The State of Unitarian Universalism<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"My favorite UU blogger is Rev. Victoria Weinstein, aka PeaceBang. Yesterday she posted a long essay that started on the recent UUA Presidential election\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2009\/07\/the-state-of-unitarian-universalism.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The State of Unitarian Universalism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"My favorite UU blogger is Rev. Victoria Weinstein, aka PeaceBang. 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{"id":524,"date":"2009-07-08T16:58:00","date_gmt":"2009-07-08T16:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2009\/07\/the-state-of-unitarian-universalism\/"},"modified":"2009-07-08T16:58:00","modified_gmt":"2009-07-08T16:58:00","slug":"the-state-of-unitarian-universalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2009\/07\/the-state-of-unitarian-universalism.html","title":{"rendered":"The State of Unitarian Universalism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

My favorite UU blogger is Rev. Victoria Weinstein, aka PeaceBang<\/a>. Yesterday she posted a long essay that started on the recent UUA Presidential election<\/a> and quickly moved into the state of Unitarian Universalism. While it\u2019s not all gloom and doom, she raises enough issues \u2013 and enough issues that hit home with me as a local lay leader \u2013 to make me wonder about the future of our religion \/ denomination \/ movement.<\/p>\n

In particular, I have to wonder if any religion or religious subset can survive (much less thrive) without a common spiritual center. Yes, we all believe in free thought and inquiry and in building a world that\u2019s more compassionate and just. But so do most Mainline Protestants and Buddhists and Humanists and the ever-growing \u201cspiritual but not religious\u201d crowd. <\/p>\n

Further, what in all our common beliefs and activities helps a person get through the week? What helps a person get through a serious illness, or the death of a loved one, or her own impending death? For the seeker who walks through our door who knows he needs something but doesn\u2019t really know what, what do we offer? A cup of coffee and a political speech?<\/p>\n

After reading PeaceBang\u2019s essay, a question occurred to me that I hadn\u2019t thought of in the 6+ years I\u2019ve been a UU: if it wasn\u2019t for CUUPS and my Pagan practice, would I still be a UU? Would there be enough religious substance, enough depth, enough spirituality to feed my soul once the \u201cI\u2019m so happy to be here\u201d phase wore off? <\/p>\n

Unitarian Universalism has been very good to me. It\u2019s given me a spiritual home, a safe place to practice my religion in a group setting (the whole reason I went looking for a CUUPS group in the first place), some great friends and some wonderful opportunities to learn and grow, to lead and serve. But does it have a future beyond the current generation?<\/p>\n

Are UUs capable of creating a common spiritual center? Could we ever stop protecting our individualism long enough to agree on anything? I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

I do know this. If Unitarian Universalism is to develop a spiritual center, it won\u2019t come from committees or focus groups whose primary goal is to include everyone and satisfy no one. It will come from individuals and small groups who have developed vibrant spiritual practices and who share them, articulate them, and promote them. <\/p>\n

The prophet Ezekiel told the story of dry bones living again. It was a metaphor that said the exiled Hebrews would return to their promised land after captivity in Babylon and be an independent nation once again. A people who thought they were dead would indeed live again.<\/p>\n

The bones of Unitarian Universalism are awfully dry. Is there an Ezekiel in the house?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"