{"id":153,"date":"2012-02-09T19:30:00","date_gmt":"2012-02-09T19:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/02\/dealing-with-pagan-phobic-uus\/"},"modified":"2012-02-09T19:30:00","modified_gmt":"2012-02-09T19:30:00","slug":"dealing-with-pagan-phobic-uus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/02\/dealing-with-pagan-phobic-uus.html","title":{"rendered":"Dealing With Pagan-phobic UUs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
UU Pagans \u2013 Faith in Action<\/i><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Sometimes I forget how good I have it. <\/p>\n

Denton CUUPS<\/a> had been in existence for three years when I arrived. There were still a few people in the Denton UU Fellowship<\/a> who were skeptical about Paganism in a UU church, but by the time I was elected Congregational President in 2005 that was pretty much over. Our current minister is very Pagan-friendly and attends many of our circles, our long-time members understand us and our new members are respectful even if they aren\u2019t all curious (though many are). CUUPS is both a ministry of our church and an outreach program for the church \u2013 we bring in people who wouldn\u2019t otherwise show up on Sunday mornings.<\/p>\n

So it was more than a little unsettling when I read a Facebook post from someone who is attempting to form a CUUPS chapter at her UU church. A member of their Program Committee expressed concern about \u201cthe Pagans getting all this time for programs\u201d and said he was \u201cunclear what Paganism has to do with the Unitarian Universalist Church.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not going to address the specifics at this church. The Board of CUUPS Continental<\/a> (on which I serve) is aware of the situation and will get involved to the degree that is desired and helpful. But I do want to talk in general about dealing with a phenomenon I thought was pretty much gone but clearly isn\u2019t: Pagan-phobic UUs.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll begin with the assumption that the Pagans in a UU congregation are doing things the right way<\/a>: they\u2019re actively involved with the church, contributing their money and time to the congregation, and not just interested in \u201cthe Pagan stuff.\u201d And just so I\u2019m clear, I\u2019m not talking about very many UUs\u2026 but one is still too many.<\/p>\n

The first step is to acknowledge the person complaining. Even if they\u2019re being rude (up to a point, anyway), hear them out. Ask clarifying questions. Would they have a similar problem with Buddhist<\/a> services? What about Christian services? Are the Pagan services displacing something this person thinks is important? <\/p>\n

Maybe there really are too many Pagan-themed services \u2013 particularly in a small congregation, there\u2019s only so much people want to hear about anything. I\u2019ve been Worship Committee chair in a lay-led congregation: when you\u2019re staring at a blank calendar you have no idea how to fill, and you\u2019ve got an in-house group who\u2019s ready and willing to lead services and who you don\u2019t have to pay, it\u2019s easy to tap them more often than you should.<\/p>\n

Shortly after I became President I had a long-time member tell me \u201cyou know, we\u2019re not all Pagans.\u201d I got a little defensive and explained that I knew that and that I valued all our religious sources and expressions. As the conversation deepened, it became apparent she had nothing against Pagans or Paganism. She missed the Christian hymns of her childhood. I spoke to the Worship Committee chair and the musicians, we added a few Christian hymns and readings to our services and this long-time member was happy. And our services were more diverse and broad-based than before.<\/p>\n

By acknowledging and engaging the complainer, you can find out if there are legitimate complaints and you can start to get an idea of what the real problem is.<\/p>\n

The second step is education. Some people have a very limited idea of what Unitarian Universalism is or should be. The sixth source of our Principles and Purposes<\/a> is \u201cSpiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.\u201d If anyone thinks Paganism doesn\u2019t have anything to do with UUism, this says they\u2019re wrong. <\/p>\n

Pagans have been a part of Unitarian Universalism since the 1985 General Assembly<\/a> and informally for longer than that. There are Pagan and Earth-centered songs and readings in our hymnals. We have numerous Pagan-identified and Pagan-friendly ministers. <\/p>\n

And the common roots go much deeper. You can\u2019t read Emerson and Thoreau without seeing Pagan concepts. You can\u2019t see the social action of Starhawk<\/a> and Circle Sanctuary<\/a> without seeing UU concepts. How about the UU Ministry for Earth<\/a>? The sacred story of evolution<\/a> belongs to Pagans as much as it belongs to Naturalists, confirming our connection to the Earth and our kinship with all living things. Dark Green Religion<\/i><\/a> does a good job of showing how theists and nontheists can come together religiously around our common concerns for the only planet we\u2019ve got.<\/p>\n

A CUUPS circle should speak deeply to Pagans. Denton CUUPS circles typically follow a fairly standard Pagan liturgy<\/a> and our events are usually held on Saturday nights. We cast circles, call quarters, invoke gods and goddesses, make offerings, and share a Simple Feast. We try to make it accessible for newcomers (we don\u2019t do High Magic or Drawing Down rituals in public circles), but we plainly, clearly, and unapologetically work magic. If you think worshipping ancient deities or working magic is silly you won\u2019t be comfortable at our circles. This is how our free and responsible search has led us to truth and meaning and we won\u2019t change our rituals to accommodate you\u2026 though if you\u2019d like to lead a Humanistic Pagan<\/a> circle we\u2019ll happily participate.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, a UU Sunday service has to speak to Pagans and Christians and Buddhists and atheists and the visitor who doesn\u2019t know a thing about UUs but who decided to come check us out today. When Denton CUUPS leads a Pagan-themed Sunday service we keep the generic Protestant order of service our congregation uses every Sunday. We occasionally use one of the quarter calls in the hymnal (#446 \u201cTo The Four Directions\u201d or #703 \u201cSpirit of the East\u201d), but we rarely ask people to stand and face the directions \u2013 we want to keep things familiar. We may use some of the Pagan-friendly songs in the hymnal, but for last Sunday\u2019s service on The Cauldron of Transformation<\/a> the prelude and offertory were African-American spirituals. Why? Because they\u2019re energetic and they support the theme of transformation better than anything else we could come up with. <\/p>\n

When you\u2019re planning a Sunday service, what\u2019s in it for the non-Pagans? Will a first-time visitor be able to follow along or will he be freaked out? <\/p>\n

There is much you can and should do to acknowledge, educate and include Pagan-phobic UUs. But for some people it\u2019s not a case of not understanding or feeling left out \u2013 it\u2019s a case of control. They want things to be like they\u2019ve always been and they don\u2019t want to consider something new. Or they don\u2019t want to be embarrassed by a \u201cbunch of woo woo stuff\u201d in their<\/i> church.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t take it too personally, Pagans. I once had someone ask me \u201cdo we have to do so much for the gays?\u201d Thankfully, that person is no longer part of our church.<\/p>\n

These people are toxic to your congregation, no matter how long they\u2019ve been there or how much money they give. They act as self-appointed gatekeepers, bypassing elected leaders and subverting the democratic process. They limit our scope and reach and effectiveness as a church. <\/p>\n

Go around them. Or go over them. Or go through them. Don\u2019t let them be a roadblock on your search for truth and meaning and on your congregation\u2019s path to growth and maturity. And if they\u2019re too entrenched and too powerful and too dead-set on keeping things the way they\u2019ve always been, take your time and your effort and your money some place that\u2019s interested in being a religious community and not a social club. <\/p>\n

My experience as a UU Pagan has been overwhelmingly positive. I\u2019ve encountered very few Pagan-phobic UUs and almost all of them became Pagan-friendly with a little acknowledgement, education and inclusion. The ones who didn\u2019t realized the Pagans were here to stay and either stopped complaining or went elsewhere. <\/p>\n

I hope and pray that my good experience will be repeated at this and every Unitarian Universalist congregation.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UU Pagans \u2013 Faith in Action Sometimes I forget how good I have it. Denton CUUPS had been in existence for three years when I arrived. There were still a few people in the Denton UU Fellowship who were skeptical about Paganism in a UU church, but by the time I was elected Congregational President […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nDealing With Pagan-phobic UUs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"UU Pagans - Faith in ActionSometimes I forget how good I have it. Denton CUUPS had been in existence for three years when I arrived. 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