American Unitarian Conference Forum

Hi all,

I have been aware of the AUC for a while and previously I have been involved with the UUA. I don't have any bad thoughts about UU but it just doesn't meet my current needs.

I have been struggling with my own faith (or lack thereof) for quite a while, but let me share some thoughts why I keep getting drawn back towards progressive Christianity. I had been defining myself as an atheist, but generally I had been rejecting some of the monstrous images and concepts of God that you find among the mainstream religions. My understanding seems to approach Unitarian Christianity as well as Christian Universalism. (I have also discovered the Christian Universalist Association as well.) My own understanding of God tends to be pantheistic in nature so I am also a member of the Universal Pantheist Society (in fact, I went from an atheistic, naturalistic pantheism stance to a more classical, dualist pantheist stance for those who know about such things).

In my own conception Jesus died, not as "payment" for our sins, but so that he could overcome death (aren't a lot of references to Hell actually referring to Sheol which is the grave?) and thus we get eternal life through that gift. You can't overcome death unless you are dead. Christian universalism is a doctrine whereby all people are saved by God through the grace of Jesus Christ once we respond in faith (which can be in this life or the next as God's grace is not limited by death). There is no eternal punishment (although there may be temporal self-inflicted punishment while we continue to resist God's grace - we have all eternity to respond - think of Jesus' parable of the Prodigal Son) as no lifetime of sin justifies an eternal punishment and such a concept turns a God of love into a God of vengeance and tit-for-tat (the same reason I have issues with traditional views of substitutionary atonement). The term in the Bible that many think refers to "eternal" (which is aionios) actually refers to "an age" (an extremely long time) which may be the amount of time it takes for the purifying fires of hell (which is God's love) to burn away the satanic ego.

Our faith response to this grace causes us to react in gratitude and allows the Holy Spirit (Inward Light) to work in us to cause us to emulate Christ (Law of Love, i.e. Love of God and Love of others, and the Sermon on the Mount) in our lives. Only the Gospel of Christ teaches radical grace where God wrote Himself into history to save us no matter who we do or do not do or do believe or do not believe (and out of the other world religions only Jodo Shinshu or Shin Buddhism has even a comparable doctrine of grace - it is the only "Tariki" or "Other-Power" school of Buddhism - the rest are "Jiriki" or "self-power"). The vast majority of other religious paths teach that we must do (or not do) certain things and believe certain things to reach God, enlightenment, etc., but they share common moral and ethical principles which make these other paths worthy of reverence and respect.

My wife and I are planning to join the AUC next week. (We are a single income homeschooling family so finances are tight.)

I hope to start some dialogue.

Thanks!

Dave

Welcome!  I look forward to future dialogue...your positions are certainly within a UU Christian framework...many here hold a deist, theistic or UU Christians viewpoint etc.  I hope both of you find support and community here.

Welcome to the forum. I will look forward to your posts.

With love,

Rev Dorris

Welcome to you and your wife!

Thanks for the welcome! While my family and I have tried institutional churches before (such as UU churches, Unity, liberal Episcopal, and United Church of Christ), we are currently not participating in a congregation although there is a progressive United Church of Christ within driving distance. Part of the reason is that the traditional Protestant church service and traditional hymns don't do much for us anymore (I much prefer the "emergent church" style of worship and more contemporary Christian music - much of which does not contain content which conflicts with Unitarian Christian teachings or Universal Reconciliation and Universalist teachings). My wife much prefers to be out in nature (she's a former Catholic and I was raised Mormon). I do think "house churches" is something that has more appeal as I do wonder if the institutional church is something with fading appeal which explains the rise of smaller covenant groups within the larger churches to maintain relevance and appeal.

What sorts of resources are other AUC folks out there utilizing?

In my case, there are not many good options for a brick and mortar church locally....many of us have gone down the same road..just not finding a fit with any of the existing denominations...there are a few exceptions..the occasionally theologically progressive UCC or Unity church etc...but many of us are without a physical church home. This website offers us a chance for some kind of community, resources and presence. The idea of an internet church has been kicked around but so far it has not progressed.

So then my follow up question would be what "practices", if any, are folks doing at home to reinforce their spirituality? (Also see my more detailed post under "Events" - hard to find an appropriate place for it, for more discussion.)

Thanks!

Dave

Dave,

I'm glad to see you join the discussion. My religious orientation is quite similar to yours. I guess I'm closer to panentheism than pantheism. As to Universalism: I'm also sort of a Christian Universalist (as in universal salvation), but sometimes shorten that to "Universalist", as a person does not have to be a Christian to be a Universalist, and I'm always trying to attract as many Universalists as possisble. As to Unitarianism: I wouldn't dream of being anything else.

Like many others on this list, I don't currently have one brick and mortar church. I attend an occasional gathering at a UU church in St. Paul. I sometimes attend an Episcopal chruch in Mpls, but do not recite the creeds. I'm in a kind of worship group that in some ways resembles home churches that meets about once very two months. Most members of that still attend traditional churches, and only one or two of us prefer an "unchurch" model, leaning away from clergy-laity distinctions.

A current inspirational novel you might enjoy: CHURCHGOERS by Don Kurtz. I couldn't get enough of it. Rev. Dorris (on this list) has recently put together a book of his writings that you might appreciate. I did.

How do you now feel about the Mormon church?

John

I went to the Mormon (LDS) church in the 1970's when it was even more legalistic than it is now. Besides the coffee, tea, tobacco - it was also no Coke, Pepsi, chocolate, aspirin, African-Amercans (in the 1970's the Mormon church as blatantly racist). I never fit in there and even as a child I questioned the beliefs. While I have great admiration for their family centered values (and I even do a weekly Family Night with my wife and kids which is a practice I picked up from the Mormon church), I still feel that legalism (which leads to hellfire thinking) is toxic to healthy faith and produces bad fruit which is why I had embraced atheism.

hi there,
welcome. talk about belief,it's cmplicated. i believe in works(torah laws), faith and i am christian UNITARIAN (both conservative and liberal in different aspects). all that matters is unity,at least think so!
blessings!