...the minister—arms outstretched—stands before the faithful. The keyboardist sounds a contemplative chord and the minister begins his prayer of invocation, asking that God’s spirit be upon this place, these people. As he prays, his congregants—some with eyes lifted to heaven, others with heads bent—echo his prayer with whispered “Amens.” “Yes, God.” When the prayer is over, the minister says: “Greet your neighbor. Show them a sign of God’s love.” And what follows is a “passing of the peace” that is anything but peaceful. The room is filled with loud greetings and big bear hugs and laughter.....From amidst this holy cacophony, the band begins. First just some noodling on the electric organ, then a plaintive human voice, then a driving beat on the bass and drum set....Some sit and sing, with their hands in the air. Others stand and sway. Still others clap in rhythmic accompaniment.Then we get to the preaching. The minister:
delivers a 40-minute sermon that feels like it’s over in five. He begins slowly, in a learned and philosophical mode, examining passages from Scripture that speak of the worth and dignity of every person. Which, the preacher reminds his congregation, “means each and every one of you gathered here today.” Hungry for that reassurance, the congregation responds with grateful calls of “and “Thank you, God!” And the preacher rides this wave of energy, taking the sermon—and his—to a new level. Now his words are stirring and powerful. Now his stories have folks laughing and crying as he builds to the Good News. The Good News that God, despite everything that they’ve been told, God loves all souls, not some. “So go from this place,” he says, “and share that message, share that love with a world that so deeply needs it.” And with that, the congregation propels itself out into the world on another wave of song.Hardies acknowledges that some UUs would find this vision appalling, some would find it appealing, some would find it intriguing.
What's your reaction to the picture Hardies paints? Would that sort of worship work for UUFG?
In 1992, our denomination began its "Journey Toward Wholeness" initiative to make our congregations ARAOMC (Anti-Racist, Anti-Oppression, Multi-Cultural). UUFG, like most UU congregations, has a fairly high level of theological diversity (we have Christians, Pagans, Buddhists, Humanists, Etc., All of the Above, and None of the Above). We do not have much diversity of class, ethnicity, or race. UUFG, like many UU congregations, has participated in various "Journey Toward Wholeness" anti-racism workshops over the years. There are three questions here:
1. Resisting race-based oppression in the world: What is ours to do? I.e., what role is UUFG called to play in moving toward a world with reduced race-based oppression? Are we doing it?
2. Eliminating race-based oppression from our congregation: Have we?
3. Becoming a more racially, ethnically diverse congregation: Does this matter? How much? How could it happen?
And running through all these questions is: How do we -- how can we -- change ourselves to become a congregation with better answers to #1, #2, and #3? Robert Hardies says that the "Journey Toward Wholeness" initiative got us started. Are we, in the words of our beloved hymn, Bring Many Names, "willing to be changed by what we've started"?
Hardies suggests:
1. Put the vision [of multicultural diversity] at the center and measure your progress. Use a detailed demographic survey of your members to keep track of diversity progress.
2. Require that all congregational social justice initiatives draw us into relationship with communities of color.
3. Build a multiracial staff.
4. Include nonwhite speakers at every Sunday worship service.
5. Include stories and readings in every worship service that represent nonwhite cultures and wisdom traditions.
(Hardies also seems to be suggesting that a successfully multi-cultural means moving toward the sort of worship style described at the beginning of this post.)
Carlton Pearson was once "the most famous black televangelist in the country." He became convinced that God's love meant Universal salvation. He was rejected by his church, and taken in by the UU church of Tulsa, OK, where he leads services. (Review the Wikipedia entry on Carlton Pearson: click here). Pearson believes that Universalism will be to the 21st century what evangelical Christianity was to the 20th. Pearson says: “You’ve got the theology. It’s the vision you don’t have. You can’t imagine Unitarian Universalism as anything but a movement of white New Englanders.”
Is Carlton Pearson right? If he is, what should we be doing? (And if he isn't, what should we be doing?)
Please post your comments -- and join us for discussion of this at the "Around the UUWorld Brown Bag Lunch" on Wed Feb 29 (Common Room, Noon).
