#15: Unitarian Church

A lot of what I know about the Unitarian Church comes from the Simpsons.  In particular, this exchange between Lisa Simpson and Reverend Lovejoy at a church ice cream social:

Lisa: “What flavors do you have?”
Rev. Lovejoy: “Well, chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and our new Unitarian flavour ice cream.”
Lisa: “I’ll have that” (Rev hands her an empty bowl)
Lisa: “But there’s nothing in there.”
Rev: “Eeeexactly.”

It's a good joke, but a cheap shot from a reverend in a religious tradition where firmly established dogma is considered central to what it means to have a church.

The Unitarians certainly are not that.  But what are they?  Well, I decided to find out.  My wife and mother-in-law had plans to attend Sunday's 11:15 service.  I wanted to go too, but, having toddlers, we decided to divide and conquer: I'd go to the 9:15 service, then watch the boys later.

Part of what I'm up to with this blog will be a bit of spiritual exploration. Spiritually, religiously, I am a mixed bag.  I was raised, loosely, in the Presbyterian tradition. I continued to go to Presbyterian church and the youth group long after becoming a Teenage Atheist because I found value in the community and the activities.  I also grew up in a neighborhood of Portland with a sizable Jewish population.  I used to go to Jewish daycare, work at the local Jewish Community Center, and I've attended my share of bar mitzvahs. By marriage I've found my way into a Catholic extended family, with some Lutheranism thrown in.

I've had three truly profound spiritual experiences in my life, in the sense of feeling an esctatic one-ness with something much larger than myself.  All were in my adolescence.  One was at a Presbyterian church camp while singin' some hymns; the other two were completely non-religious - they hit me while camping in the wilderness at OMSI-sponsored science camps.  Make of that what you will.

What am I today?  Well, I'm unsure whether I'm an atheist or agnostic, which I think actually means I'm agnostic.  I think there's Something running around in the universe, I just don't know what it is or if it matters that I find out.  Most recently I have dabbled in Buddhism, reading some texts, trying some guided meditations, and even attending a service here and there.  It jibes well with what I tend to think, being a "nontheistic" religion that prescribes some right ways of living and practices for tapping into that Something, while also saying "there could be a god, or gods, or not ... as you wish, but that's not really the point, silly."

So, what about these Unitarians?  Right from the start, you can see that they are wholly engaged in wordly affairs.  A few clues being the Black Lives Matter banner across their facade and the Street Roots hawkers invited to sell newspapers on the steps of the church as you enter.

This is a social justice organization that also happens to be a church, more explicitly than any other I've been to.  There's nothing wrong with that, if your political views align with theirs.  Mine probably don't, overall, but I wasn't about to let that stop me from heading in to take in the service.

Their spiritual message is very syncretic and more than a little self-conscious.  The worship is begun and ended with the tolling of a bell similar to those used in Buddhist meditation.  In between -- and maybe this was a reflection of this being a service for MLK day -- the music was primarily black spirituals from the slave era and thereafter.  The ministers tended to refer to the man upstairs as "Great Spirit" or "God of Many Names or None" and the like.  One minister felt it was necessary, when giving us some readings from MLK and kicking off another hymn, to remind us that "MLK was a preacher in the Christian tradition and it's important that we remember that context when we consider his words."  O....kay.

But in all, this did not mean, as the Simpsons joke suggested, that Unitarianism is spiritually empty. Quite the opposite.  There was spirit and joy alive in there.  Great music had a lot to do with it.  It occurs to me that the Unitarian approach to religion is similar to that of Alcoholics Anonymous -- where you are expected to accept a higher power and offer up your life to "God as you understand him."  Contrary to the popular belief of people outside AA, it is not heavy-handed about the "God"  thing.  The higher power can be whatever you are willing to accept and put faith in. I've heard people say theirs is the ocean, or the sun, or a door knob.  One said "GOD" stood for "Group of Drunks," a tongue-in-cheek way of making the serious point that for him the higher power was the fellowship itself.  The point is that you get out of yourself and lean on something as you strive toward something greater.  In the case of AA, that is stopping drinking and changing your life for the better.  In the case of the Unitarians, it is social justice.  In the same way, they are less concerned with how you personally conceive of God, so much as they are that you draw spiritual strength from somewhere that can drive you to go out into the world and advance justice as they see it.

They're doing good work, and seem joyful doing it.  They have great music and charismatic leadership.  If I felt like their politics were mine, I'd certainly go back.  I might anyway.