tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28809213.post3968415436437641953..comments2023-05-16T08:21:43.605-06:00Comments on iMinister: The Post-Denominational WorldChristine Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02291622244158872449noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28809213.post-50092493019494534602011-05-05T08:01:48.240-06:002011-05-05T08:01:48.240-06:00I think you are right, Christine; those who have a...I think you are right, Christine; those who have a general Christian identity do not need to make a point of it; we are a little different and do need to establish some particular identity or be lost in a branded world.Stephanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02508379882429230346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28809213.post-79492570457375366572011-04-27T15:24:21.815-06:002011-04-27T15:24:21.815-06:00@Joel, I can't count the number of times peopl...@Joel, I can't count the number of times people have thought we were the same as Unity. Or the number of times people just said, "What's that?" People who haven't heard of us just hear "church" and assume church=Christian. I guess the difference is when you say "who has actually heard of us" and I'm talking about people who haven't.<br /><br />@Robin, I think we need to stay in the business of interpreting the Bible, but that's not our only business. I'm also a life-long UU, and if we weren't this unique blend of Christians and non-Christians, I wouldn't be interested. I'd be glad if we weren't unique if it meant that others had joined us in this place of inclusive theology. It's not the uniqueness that's important, it's what it represents, which right now is a fairly unique place in the larger culture.Cynthia L. Landrumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02858232066200226342noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28809213.post-32881407433498493712011-04-27T15:15:41.868-06:002011-04-27T15:15:41.868-06:00This is an interesting conversation...
I just w...This is an interesting conversation... <br /><br />I just want to clarify one point in my own case lest Jiun think the church I serve is in the "Bible Believer" camp. <br /><br />The interpreters to my mind include a large portion of the Christian faith. The congregation I serve is UU and United Church of Christ (UCC) definitely interpreters. I assumed that Christine's Bible Believers are those who apporach the scripture with more of a literalist bent. I am not sure you would find that approach in the liberal church writ large, much less in the UU Christian churches...RevEliothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15346434951498321241noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28809213.post-62773033144497946052011-04-27T11:22:39.797-06:002011-04-27T11:22:39.797-06:00I don't know. To tell you the truth, I don...I don't know. To tell you the truth, I don't really understand why they would want to be, to be honest. And I grew up in a congregation like that.Robinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02057747981042673651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28809213.post-30045057242019735072011-04-27T09:35:13.115-06:002011-04-27T09:35:13.115-06:00Robin, what if your congregation isn't interes...Robin, what if your congregation isn't interested in worshiping god, doesn't consider the Bible to be all that relevant (outside of a few spicy stories here and there), and would be horrified at the thought of being called "protestant?"<br /><br />Do they still get to be UU's too?Jiunhttp://five-mountain.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28809213.post-20229271979006939202011-04-27T08:29:28.209-06:002011-04-27T08:29:28.209-06:00One more question: in a post-denominational world,...One more question: in a post-denominational world, does a "brand" or being "unique" matter? I'm a life-long UU who is sick of being unique. I just need a place that welcomes all to worship God and serve my neighbor. I need that place to have good worship, and a good mission. That's all the "unique" one needs these days, since good worship and good mission are hard enough to find. And novelty doesn't make for good worship, in my humble opinion.Robinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02057747981042673651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28809213.post-42137437113731114782011-04-27T08:14:00.896-06:002011-04-27T08:14:00.896-06:00Cynthia, I was responding to this post by Rev. Rob...Cynthia, I was responding to this post by Rev. Robinson, which said that UUs are not bible believers, nor bible interpreters (and that we are somehow outside that binary or "unique"). I agree with you that we are (or should be) in the Bible interpreter camp. If we don't reclaim our rightful place in Protestantism (we are so protestant we have managed to protest ourselves out of Christianity), I do believe we will die.Robinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02057747981042673651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28809213.post-71040501105839264012011-04-27T07:49:21.253-06:002011-04-27T07:49:21.253-06:00This is an intriguing discussion! It seems clear t...This is an intriguing discussion! It seems clear that there are UU ministers and congregations that are "Bible Believers" (however few), some that are "Bible interpreters" (sounds like the majority), and some that are "Bible no-thank-you-ists" (I needed a term and non-biblical didn't sound as awkward)... and some congregations that are a mix, and you're trying to find a way to make them all welcome, and keep the "UU Brand" somewhat meaningful to the outside world.<br /><br />Big job. Tough job.<br /><br />Wish you the very best of luck!Jiunhttp://five-mountain.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28809213.post-51213326025715565382011-04-27T07:02:25.054-06:002011-04-27T07:02:25.054-06:00Cynthia said, "The problem is that most peopl...Cynthia said, "The problem is that most people hear "Unitarian Universalist" and think "oh, another Christian denomination" not realizing how out-of-the-box we are." I couldn't disagree more. I don't know ANYONE who has actually heard of us who considers us a Christian denomination! In fact, we're famous for NOT being recognised by other churches as Christian; we're talked about in popular culture as not being Christian, and I don't mean just by Garrison Keilor. Here's a piece about us from the September 1972 Mad Magazine article, A Primer On Religion In America":<br />Chapter 8 The Minister <br />This is a Baptist Minister. <br />He is delivering a sermon.<br />It is a very important sermon. <br />It is all about non-religious people. <br />He tells about people who worship idols. <br />He calls them Paganists. <br />He tells them about people who aren't sure there is a God. <br />He calls them Agnostics. <br />He tells about the worst people of all. <br />People who don't believe there's a God. <br />People who are threatening to destroy religion as we know it. <br />He calls them Unitarians!Joel Monkahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10631333436948102576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28809213.post-17049952871588674512011-04-27T05:04:34.186-06:002011-04-27T05:04:34.186-06:00I like your interpretation Christine. However, th...I like your interpretation Christine. However, the question I must live with is slightly different. As someone who serves a church that definitely does fit into the Christian "mash-up" I wonder what this means for us.<br /><br />If the UUA does continue to label itself as something "other" (which it may have to do, I'm not judging here) where does that leave UU Christian churches?RevEliothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15346434951498321241noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28809213.post-54262181314968164832011-04-26T21:17:58.840-06:002011-04-26T21:17:58.840-06:00(Spent Easter Sunday doing some real Biblical inte...(Spent Easter Sunday doing some real Biblical interpretation laying out just what makes liberal Christianity so different. And my Christians & Humanists all seemed to love it. They're hungry for it. We've co-hosted the Jesus Seminar a few times, too, and again the folks here are jazzed about that work, as well as non-Christian aspects of UUism.)Cynthia L. Landrumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02858232066200226342noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28809213.post-61760050842250858092011-04-26T21:15:39.454-06:002011-04-26T21:15:39.454-06:00I don't see us as refusing to interpret the Bi...I don't see us as refusing to interpret the Bible, Robin, so I can't agree with what follows from that premise. <br /><br />Christine, I think you're right on. I think in a post-denominational world, if we're in such, UUism has more relevance than ever. We're in a multi-cultural, interfaith world, and we're doing the work of growing a multi-cultural interfaith movement. And if we can get the message out that we're something different, our branding ourselves makes sense. The problem is that most people hear "Unitarian Universalist" and think "oh, another Christian denomination" not realizing how out-of-the-box we are. And in a post-denominational world, being seen as just another denomination isn't helpful.Cynthia L. Landrumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02858232066200226342noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28809213.post-70941829274353832812011-04-26T18:23:22.463-06:002011-04-26T18:23:22.463-06:00Thanks, Robin. That's exactly what I was wonde...Thanks, Robin. That's exactly what I was wondering.PeaceBanghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11431551457505981195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28809213.post-3142482504510594842011-04-26T17:12:37.697-06:002011-04-26T17:12:37.697-06:00I am admittedly a UU seminarian at a non-UU Bible-...I am admittedly a UU seminarian at a non-UU Bible-interpreting seminary, but I do believe our refusal to interpret the Bible any more (much less believe in it) makes us increasingly more irrelevant in a post-denominational world. It leaves us with--well--only a denomination. Which doesn't really work considering we are an association of congregations (and not a denomination at all). Our ancestors were anti-doctrinal because doctrines were extra-biblical. Our ancestors were anti-denomination because a denomination could so easily corrupt the word of God. I acknowledge that these days we operate more like a denomination now that we don't have a hermeneutic nor a text to interpret, but if we are living in a post-denominational reality, where does that leave us? Post-UU?Robinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02057747981042673651noreply@blogger.com