available in case older kids melt down. If possible, have a “cry room,” a nearby room where parents can take fussy babies and toddlers, and where they can hear an audio feed of the service.

It really helps if the minister also encourages parents and children to attend together!

(4) In case kids make noise… It’s important to prime several of the speakers to be ready in case a young child or baby vocalizes during the service. Have speakers primed to say something like, “It is wonderful to have children in the service to make us aware of the future of this church,” or “The sound of babies vocalizing in the service brings home to us the importance of future generations,” or the like.

(5) Minister’s commitment Finally, I can’t emphasize enough that the minister being installed has to be committed to an intergenerational service. For my installation in New Bedford, I let everyone know that I was fully committed to intergenerational community, and I have to acknowledge that I got a certain amount of criticism for inviting children in my installation — therefore I wouldn’t blame any minister who decides not to do an intergenerational installation!

Those are my ideas — what can you add from your own experience?

Continue reading →

What?

I got up, tired to wake up by taking a shower, and then looked in on Carol. She was already at her computer, working to meet yet another deadline.

“Morning,” I said.

“Glue me,” she said, smiling.

“What?” I said, not sure my brain was yet fully functioning.

“Gloomy,” she said, looking out the window. I finally noticed that it was indeed dark and gloomy outside.

“Oh,” I said. “Yeah, it is. I thought I was supposed to glue you to something.”

She pretended she couldn’t pull her hand off the desk. “Glue me, glue me!” she said, laughing.

UU emergence: opening a conversation for 2008 and beyond

I know bloggers are supposed to do year-end reviews in their last posts of the waning year, but I’d rather look ahead and anticipate the new year. And what I see emerging right now is that religious liberals are finally taking post-modernism seriously. By “taking seriously” I mean that some religious liberals are doing more than just reading, writing, or preaching about post-modernism — they are actually trying out post-modern ways of doing church. (If you know nothing about this phenomenon, check out the Wikipedia article on emerging church first.)

For the last dozen or more years, some Christian evangelicals and a smaller number of Jews have been seriously engaging with post-modernism. They have been deconstructing and reconstructing the shape of liturgy and worship, experimenting with alt.worship, non-linearity, chanting, contemplative prayer, and integration of non-traditional arts into worship experiences. They have been experimenting with post-modern ecclesiology, trying out old-new forms such as house churches, minyanim. Post-modernism has been emerging in traditional congregational settings in mainline churches as well, where people have been experimenting with medieval and older forms of worship/community such as walking labyrinths, vespers services with candles, etc.

Through all this, religious liberals within Unitarian Universalism have mostly been sticking to the old, tried-and-true models they have been accustomed to for the past couple of generations. Partly this is because Unitarian Universalists already incorporate many aspects of what the emergent church people see as post-modern — we have by our very nature been more willing to accommodate ourselves to the surrounding culture; we have never had a hierarchy try to force us into uniform belief; we have long valued dialogue and alternative points of view; we have insisted on social justice work as integral to who we are since at least the late 1900’s; and we have been open to personal narratives as a way of doing theo/thealogy (as opposed to relying solely on systematic theologies).

Now it’s time for us to take the next steps. It’s time to let go of our dependence on the forty-year-old liturgical forms we got from second-wave feminism; and perhaps it’s time to question our basic Reformation forms of worship and become more aware that our Christian religious roots allow us to tap into a rich array of liturgical resources, dating back thousands of years. It’s time to let go of our over-dependence on hyper-rationality, and allow the possibility of trans-rational (yet not necessarily supernatural) ways of thinking and being.

At an organizational level, I’d suggest we need to move beyond mid-20th C. committee structures for running our congregations (since after all the surrounding culture no longer supports those structures — there are no more “wives” who can volunteer forty hours a week at our churches). I’d like to see us be more open to the possibilities of fully integrating house churches, CUUPS worship groups, and other non-traditional structural forms into our congregations (and while “small group ministry” is a baby step in this direction, we could go much further).

And I think it’s time to seriously question modernist notions that there is one form of Unitarian Universalism that is good for everyone the world over. Since we love them so much, we think that in order to be a True UU you must be able to recite the “seven principles” (which are a product of middle-class First World Unitarian Universalists from the U.S.A.), sing “Spirit of Life” (a second-wave feminist song that may not adequately integrate womanist and mujerista insights), and love the flaming chalice (which is a U.S. Unitarian, not a Universalist, symbol). Grand narratives about the “right way to do things” no longer serve us well.

All this suggests that we Unitarian Universalists need a network equivalent to the Christian Emergent Village, and Jewish Emergent. Notice I said “network” — this is not going to be a top-down hierarchically-structured organization; this is not going to be denominationally-sponsored; this is not even going to be a movement. It’s going to be a conversation of diverse people in diverse settings coming from diverse perspectives — who will come up with diverse solutions to the problems that postmodernism poses to liberal religion and religious liberals.

For the sake of convenience, let’s call this UU Emergence. If you want to participate in the conversation, post something on your blog (if you have one) and tag it “uuemergence”. If you post something on your Web site, include the word “uuemergence” so that search engines can pick it up. (If you don’t have a blog or Web site, then haul your butt over to WordPress.com and start yourself a blog for free!)

And keep your eyes peeled for announcements about a UU Emergence gathering at General Assembly — or even at your next district gathering — so we can all meet face-to-face….

Historical re-enactment

Ralph Waldo Emerson was a Unitarian minister before he became famous for his writing and lecturing. When he was a minister, he preached for some months to the Unitarian congregation in New Bedford. So this morning, as a kind of historical re-enactment, I delivered one of the sermons he preached while he was here.

It turned out to be quite a bit of fun. The sermon still sounded fresh and powerful (although I admit I choked a little on the gender-specific pronouns), and it was moving to read it aloud. For the most part, I think the congregation enjoyed it, too.

If this is the kind of thing that interests you, and you want to know more, I’ve included some historical notes about the sermon below…. Continue reading →

Emerson speaks

This Sunday, I’ll be preaching one of the sermons that Ralph Waldo Emerson preached while he was in New Bedford during 1833-34. In those years, Emerson’s cousin Orville Dewey was the minister at the Unitarian church in New Bedford; but Dewey’s health had been damaged by overwork, and Emerson came to preach here while Dewey took a sabbatical to regain his health.

I knew the Concord Free Public Library had the complete four volume set of Emerson’s sermons (ed. Albert J. Frank et al., Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press, 1989), so I drove up there this morning. I went down into the Special Collections rooms in the basement, and Leslie Wilson, the extremely knowledgeable curator and librarian of the Special Collections, got the four volumes for me.

Emerson kept a careful record of which sermons he preached in which church. Many of the sermons he preached in New Bedford appear to be among his favorites, for he preached them over and over again, sometimes as many as fourteen times. Mostly he did not write new sermons while he was here, but merely dug out sermons written originally for his church in Boston, or some other Unitarian church. But it appears that he did write sermon no. 169 (on the text Psalms 139.14) specifically for the New Bedford church; at least, this was the very first place he preached the sermon, on September 7, 1834. I decided this would be the sermon I’ll preach this Sunday.

Leslie Wilson, whom I have known for years and years, was curious what I was working on. I told her how I was going to preach one of Emerson’s sermons.

“You’ll have to cut it down,” she said.

“I know, no one wants to listen to a sermon that long these days,” I replied.

“And let’s face it, you’re not Emerson…,” she said thoughtfully.

“No, I most certainly am not!” I said emphatically.

“He was known for being an absolutely wonderful speaker,” she said. “He could say almost anything, and keep his audiences enthralled.” We both knew the old story of someone’s uneducated maid who went to hear one of Emerson’s lectures on Transcendentalism or some such obscure topic. Her employers were surprised that she would go to hear a lecture on such an esoteric subject. Ah, said the maid, but when Mr. Emerson says it I can understand it.

Emerson’s sermon no. 169 is so well written that it will stand up to even my delivery of it. Right now, I’m going through the two manuscript versions of the sermon — the earlier version which must be the one he delivered at New Bedford, and the later version that he delivered at Unitarian churches in Plymouth, Waltham, Boston, East Lexington, Concord, and at the Harvard College Chapel. It’s fascinating to see how he changed the sermon, mostly for the better, although at times the earlier version is more vigorous. But in both versions, you can sense a great writer coming into his full powers.

What must it have been to sit in the pews of the old wood-frame Unitarian church on the corner of William and Purchase Streets, and listen to Ralph Waldo Emerson preach on September 7, 1834, less than two years before he would publish his book Nature? The New Bedford church had wanted him as their minister — Orville Dewey having announced that his health would not allow his return — but Emerson got out of the offer by saying that he could not in good conscience preside at the communion table, nor offer a prayer unless he was truly moved to do so. Instead, in October, 1834, he moved to Concord and began writing in earnest.