© 1998 Dick Bain
© 1998 The Brotherhood of Man Library
Church talk is in the air. The Urantia community is cussing and discussing the possibility of a church[^1], a religion, or some sort of religious organization that incorporates the teachings of The Urantia Book. Just as human cloning is controversial in the larger community, so also is this issue divisive in the Urantia community. Regardless of the heat generated by the debate, this may be an idea whose time has arrived. If so, then it is an appropriate time to discuss the form that such a religion or religious organization might take.
There are many models to consider. Since most people in our culture are familiar with Christianity, it seems natural to look to it first as a model for a religious organization. But traditional Christianity is not the only model in our culture; there are those who march to the beat of a different drummer. Among these are the Friends or Quakers, Unity, and the Unitarian Universalists. Are there ideas of value to us among the forms and contents of religious organizations such as these?
My most recent experience with religious organizations is with Unitarian Universalism (UU-ism). While it is unlikely to be considered as a paradigm for a potential Urantia church, UU-ism does have features worth considering. And the Unitarian Universalists (UU’s) have struggled with many of the problems with which a Urantia church would also have to grapple. What can we learn from their triumphs and failures?
The oldest Unitarian church in existence today was founded in Transylvania about 1560 CE. The movement was founded by those who did not agree with the Trinity concept that the orthodox Christian church insisted they must accept. Several of the early Unitarians lost their lives for such heresy. Michael Servetus was burned at the stake for his ideas regarding the Trinity and baptism. Francis David, the founder of the Transylvanian Unitarian Church, died in prison for his heresy after the death of his sponsor King Sigismund. Unitarianism developed as a formal movement in England about 1700 thanks to the efforts of the scientist, Joseph Priestley, who is best known for discovering oxygen.
Unitarianism in the US dates from about 1805. The more liberal element of US Unitarianism, closely associated with Transcendentalism, dates from 1838 when Ralph Waldo Emerson challenged the conservatism of the Unitarianism of his day. The American Unitarian Association dates from 1825. The Universalist Church of America was established in the US in 1793.
The Universalists differentiated themselves from traditional Christianity by proclaiming that salvation is universally available to all people, not just those saved or a small elect. In 1961, the Unitarians and the Universalists merged to form the Unitarian Univ-ersalist Association which has headquarters in Boston.
The Unitarian Universalist (UU) churches are of the congregational form in the US, and thus have complete autonomy from the national organization in Boston. The congregational form of church government is the only logical choice, given the UU’s emphasis on the democratic process within organizations. A Urantia church would undoubtedly embody a similar democratic form.
UU-ism is probably known more for what it rejects rather than what it accepts. The majority of UU’s do not accept the doctrines of the Trinity, the divinity of Jesus, the Atonement, and Original sin. Additionally, many UU’s do not accept the idea of a heaven or hell, but there seems to be a sizable minority who believe in some form of reincarnation.
While UU-ism does not have an official theology, there are a few spiritual concepts that many UU’s accept. One is the idea that we all have a spiritual presence of God, the Infinite Mind, or some equivalent within us. This means that we can go within ourselves to find our spiritual resources rather than relying on some ecclesiastical authority. The closest thing to a theology in UU-ism is a statement of principles upon which UU’s have achieved consensus[^2]. But while there is not a definitive UU theology, there is a strong social gospel.
The emphasis of much of UU teaching and preaching is on improving life on this world rather than hoping for a better place in the afterlife. They have translated this philosophy into action by forming an outreach organization, the UU Service Committee, that participates in service activities around the world. Many UU’s are also strong supporters of groups such as Amnesty International and similar organizations that try to obtain justice for political prisoners and other prisoners of conscience. In addition, many UU congregations have a Social Justice Committee that works in areas such as equal opportunity and sets up programs to help the powerless and abused find social justice in various parts of the world. They are strong advocates for the rights of women and minorities throughout the world.
Environmentalism is also an area of special interest to many UU’s. Many are avid environmentalists, and strongly support organizations devoted to the preservation and protection of our environment. This concern for the earth is mirrored in one of the UU Statement of Principles[^2] which says that UU’s “Respect the interdependent web of existence. . . ”
I believe that the UU collective of congregations fulfills The Urantia Book projection that “Someday religionists will get together and actually effect co-operation on the basis of unity of ideals and purposes rather than attempting to do so on the basis of psychological opinions and theological beliefs. Goals rather than creeds should unify religionists.” (UB 99:5.7)
Because of their lack of dogma and their openness, the UU congregations attract a wide variety of people. I was not aware of just how diverse UU’s are until I conducted a survey of our congregation during one of our summer services. This informal survey revealed the following breakdown: Atheist, 15%; Agnostic 21%; Theist 10%; Christian 15%; Deist 7%; Other 19%; Pagan 13%.
It is only because tolerance is an important principle of UU-ism that such a diverse group of people can function together in relative harmony. While this does allow harmony, it also means that proselytizing for a particular theological point of view is not well received. The minister or presenter at a UU Sunday service must take care to treat issues (especially theological concepts) in a balanced fashion, or at least admit that what is presented is only their understanding or belief about the issue.
Even though people in the Urantia community are connected by the teachings of The Urantia Book, this community nevertheless constitutes a very diverse group of people. Any Urantian religious organization will face some of the same issues UU congregations face. Not everyone accepts all the teachings of The Urantia Book, so what will be the role of the book in any such religious organization? Will we welcome skeptics into our fellowship?
I think the authors of the book were trying to give us guidance about any religious organization when they wrote, “When a member of a social religious group has complied with the requirements of such a group, he should be encouraged to enjoy religious liberty in the full expression of his own personal interpretation of the truths of religious belief and the facts of religious experience. The security of a religious group depends on spiritual unity, not on theological uniformity. A religious group should be able to enjoy the liberty of freethinking without having to become ‘freethinkers.’ There is great hope for any church that worships the living God, validates the brotherhood of man, and dares to remove all creedal pressure from its members.” (UB 103:5.12)
While many UU’s do not “worship the living God,” they certainly do validate the “brotherhood of man” and do not place any “creedal pressure” on members.
UU congregations may use some of the traditional rituals, but they have also developed a few rituals that are appropriate to the character of UU congregations. One ritual that I believe is unique to UU-ism in its embodiment is the time during the Sunday service for candles of concern or celebration. People of the congregation come forward to light candles and tell of either joyous events they wish to celebrate or concern about some problem in their family, in their community or in the world. This may be the closest thing to group prayer in which UU’s participate.
Other rituals are modifications of Christian ones. For instance, instead of a bread and wine communion, a UU congregation may have a water- or bread-sharing communion which takes on a different meaning than the “body and blood” concepts of traditional Christianity.
The flower communion is a relatively new tradition. One form of this ritual consists of each person in the congregation taking a flower from a selection at the front of the church and, if possible, giving it to someone in the congregation who has touched his or her life. The flower ritual originated during W.W.II. It was inaugurated by a Unitarian minister (the founder of the Czechoslovakian Unitarian church) who wanted to modify the form and meaning of the traditional communion ceremony so that people of all faiths could partake of it.
Another ritual of UU services is a time for feedback during the Sunday morning service from the congregation about the subject presented by the speaker. This gives people a chance to voice either assenting or opposing points of view, and may motivate the speaker to defend or clarify his or her assertions.
The holiday celebrations in many UU churches differ considerably from those in Christian churches. In the case of Easter for example, since UU’s don’t generally believe in the doctrine of the Atonement and the resurrection of Jesus, the sermon topic may be related to the cycle of life that renews itself every spring and/or finding renewal within ourselves. A flower communion may be a part of this service. Other adaptations UU’s use are changing the words of familiar Christian songs to make them more acceptable, excluding songs from their hymnals that are out of character with UU thought, or including non-traditional songs that are in harmony with UU principles.
UU’s have developed a few unique symbols. The most distinctive symbol of UU-ism is the chalice. This symbol was devised to honor Jan Huss, a priest of Medieval times. He advocated having the Mass in the vernacular of the people and having the people drink the communion wine as well as the priests. He was burned at the stake for promoting these heretical ideas. The chalice symbol was used during W.W.II by the Unitarian Service Committee on their transport boats so they would not be fired upon as they attempted to get refugees—mostly children—out of war-torn Europe.
The UU churches in Czechoslovakia have the sunflower as one of their symbols. The Transylvania Unitarian seal is the dove encircled by a serpent. This is derived from Jesus instruction to his apostles quoted in Matthew to, “be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves.” The authors of The Urantia Book instruct us that:
“Regardless of the drawbacks and handicaps, every new revelation of truth has given rise to a new cult, and even the restatement of the religion of Jesus must develop a new and appropriate symbolism. Modern man must find some adequate symbolism for his new and expanding ideas, ideals, and loyalties. This enhanced symbol must arise out of religious living, spiritual experience.” (UB 87:7.6)
One of the problems a small liberal religious community such as the UU’s has is identity. Because the number of UU’s is small, and UU-ism has no universally accepted theology, many non-UU’s do not understand what it is. Even UU’s have a difficult time explaining it. Many UU’s reject the Christian label, yet there are a few Christian UU churches. To compound the problem, UU-ism in the US is constantly evolving. How can you capture the essence of something that keeps changing?
Another thing that contributes to the change is the influx of new members who come from traditional Christian backgrounds. They may have given up their allegiance to their previous church, but they haven’t necessarily given up all their old beliefs. It is not surprising therefore that a class called “Building Your Own Theology” is held periodically at UU congregations.
The clue to the survival of UU-ism is its emphasis on tolerance. Each person is in charge of his or her own belief system. In a way, it gives great freedom, because each person knows that proselytizing is unacceptable, and therefore members are free from pressure to accept other’s beliefs.
Since UU identity doesn’t come from its spiritual teachings, what is unique about the church? Its identity comes from its involvement in social issues, and their outreach programs. The UU emphasis on outreach stems from their convictions that we are in relationship to others, strangers, family, and the earth itself, and thus one’s faith does not exist in a vacuum. But some UU’s are not totally satisfied with this identity.
There are many UU’s who feel that the church needs to have a more spiritual orientation. The problem is that UU’s do not agree on what is meant by the term “spiritual.” UU’s also struggle with their feelings toward Jesus. Some have a great reverence for him; others discount him as another false messiah. How can a minister address such issues where there are such divergent views? The ministers I have known try to present all sides of the picture and honor all points of view, while making their own points of view known.
Another way the diversities can be handled is by forming special interest groups within a congregation. A group of UU Christians may get together and have a Bible discussion group. A group of Pagans might get together for a Solstice celebration, or conduct a Solstice celebration as a Sunday morning service at that time of year. While these diverse groups don’t always achieve harmony, nevertheless, it is a testament to the tolerance of UU’s that there is as little conflict as there is.
Undoubtedly, the issue of identity will not be as difficult an issue for a Urantia church as it is for a UU congregation. A Urantia church doesn’t have to be all things to all people, but it will nevertheless have to evolve a unique identity. A major question is whether such a church will be seen as an entirely new church/religion or just another sect within Christianity. Because some of the theology of The Urantia Book is similar to Christian theology, it will be difficult to avoid the Christian label. Can we? Should we? We may think that these are questions that we will not have to answer for decades, but the time may be shorter than we think.
I have read that there already two Urantia churches in California who are beginning to address these questions. If the church movement swells and begins to grow rapidly, we will have to address many of these questions quite soon. There are a few lessons that we can learn from history. One of these is that the Christian church did not spring suddenly from nowhere. It built on the foundation of Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and other traditions.
While we should and certainly shall evolve our own symbolism, rituals, and even music, I believe that we will, at least initially, need to appropriate and adopt as needed, some things from Christianity and other sources such as UU-ism.
We could profit from taking the best from these sources and adapting it to our needs. This has several advantages. First, the rituals and music will seem familiar to those of a Christian background—or whatever background we draw from—and they will be more comfortable with these things than something new and strange. Perhaps we should deliberately pull from some other traditions as well to give them a point of contact with the new church. But however the enterprise starts, I believe that eventually it must either establish a unique identity to differentiate it from Christianity, join forces with Christianity, or divide into various factions.
I believe we have much to learn from the worlds’ religions and religious institutions. They have evolved psychologically satisfying symbols, rituals, and music over centuries and millenniums. I don’t believe we should stoop to mere imitation, but we should profit from both the mistakes and hard won lessons of all these sources, and select and adapt the best of them to fit our needs. Isaac Newton said that he stood on the shoulders of giants. I do not doubt we will be standing on the shoulders of spiritual giants as well.
Acknowledgment: Thanks to Rev. Heather Collins of UU Congregation of Gwinnett for her suggestions while I was preparing this article. Except as noted, quotations are from The Urantia Book.
Notes: While “church” is a uniquely Christian term, I use Urantia church in this article in the sense of a religious organization composed of people from the Urantia community, just as “church” can refer to the body of Christians.
A Statement of Principles: We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote:
Everything must await the coming of its time…
Jesus to Ganid (UB 130:5.3)
The inherent worth and dignity of every person; Justice, equity, and compassion in human relations; Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations; A free and responsible search for truth and meaning; The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large; The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all; Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.