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To hell with it, I'm writing this.
So chances are, you weren't born a Unitarian. Sure, maybe if your parents were nerdy misfits who read a lot, some copies of A Chosen Faith fell into your hands, but for the most part, you wander into a Unitarian church when you're fifteen or thirty. And for the a while, there's a honeymoon phase: You've found your home. Finally, you're free to be yourself! Plus, it's so queer-friendly! You're intimidated by the people who are on every committee and plan every sermon, sure, but you're Going to Get Involved and you're happy as a clam. You mourn all the years you didn't know that Unitarianism existed.
But one day - as you hold your copy of Singing the Living Tradition and reflect on how Unitarian singing sounds like a herd of tiny dying cows - you hear the rumblings of drama on the horizon.
The chair of the ministry committee is annoyed at the co-chair of the outreach committee. The church listserv gets passive-aggressive. There's a bit of a chill at coffee hour. It passes, but somewhere in your brain a tiny voice is going I thought we were all supposed to get along!. And if you are older, and have done this before, the SMALL GROUP POLITICS alarm is going off.
So sure, you proceed with more caution, try not to complain about grounds and facilities in the grounds and facilities committee's hearing, and notice that you've started gritting your teeth when the same guy keeps turning every discussion into MY THOUGHTS ON HIERARCHICAL DECISION-MAKING: LET ME SHOW YOU THEM. Someone is always upset about everything - the social justice committee decides to start a food pantry project, and they didn't invite the woman who used to sort the cans for the Thanksgiving can drive in 1994, and she is HURT even though invitations were open for months. And the outreach committee is overreaching! And that man won't shut up about how he needs a completely diety-free worship experience and will storm out if anyone says anything rhyming with "jebus" at church, and the Chair of the Covenant of U.U. Pagans is pissed off because no one came to Lughnasadh because someone scheduled an airing of Sicko in the Sunday School room for the same night. Eventually some key member of the ministry committee gets fed up and removes herself from the list of Friends of the Fellowship.
And when you give your This I Believe address, two people compliment you, while some other woman's gets a crowd of hangers-on and a bouquet, which, not fair at all.
And then there are mornings when the sunlight is coming in the high skylights, and the guest speaker is actually good, and you've hit on one of the three songs Unitarians can actually sing. And you look around at your little band of religious misfits - the friends you've made, the work you've done, the way this place changes your view of the world a little every time - and you think, okay. It's okay. This is what community means. And the drama passes, and the meditation garden gets built even though half the grounds committee resigned in a huff, and it's good to be a Unitarian. The wank-storms pass by, but you've learned to stay out of them, like the ninety percent of the congregation that just wants to drink some coffee and talk about Emerson. And man, do you ever like talking about Emerson. So you stay, and the next time there's a drama explosion and people are shocked, SHOCKED, you totally find the humor in it.
/crazed ramblings, there's only one person on my flist who will think this is funny, but it's been rattling around in my brain for months.
--
No, I do not belong to a cult. I belong to this herd of cats, and I love them dearly, and this is meant as good-natured poking of fun. It's just, the degree to which Unitarians are just like the internet never fails to amaze me. If I ever become part of an academic department, I'm pretty sure that will look awfully familiar too.
So chances are, you weren't born a Unitarian. Sure, maybe if your parents were nerdy misfits who read a lot, some copies of A Chosen Faith fell into your hands, but for the most part, you wander into a Unitarian church when you're fifteen or thirty. And for the a while, there's a honeymoon phase: You've found your home. Finally, you're free to be yourself! Plus, it's so queer-friendly! You're intimidated by the people who are on every committee and plan every sermon, sure, but you're Going to Get Involved and you're happy as a clam. You mourn all the years you didn't know that Unitarianism existed.
But one day - as you hold your copy of Singing the Living Tradition and reflect on how Unitarian singing sounds like a herd of tiny dying cows - you hear the rumblings of drama on the horizon.
The chair of the ministry committee is annoyed at the co-chair of the outreach committee. The church listserv gets passive-aggressive. There's a bit of a chill at coffee hour. It passes, but somewhere in your brain a tiny voice is going I thought we were all supposed to get along!. And if you are older, and have done this before, the SMALL GROUP POLITICS alarm is going off.
So sure, you proceed with more caution, try not to complain about grounds and facilities in the grounds and facilities committee's hearing, and notice that you've started gritting your teeth when the same guy keeps turning every discussion into MY THOUGHTS ON HIERARCHICAL DECISION-MAKING: LET ME SHOW YOU THEM. Someone is always upset about everything - the social justice committee decides to start a food pantry project, and they didn't invite the woman who used to sort the cans for the Thanksgiving can drive in 1994, and she is HURT even though invitations were open for months. And the outreach committee is overreaching! And that man won't shut up about how he needs a completely diety-free worship experience and will storm out if anyone says anything rhyming with "jebus" at church, and the Chair of the Covenant of U.U. Pagans is pissed off because no one came to Lughnasadh because someone scheduled an airing of Sicko in the Sunday School room for the same night. Eventually some key member of the ministry committee gets fed up and removes herself from the list of Friends of the Fellowship.
And when you give your This I Believe address, two people compliment you, while some other woman's gets a crowd of hangers-on and a bouquet, which, not fair at all.
And then there are mornings when the sunlight is coming in the high skylights, and the guest speaker is actually good, and you've hit on one of the three songs Unitarians can actually sing. And you look around at your little band of religious misfits - the friends you've made, the work you've done, the way this place changes your view of the world a little every time - and you think, okay. It's okay. This is what community means. And the drama passes, and the meditation garden gets built even though half the grounds committee resigned in a huff, and it's good to be a Unitarian. The wank-storms pass by, but you've learned to stay out of them, like the ninety percent of the congregation that just wants to drink some coffee and talk about Emerson. And man, do you ever like talking about Emerson. So you stay, and the next time there's a drama explosion and people are shocked, SHOCKED, you totally find the humor in it.
/crazed ramblings, there's only one person on my flist who will think this is funny, but it's been rattling around in my brain for months.
--
No, I do not belong to a cult. I belong to this herd of cats, and I love them dearly, and this is meant as good-natured poking of fun. It's just, the degree to which Unitarians are just like the internet never fails to amaze me. If I ever become part of an academic department, I'm pretty sure that will look awfully familiar too.
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I have no idea how your service is structured, but we sang the same song after silent meditation (this would be spirit of life). Did you do that?
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I love your icon. You've got a new batch!
The church I grew up in had a sit stand sing meditate preach meditate sing structure - we always sang that may all love surround you song at the end, and "Gather here" at the beginning of the R.E. meeting time. The church I'm in now has rather less structure than that - the only thing we sing every time is "Go now in peace" song when the kids leave for RE, which the kids have helpfully subtitled "the don't-let-the-door-hit-you-on-the-butt-on-the-way-out song."
It's totally more dirty. Rumi just wants you to have a good time! (God-wise.)
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I like to switch them out every once in a while. Like this one!
I mean, I've never heard the song and just from the title I thought it was too American for us, possibly.
Which Gather Here are you talking about? There are several. And it seems like Go Now in Peace is a universal.
So my church did chalice, welcome/announcements, candles of care and concern, hymn children, sermon, word meditation, silent meditation, music meditation, offering, COFFEE. Well, the end always sort of devolved into a list of stuff that probably should have been inthe announcements but that they want to spring on your now.
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Rumi was all about connecting with like minds. (Seriously. Rumi/Shams OTP, I do not even care if their love is purely spiritual, it apparently made my roommate cry).
Gather here in the mystery of the hour ::looks:: Number 389. It's also the only one I still know the whole way through in ASL.
We do coffee first, because we have our priorities straight (and there's usually enough snack to count as breakfast, YAY for small-town churches), and then - ::thinks:: chalice lighting, welcome, and then we recite the principles together, which never fails to freak me out. We sing, we do joys and concerns, we meditate, the lady with the electronic keyboard plays something tinkley, we sing the kids out, we do offering, and then our speaker talks. And then we argue with him/her. Then, we break for lunch.
I wish we had, like, a closing song, but Talkback (designated arguing time) is pretty awesome. Except for when it's a source of congregational-politics wank.
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I will never be able to look at Rumi the same again. How many things have you ruined for me? God, Rumi, the list is endless. Never change.
Gather here in one strong body, you mean? Spirit draw near you mean? Can I add church to the list of things ruined for me.
We don't recite the principles. None of my churches did. Which is probably why I only remember the first and the last one. Let's see: We the unitarian mumble mumble inherent worth and dignity mumble mumble respect the interconnected web of life of which we are all a part. I think it's hilarious that that one got on the list because of the stonewalling campaign of the pagans to pass the principles in the 70s. Good times.
See, we get a cup of coffee first so that we are alert for hte service, and then we merge coffee/lunch/cookies with Talkback, I guess and just sort of mill for two hours getting more and more jittery.
I forgot our closing song! We hold hands and sway while singing carry the flame. Ah, that is guaranteed to really freak out the first timers. I don't sway.
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I would totally be a swayer if I could find anyone else to sway. I mean, I'm from YRUU. We boogied.
Hey. Re: gather here, NO. I did not start it this time. But again, it's a YRUU hymn, how many YRUUs does it take to screw in a lightbulb, heavy sigh.
We the members of the Unitarian Universalist Congregations something something covenant to affirm and promote - actually, what we recite is the one that has, like "to dwell in harmony with one another, seeking knowledge in freedom" - so that's the covenant, not the principles, yeah? Either way, I'd rather mix it up a little. Do some responsive readings. The Adrienne Rich one about covert gay sex in alleys, I like that one.
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I sort of get forcibly swayed by the fact that everyone around me is doing it and I have to if I don't want to cause a collision.
I totally don't know the dwelling one. You know, you join up too early and you miss all of the pamphlets and explanations of the faith.
The new church I'm going to seems to be very politically active. I'm looking forward to us all chaining ourselves to something. Your church sounds very close knit though. Is it a fairly small congregation?
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Here (http://www.lsunitarians.org/uuism.html) is the covenant, more or less - I've never met a Unitarian who didn't chop up every text that came her/his way and substitute something new. Doctrinal fanfiction?
I am also looking forward to you all chaining yourselves to something. Send photos! (ETA: I meant that in an innocently political way, but now that we're carrying on about "decking" the "halls" I'm getting worried)
It's by Audre Lorde (http://thetalkingpeoplepodcast.blogspot.com/2007/11/poems-litany-for-survival-by-audre.html), my bad. Here's the uncut version. Seriously. Doorways. Unfortunately, they didn't leave that part in the reading, but it's still seriously my favorite in the book.
You should do homework! Also, if this carries on, we might need a new thread.
I've been telling lurkmuch scurrilous lies about your time on the Ambience and Non-denominational Feng Shui and Streamers Committee upthread. Feel free to tell her that I'm making things up!
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Your congregation sounds fabulous. 40 people is just the right amount where everyone actually knows each other and therefore can be offended by everyone.
Unitarians are pro at the edit. I continue to hear songs about Jesus that I remember from my childhood as totally being about the general life force and such. It's always a fun time.
I think in order to set up a new thread we'd have to set up a committee that meets weekly, led consensus style.
I will go up and see what lies you are telling people about me!
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