Filed under: Uncategorized
[NOTE: This part of the paper is one that responds to the professor's request that we relate our term paper topic to the overarching issue of Christianity in the Pacific region. The paper to which I refer here is one to which she referred us.]
In a paper for a scholarly conference on “global Christianity,” Brian Goldstone and Stanley Hauerwas challenge secular scholars for their distanced, “outsider” approach to defining Christianity and Christians. To be Christian, they argue, is to be the body of Christ, proclaiming the resurrection and making disciples, often at great personal cost, including persecution and martyrdom. Being Christian means living in a way that the larger culture cannot understand. Hence, scholars—before they can really “see” Christianity—need first to be struck blind like the Apostle Paul at his conversion. They must observe with humility and engagement, rather than distance.[i]
In the United States, many non-members inquire of Unitarian Universalist churchgoers and ministers: “Are you Christian?” The answer depends on what you mean. First, we have no creed—Christian or otherwise–to which a member subscribes to belong to a UU church. Moreover, our initial theological liberalism has led to a diversity of theological beliefs in both our pews and pulpits. The UUA is not a member of the National Council of Churches. True, the denomination has strong roots in the Protestant movement; there are Christian-identified UU ministers and church-goers, and there are a few congregations in the North East where the structure and language of worship is explicitly Christian (and the Christology is both Universalist and Unitarian). However, to answer the question “Are you Christian?”, many of our own North American church members would say no. (For more, see Appendix III: Is It Christian? Historical Details on American Unitarianism)
The Unitarian movement to the West Coast was led by ministers who identified as “liberal Christians,” and included some clergy who were expelled from other denominations, including Laurentine Hamilton, who founded the Independent Protestant Church of Oakland after losing a heresy trial for ideas he preached in his Presbyterian church. It later became the First Unitarian Church.
But what about the Philippine church? Lively conversations about theological differences and the nature of Jesus and salvation have marked some of the relations between Philippine UUs and their North American friends, as noted above. In my experience, worship services include prayers, sermons, hymns and often Bible readings, but there is no creed. UUCP has adopted statements of UU Principles and Sources very similar to those of the North American UUA Principles (except they have inserted an additional Principle at the start: “There’s God.”)[ii] Recently I asked Nihal Attanayake if UUCP is Christian. He said, “We say we are Universalists.”
The Rev. Frederick John Muir, who serving our church in Annapolis, Maryland, has had a relationship with the UUs on Negros Island since 1991. In 2001 he published Maglipay Universalist: A History of the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Philippines. In this he writes: “The UUCP is thoroughly Christian (and some are Trinitarians). Many Philippine Unitarian Universalists are exasperated that western [UUs] don’t seem to understand, appreciate and accept their theological stance.”[iii]
I have yet to encounter sources either to confirm or refute Muir’s description of the UUCP as “thoroughly Christian” and his assertion of exasperation with North American UU attitudes. However, my recent observations give me confidence that more frequent and face-to-face encounters between Filipino and North American UUs over the past decade have reduced this misunderstanding. In March 2011 I participated in a “UU Pilgrimage,” an organized ten-day visit to UUCP headquarters and over 10 of the congregations on Negros Island. Our group included people from three North American congregations that have Partner Church relationships with a village church of the UUCP, plus three of us whose churches are not at present in a partnership. (This is the religious equivalent of a Sister City relationship, to promote cultural exchange, spiritual fellowship, and mutual inspiration and encouragement by communicating and visiting in person. See more in the next section.)[iv]
Our North American group included significant religious diversity. I did not witness discomfort on the part of our group about Universalist theology, explicit references to God, or the reading of Bible verses in worship. A UU who is not comfortable with theistic language could be surprised by these things, perhaps. Yet one who takes the time and makes the expense to make such a trip would, I hope, be interested in a truly cross-cultural exchange. Moreover, in a Philippine village or city neighborhood, the living conditions of congregation members, the large proportion of children in the congregations, and the abundant spirit of the people at church, would be more notable contrasts with our typical North American UU church experiences. For me, the village settings, church buildings, and warmth of the people were more notable than the basic fact that most adult members did not speak English and none of us spoke Cebuano.
In the spirit of the essay by Goldstone and Hauerwas, I would invite any observers—Unitarian Universalists or not—to let go of preconceptions and categories and just see what is taking place in the religious life of the Philippine Unitarian Universalists. What’s called for is a depth of engagement with one another, and solidarity in the struggle to live out our deepest values.
[i] Brian Goldstone and Stanley Hauerwas, “Disciplined Seeing: Forms of Christianity and Forms of Life,” South Atlantic Quarterly 109:4 (Fall 2010), 766-790.
[ii] UUCP Website, visited December 11, 2011. http://www.uuphilippines.org/
[iii] Muir, 79.
[iv] Partner Church Council NEWS? Website? ?
Filed under: Becoming and Being Part of a UU Congregation, Children and Youth, Eating Mindfully and Sustainable Agriculture, Rituals, Prayers, Elements of Worship Services
As an invocation in our UU worship services, we light a flame in a sculpted metal chalice. In our particular church, the lay leader of the service gives a short personal reflection–an anecdote, memory, etc. Often they are from childhood or–if the speaker is middle aged or retired–from young adult years. Here is one that arises from life in the Central Valley, by Lonon Smith.
PERSONAL REFLECTION 01/29/12
When I get within about seventy feet of the fence, I’ll begin my last turn and be done for the day. Behind me the wide drag on the back of the tractor will leave a perfectly straight cut across fifty acres of field that I’ve crossed repeatedly as I scraped the earth free of milkweed and other unwanted vegetation ahead of the next planting. In my sixteenth summer, this is all I’ve done from the cool of the morning to the high heat of the day, ride an unmuffled tractor through a cloud of dust. I pull close to the gate, turn off the engine, drop down into the soft earth that I’ve so loudly disturbed.
And suddenly the silence seems deafening. I can hear sounds of trucks on the road, out beyond where the dust is settling, but they seem incredibly far away. I am struck by what feels like the turning of the earth. The slight curve away of the land into the giant ball. The spin of a globe on its axis. The hurtling through space of a planet. For a brief moment I can fell the galactic carnival ride. Aw, jeez! And then I’m a kid standing in an empty field again.
I light the chalice for the moments when the big blue marble reaches out and takes our hand.
Filed under: Uncategorized
As an invocation in our UU worship services, we light a flame in a sculpted metal chalice. In our particular church, the lay leader of the service gives a short personal reflection–an anecdote, memory, etc. Often they are from childhood or–if the speaker is middle aged or retired–from young adult years. Here is one that arises from life in the Central Valley, by Lonon Smith.
PERSONAL REFLECTION 01/29/12
When I get within about seventy feet of the fence, I’ll begin my last turn and be done for the day. Behind me the wide drag on the back of the tractor will leave a perfectly straight cut across fifty acres of field that I’ve crossed repeatedly as I scraped the earth free of milkweed and other unwanted vegetation ahead of the next planting. In my sixteenth summer, this is all I’ve done from the cool of the morning to the high heat of the day, ride an unmuffled tractor through a cloud of dust. I pull close to the gate, turn off the engine, drop down into the soft earth that I’ve so loudly disturbed.
And suddenly the silence seems deafening. I can hear sounds of trucks on the road, out beyond where the dust is settling, but they seem incredibly far away. I am struck by what feels like the turning of the earth. The slight curve away of the land into the giant ball. The spin of a globe on its axis. The hurtling through space of a planet. For a brief moment I can fell the galactic carnival ride. Aw, jeez! And then I’m a kid standing in an empty field again.
I light the chalice for the moments when the big blue marble reaches out and takes our hand.
Filed under: Becoming and Being Part of a UU Congregation, Comparative Religion, Magazine & Newspaper Articles, Stewardship & Finances, Trends in Religion | Tags: congregational democracy, congregational health
What is Leadership? What is Followership? Both have to do with trust and participation.
I’ve enjoyed many articles about ministry and healthy congregational dynamics by the mainline church consultant Anthony Robinson.
This article is especially good. If you are in any church/denomination whose polity is congregational, or even one with a fair degree of congregational decision making, I think it’s relevant. If you are a Humanist, Buddhist, Pagan, or Jew then the Christian language and context of some of the paragraphs may not be to your liking. If you can’t translate into your own faith idiom, that’s okay, just read them and move on to the other paragraphs.
If you are allergic to words like “follower,” I beg your patience with the gist of his article. In fact, there’s a good definition of the term followership, as coined by my UU colleague Paul Beedle. And no less an authority than Harvard’s Ronald Heifetz is quoted in defining leadership NOT as solitary authoritarianism but in the skill to be present and help the community face its big questions and its big challenges–together.
If you can’t open it, let me know and I can lend you the paper copy.
Filed under: Comparative Religion, Graduate Theological school/PSR, International, Religious Studies: History, UU Denomination and Pacific Central District News and Views
In 1958, Toshio Yoshioka, a Universalist from Japan made a visit to the Universalist Church of the Philippines to provide information and advice to the Universalist Church of America and the Universalist Service Committee. (Yoshioka and another Japanese man had graduated from the Universalists’ St. Lawrence Theological School in Canton, N.Y., in 1954, and returned to Japan. Universalists had begun a mission to Japan in 1890, with limited success. By 1936 there were only six congregations, and the Second World War ended the mission.) [i]
Yoshioka spent much of his time in the company of Toribio Quimada. Noting “extreme poverty” and “little or no education” among the people, Yoshioka described the meager food, hand-built homes, and lack of gas, electricity, running water, or toilets. Yet, he said, “they are happy people… thankful of what they have and they were one of the most hospitable people I have met.”[ii] [This could be my own description of what I observed in March of 2011. The food they served our group was plentiful and varied, but I am not sure that reflects their diet. Their UUCP headquarters had subsidized each village church that hosted us for a meal.]
Yoshioka said he did not like the food and feared their “unsanitary” handling of it, and he could not sleep well on their schedule (even though they gave him an army cot so he would not have to sleep on a mat on the floor, as they did. He wrote: “They go to bed at about midnight and at four thirty in the morning they are already up and singing their morning hymn.” Perhaps this way of life maximized the cooler hours of the morning and evening.
Yoshioka reported there were “major congregations in Negros, some in Mindanao, and one in Cebu which is just starting,” and he visited the island of Cebu before departing for Japan. I have encountered no records to show that congregations continued on those two islands; none are there now.
Regarding theology, he said the church members “were surprised and relieved by the… teaching of universal salvation and loving God rather than angry God. In fact, I was asked time and time again if they could really be saved in the end.” They asked him questions about the Bible and the nature of Jesus “with utmost interest.” He said:
“They were happy to know that my answers were the same as those which had been given by Mr. Quimada before.” People on Negros “sacrificed days in coming to meet me and to listen to me, which shows their eagerness… to know about Universalism [and not because] of their curiosity to see a stranger from Japan.”
He recounted his refusal to ride horseback, and Quimada’s insistence that it was the only way to get to the mountain villages. At first a child led a small horse while Yoshioka rode it in great fear; later he got comfortable with it. “We visited the house of an old woman where we had a memorial service of her deceased grandson. “Mr. Dilantar … had a very nice house and three lovely daughters…. [A] relatively well to do landlord, … he is one of the important personalities in the Philippine Universalist work.” Yoshioka also met “three of the most intellectual sympathizers [of the church] …, that is the attorney, the mayor, and … a school teacher,” but he noted they were not yet members.
[i] Minister and historian David Bumbaugh argues that the Universalist message refuting eternal damnation could not gain traction in a society without the widespread acceptance of orthodox Christian doctrine. For an interesting (undated and without an author, but from the UUA website) Power Point presentation on Universalist and Unitarian engagement in India, Japan, and the Philippines, see http://www.uua.org/documents/…/uu_internatl_history_01.pps
[ii] UUA Overseas & Interfaith Relations Director Records, Correspondence, 1957-70. bMS 1220/15 “Universalist Church of the Philippines Survey, September, 1958.” Indigenous Unitarian Universalist Societies, 1986-1987. Andover-Harvard Theological Library, Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge, Massachusetts. All references to Yoshioka’s report come from this source.
Filed under: Comparative Religion, Graduate Theological school/PSR, International, Religious Studies: History, Trends in Religion, UU Denomination and Pacific Central District News and Views
The Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations (UUA) is the result of a merger (50 years ago) of the Unitarian denomination and the Universalist denomination, both of which emerged on the left wing of the Protestant population in New England in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
Both of our denominational movements rose up in reaction to dominant Calvinist orthodoxy. (In contrast, Universalism in the Philippines, though started by a former Pentecostal, has always existed in a land where more than 80 percent of the population is Roman Catholic.) Unitarianism in the United States originated in Boston, among ministers of congregational churches who identified themselves as liberal Christians. We tie their expression of a separate religious identity of Unitarian to a sermon given by William Ellery Channing in 1819 entitled “Unitarian Christianity.” They emphasized the use of reason in interpreting the Holy Bible, and emphasized the humanity of Jesus and the inherent dignity of all people, rather than inherent depravity.
Universalists also originated in New England, but in a variety of Protestant churches, not only congregational ones. Universalists argued against the doctrines of substitutionary atonement, salvation by election, and the idea of eternal damnation. They proclaimed that all souls would be brought into harmony with God, who was a loving parent rather than a harsh judge. Unitarian clergy and parishioners were typically educated and elite members of their communities. Universalist clergy were often self-taught, and apprenticed in ministry rather than trained in a divinity school. Their parishes were often rural, and the preachers more given to “circuit-riding” and evangelism for their Gospel of universal salvation.
Today, Unitarian Universalist congregations in North America are made up mostly of people who have been to college and hold professional jobs. We are mostly a white, middle-class population. Our average church size is 150 individual adult members, but with some ranging to 1,000 members. Most churches have paid staff, at least a minister, who holds an M. Div. Our members are socially liberal, especially on gender and sexual orientation issues, and our members predominantly are progressive in politics.
[i] “Thomas Starr King,” Architect of the Capitol website, visited December 11, 2011. http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/nsh/king_t.cfm
[ii] Russell E. Miller, The Larger Hope, vol. 1 (Boston: Unitarian Universalist Association, 1979), 162. Volume I covers 1770-1970. Cited in Lawyer. See note 14.
[iii] I plan to explore these statistics when I next have access to Edwin Gaustad and Philip L. Barlow, New Historical Atlas of Religion in America (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000).
[iv] David S. Lawyer, “West Coast Universalism,” sermon delivered in Pasadena, Calif., July 16, 1995. http://www.lafn.org/~dave/uu/universalism/west_coast_universalism.txt
[v] A Welsh immigrant, Jones was a theologically radical Unitarian (not identifying as Christian and opposed to official statements of the movement as a Christian one). For more information, see the online Dictionary of Unitarian Universalist Biography: http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/jenkinlloydjones.html
[vi] Arnold Crompton, Unitarianism on the Pacific Coast (Boston: Beacon Press,1957), 144.
[vii] Arnold Crompton, Unitarianism on the Pacific Coast (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), 91.
Filed under: Becoming and Being Part of a UU Congregation, Comparative Religion, Trends in Religion, UU Denomination and Pacific Central District News and Views | Tags: congregational democracy, denomination, UUA
The Rev. Peter Morales, President, along with the Board of Trustees, will recommend a change to the bylaws of the Unitarian Universalist Association. In an online proposal, Peter makes a strong case that the UUA is no longer just an association of congregations. We are a liberal religious movement in many forms and manifestations. The original and primary form is the local congregation, but many people do not join congregations, yet they share our religious and social values. Below are a couple of excerpts, and this link will take you to the whole document. Of course, in congregations, we have always focused on the number of pledging, voting members we have. That number has determined the level of dues we pay every year to the UUA and our UU district. But it’s not necessarily the best measure anymore of whether we are doing effective work. I recommend this article to you and invite your comments on my blog.
http://www.uua.org/uuagovernance/officers/president/moralespeter/192145.shtml
Excerpt
I have observed a number of things that speak to me of the truly historic opportunities and challenges that are now before us. Here is a partial list:
We have known for many years that the number of people who identify as UUs is
about four times the membership of our congregations (about 160,000 adult
members and about 650,000 people who identify as UUs). In other words, for
every adult member there are three non-members who say they are Unitarian
Universalist.
The second largest gathering of UUs, after General Assembly, is the Southeast UU
Summer Institute (SUUSI). A significant number of people who attend SUUSI
year after year do not belong to any UU congregation. There are other UU camps
and conferences that draw similarly large numbers of unaffiliated people.
The majority of children raised as UUs do not join UU congregations when they are
young adults. However, they continue to identify as UUs and share core UU
values. Often they have close friendships with fellow young adults they met at
church or at “youth cons.”
Some of our committed and generous donors do not belong to congregations. I
recently met with a donor who gave us $300,000 and yet has never been a
member of a congregation. A few weeks ago I spoke with another non-UU who
has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars.
An increasing percentage of seminarians choose a community ministry rather than
parish ministry. They see themselves as having a vocation for ministry, but not
for parish ministry. Our ministry extends to prisons, hospitals, the military, and
organizations that seek to build a more compassionate and just world.
Initiatives like Standing on the Side of Love are founded on the realization that many
non-UUs share our values of justice, equity, and compassion.
Our growth in terms of members of congregations has been stagnant, despite a
number of ambitious growth efforts.
Demographic research shows that people are less likely to attend traditional worship services of any denomination, even if they consider themselves religious.
Summary
The central conviction driving this proposal is that our core values appeal to far more people than are attracted to (or likely to be attracted to) our congregations. We have always treated this as a problem to be solved by devising ways to get people to become members of our congregations. But the reality of today’s world is that not everyone who shares our core values will want to become part of a traditional congregation. The fact that so many share our values is an enormous opportunity, not a problem. The future relevance of our faith may well depend on whether we can create a religious movement beyond, as well as within, the parish. I am confident that together we can seize this historic opportunity for our faith.
Filed under: Comparative Religion, Graduate Theological school/PSR, International, Religious Studies: History, UU Denomination and Pacific Central District News and Views
The religious message of Universalism arrived accidentally—or providentially—on Negros Island in the 1950s. As explained below, thanks to the dogged efforts of the man who discovered it, spread the message and recruited ministers, all but two of their 27 congregations can be found on the small, forested island of Negros. The island includes two national provinces: Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental. Located between Luzon and Mindanao in the cluster of islands called the Visayans, bordered by Cebu and Panay, Negros is approximately 125 miles long and on the average about 40 miles wide (Negros is about 390 miles south of Manila). The island’s interior is hilly to mountainous, and dramatically slopes to the sea within short distances of the coastline.[i] Most of the population lies in cities near the coast, but most of the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Philippines (UUCP)[ii] churches I visited were in the mountains, well more than a half hour’s drive from sea level, on dirt roads.
The national headquarters of the UUCP is in Dumaguete City (Negros Oriental), a small college city on the coast. It has fewer cars than motorbikes, including motorcycle taxis with sidecars, known as pedi-cabs. Most congregations are in mountain villages, with a few in coastal villages. For money and food, the people grow rice, sugar cane, corn, root vegetables. Some have livestock. On the coast, they fish. Most of their ministers have no more than a high-school education. They learned their ministries on the job, with mentoring by elders. There’s no salary, so they have other jobs too: farmer, teacher, school principal. The national headquarters helps with a little money and a clergy uniform—a shirt with a flaming chalice logo (it’s been the logo of the Unitarian Universalist denominations in the U. S. and Canada for several decades). The main—but not only—dialect on the Island is Cebuano, rather than Tagalog (also called the Filipino language). Given that most villagers have not completed high school, most do not speak English. Translators come in handy on visits to the villages.
[i] Frederick John Muir, Maglipay Universalist: A History of the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Philippines (Annapolis: Unitarian Universalist Church, 2001), 25.
[ii]While the initial Negros Island contact with my tradition of North American liberal religion was through the Universalist Church of America, the present “UU” name in the Philippines reflects the merger of the North American denomination with the American Unitarian Association in 1961. UUCP changed its name to add the “second U” in 1985.
