08-11-2007, 11:49 PM
Dear Fellow Members of the American Unitarian Conference,
I apologize for the length of this e-mail in advance. I am sure that the story of my faith journey holds many commonalities with fellow AUC members, and I am grateful to find a community (albeit on-line) of like-minded individuals. This e-mail is both an introduction and a request for guidance as a seminarian who recently left the UU church and attends a UCC congregation as a non-member. It is my sincere hope to become an active participant in our shared quest to bring back an early American form of Unitarianism as a popular and respected denominational alternative. Please allow me to introduce myself….
My name is Melina Frame. I am currently a second year M. Div. seminary student at the Orlando campus of The Florida Center for Theological Studies. My school is most unique in Florida as it is the only one of the three accredited seminaries in our state that welcomes members of the MCC and UU denomination to participate. Most of my colleagues are either UCC or MCC even though our professors range from Eastern Orthodox to Southern Baptist. While we are interdenominational, our school has an emphasis on preparing future ministers in the area of social and justice ministries; that added to our open and affirming policy does place us quite left of center on the political spectrum. I was delighted to learn during a recent visit to Union Theological during the Fosdick Convocation that our seminary is well known in theologically liberal circles and fosters a general amount of respect for existing in such a religiously conservative area.
For the last 13 years of my life I have been a member of a Unitarian Universalist church. Most of my participation in this denomination was in Fairbanks Alaska were I lived for 10 years. Alaska is a social and cultural anomaly in many elements and I'm afraid that the UU fellowship I belonged to was not an exception. Theological discussion was welcomed, social justice outreach seemed second nature to the fellowships existence, and we still held the teachings of Channing, Emerson, and Parker close to our hearts. Very early in my introduction to the Unitarian Universalist faith I felt called to serve that Church in the form of ordained clergy but life directed me immediately after undergrad studies to homeless youth outreach and then to Peace and Conflict Resolution Studies to finally end up in Florida three years ago working with an economic human rights group called the Florida Fair Trade Coalition as a social advocate. It was during this period that I formed working alliances with the Florida Council of Churches, Interfaith-Worker, and other ecumenical faith-based groups. That "calling" from a decade back returned without any room for doubt and I began to attend seminary.
As any good seminarian realizes, the support of a congregation is crucial during ones ministerial training and I changed from my Floridian church hopping ways to dedicate my Sunday Mornings and countless weekday evenings to the St. Petersburg Unitarian Universalist Church. Initially, I was completely shocked at this congregation’s repulsion to any form of theological wording and disappointed that their sense of religious identity was defined as a contrast to a “perceived” concept of an uniformed Christianity that they believed literal, superstitious, and ultimately oppressive in nature. Now, I've no doubt that many are attracted to the UU denomination because of some past hurt from a personal background in too restrictive a Judeo-Christian culture but this methodology of complete rejection hardly seems like an appropriate address to "collective trauma".
Being 31 years and age and Asian granted me a certain amount of "tokanistic appreciation" by this older all-white congregation. I was able to slightly advance the operations of their social justice committee especially in terms of their homeless subcommittee; but not near what I was able to successfully contribute to the inter-faith councils set up in St. Petersburg with the same agenda. In fact, the irony of being comparatively impotent in motivating this UU congregation to become more involved in opening up their doors and resources to St. Pete's homeless population while being able to motivate other churches towards action through inter-faith councils did not escape me, nor did the complete lack of support for my aspirations at an interdenominational Christian Seminary. However, my former congregation did request that my minority Seminarian face greet Rev. Sinkfield during his recent visit to our church, a request that would have been hypocritical for me to honor.
As my studies in Seminary became more intensive, the stereo-type of the irrational Christian held by my church became more absurd. The religious intolerance of my church soon grew unbearable! I am not an atheist by most definition! Furthermore, I did not feel comfortable in a group where panenthiests, deists, or Christian ethicists are simply tossed into the hated non-atheist category. After many conversations with several ex-UU ministers and countless nights spent in heartbroken confusion over how I could possible reconcile my belief structure onto a UU canvas, I came to realize that task at the current moment within the UUA is impossible. I "quit" my denomination six months ago. ...a most uncomfortable place for a second year Seminary student who understands full well the historical decisions made by the council of Nicaea and Chalcedon, but cannot subscribe to a Trinitarian worldview.
The UCC church I currently attend is extremely welcoming and I am very comfortable with the Pastor and the congregation but cannot agree with the need for baptism in order to join the Church Universal and certain other Trinitarian concepts. Does the AUC have an ordination process? Where could one even find a Unitarian Pastor to serve as a mentor to a seminarian? I find myself experiencing a distinct feeling of being lost amongst my classmates whom are blessed with denominational guidelines, scholarships, and other basic resources.
I understand my background and current theological training belong within the categorical “activist church” and the AUC prides itself in being non-political. There is room for much discussion here concerning definition and boundaries in regards to any future service of mine with the AUC. I certainly hold an open mind on the matter of discipleship as differing from secular activism. I can be contacted at mellframe@yahoo.com or by my cellphone 727-515-4171.
Again, I Thank You- With Peace and In Faith- Melina Frame
I apologize for the length of this e-mail in advance. I am sure that the story of my faith journey holds many commonalities with fellow AUC members, and I am grateful to find a community (albeit on-line) of like-minded individuals. This e-mail is both an introduction and a request for guidance as a seminarian who recently left the UU church and attends a UCC congregation as a non-member. It is my sincere hope to become an active participant in our shared quest to bring back an early American form of Unitarianism as a popular and respected denominational alternative. Please allow me to introduce myself….
My name is Melina Frame. I am currently a second year M. Div. seminary student at the Orlando campus of The Florida Center for Theological Studies. My school is most unique in Florida as it is the only one of the three accredited seminaries in our state that welcomes members of the MCC and UU denomination to participate. Most of my colleagues are either UCC or MCC even though our professors range from Eastern Orthodox to Southern Baptist. While we are interdenominational, our school has an emphasis on preparing future ministers in the area of social and justice ministries; that added to our open and affirming policy does place us quite left of center on the political spectrum. I was delighted to learn during a recent visit to Union Theological during the Fosdick Convocation that our seminary is well known in theologically liberal circles and fosters a general amount of respect for existing in such a religiously conservative area.
For the last 13 years of my life I have been a member of a Unitarian Universalist church. Most of my participation in this denomination was in Fairbanks Alaska were I lived for 10 years. Alaska is a social and cultural anomaly in many elements and I'm afraid that the UU fellowship I belonged to was not an exception. Theological discussion was welcomed, social justice outreach seemed second nature to the fellowships existence, and we still held the teachings of Channing, Emerson, and Parker close to our hearts. Very early in my introduction to the Unitarian Universalist faith I felt called to serve that Church in the form of ordained clergy but life directed me immediately after undergrad studies to homeless youth outreach and then to Peace and Conflict Resolution Studies to finally end up in Florida three years ago working with an economic human rights group called the Florida Fair Trade Coalition as a social advocate. It was during this period that I formed working alliances with the Florida Council of Churches, Interfaith-Worker, and other ecumenical faith-based groups. That "calling" from a decade back returned without any room for doubt and I began to attend seminary.
As any good seminarian realizes, the support of a congregation is crucial during ones ministerial training and I changed from my Floridian church hopping ways to dedicate my Sunday Mornings and countless weekday evenings to the St. Petersburg Unitarian Universalist Church. Initially, I was completely shocked at this congregation’s repulsion to any form of theological wording and disappointed that their sense of religious identity was defined as a contrast to a “perceived” concept of an uniformed Christianity that they believed literal, superstitious, and ultimately oppressive in nature. Now, I've no doubt that many are attracted to the UU denomination because of some past hurt from a personal background in too restrictive a Judeo-Christian culture but this methodology of complete rejection hardly seems like an appropriate address to "collective trauma".
Being 31 years and age and Asian granted me a certain amount of "tokanistic appreciation" by this older all-white congregation. I was able to slightly advance the operations of their social justice committee especially in terms of their homeless subcommittee; but not near what I was able to successfully contribute to the inter-faith councils set up in St. Petersburg with the same agenda. In fact, the irony of being comparatively impotent in motivating this UU congregation to become more involved in opening up their doors and resources to St. Pete's homeless population while being able to motivate other churches towards action through inter-faith councils did not escape me, nor did the complete lack of support for my aspirations at an interdenominational Christian Seminary. However, my former congregation did request that my minority Seminarian face greet Rev. Sinkfield during his recent visit to our church, a request that would have been hypocritical for me to honor.
As my studies in Seminary became more intensive, the stereo-type of the irrational Christian held by my church became more absurd. The religious intolerance of my church soon grew unbearable! I am not an atheist by most definition! Furthermore, I did not feel comfortable in a group where panenthiests, deists, or Christian ethicists are simply tossed into the hated non-atheist category. After many conversations with several ex-UU ministers and countless nights spent in heartbroken confusion over how I could possible reconcile my belief structure onto a UU canvas, I came to realize that task at the current moment within the UUA is impossible. I "quit" my denomination six months ago. ...a most uncomfortable place for a second year Seminary student who understands full well the historical decisions made by the council of Nicaea and Chalcedon, but cannot subscribe to a Trinitarian worldview.
The UCC church I currently attend is extremely welcoming and I am very comfortable with the Pastor and the congregation but cannot agree with the need for baptism in order to join the Church Universal and certain other Trinitarian concepts. Does the AUC have an ordination process? Where could one even find a Unitarian Pastor to serve as a mentor to a seminarian? I find myself experiencing a distinct feeling of being lost amongst my classmates whom are blessed with denominational guidelines, scholarships, and other basic resources.
I understand my background and current theological training belong within the categorical “activist church” and the AUC prides itself in being non-political. There is room for much discussion here concerning definition and boundaries in regards to any future service of mine with the AUC. I certainly hold an open mind on the matter of discipleship as differing from secular activism. I can be contacted at mellframe@yahoo.com or by my cellphone 727-515-4171.
Again, I Thank You- With Peace and In Faith- Melina Frame