#Unitarian Fellowship

[prideparadenet]

GAAMC Weekly Meeting In Morristown at Unitarian Fellowship in Morristown NJ

Every Monday - 6:00PM to 9:00PM EST

More Details: http://www.prideparade.net/events/view/united-states/morristown-nj/unitarian-fellowship-1/gaamc-weekly-meeting-in-morristown-at-unitarian-fellowship-in-morristown-nj-83

#PrideParadenet #LGBTQ #GAAMC #UnitarianFellowship #Morristown

[hootenanie]

gender of the day: boomers who would have been on exogenous hormones had the informed consent model been implemented in 1968 but instead redirected into being hippies and stayed there

[samhainvenus]

Sucks to finally be part of a spiritual community that I don't have to push past the theology I don't accept to be part of only for it to collapse a month later.

[huntingtonnow]

Fundraiser to Benefit Huntington's African American Museum

A fundraiser set for Saturday will benefit the nascent Huntington African American Museum. Panelists, including Denice Evans-Sheppard, director of the Oyster Bay Historical Society; Dr. Jermaine Archer, professor of African American studies at SUNY Old Westbury; and Dr. Georgette Grier-Key, director of the Eastville Historical Society, will discuss African American history on Long Island. Joye…

[ncdweller]

Unitararian Universalists in our town

We went to our first UU service here today.

Much like our Atlanta UU, and so many other UU buildings, the sanctuary is in the round.

I don’t know if the UUA at one time had architectural guidelines requiring this, but I’m all for it.

It’s a tiny membership these days, 40 people total. Because of this, there is no money for a music director or official Grand Pubsh. It’s all volunteers.

In general I think that’s a good thing (side-eyeing the mega churches here), as it seems everyone contributes in some way.

It’s not a Christian organization, per se, but I think Jesus would approve.

The best part is toward the end of the service, they ask if anyone wanted to speak, and it must have been half of the people there spoke. One speaker explained that this is because this is a safe space.

So yay small fellowships!

After the service, everyone went downstairs for coffee (a Universal Unitarian Universalist event), where, being the new kids there, we met everyone. This introvert is still recovering from that, but it was great talking to so many interesting people.

The election outcome pushed us to go today, but we should have attended before that.

[unloneliest]

it has been a really long time since the anchorage unitarian universalists broke my heart like longer than this blog has existed but i'm going to [current city]'s fellowship today for the first time to see if there's a home for me there and i just like. want to tell you guys

[dhaaruni]

These southern cultures developed what anthropologists call a “culture of honor tradition” in which males treasure their honor and believed it can be diminished if an insult, slight or wrong were ignored. “In an honor culture you have to be vigilant about people impugning your reputation and part of that is to show that you can’t be pushed around,” says University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign psychologist Dov Cohen, who conducted a series of experiments with Nisbett demonstrating the persistence of these quick-to-insult characteristics in university students. White male students from the southern regions lashed out in anger at insults and slights that those from northern ones ignored or laughed off. “Arguments over pocket change or popsicles in these Southern cultures can result in people getting killed, but what’s at stake isn’t the popsicle, it’s personal honor.” [...] By contrast, the Yankee and Midland cultural legacies featured factors that dampened deadly violence by individuals. The Puritan founders of Yankeedom promoted self-doubt and self-restraint, and their Unitarian and Congregational spiritual descendants believed vengeance would not receive the approval of an all-knowing God (though there were plenty of loopholes permitting the mistreatment of indigenous people and others regarded as being outside the community.) This region was the center of the 19th-century death penalty reform movement, which began eliminating capital punishment for burglary, robbery, sodomy and other nonlethal crimes, and today none of the states it controls permit executions save New Hampshire, which hasn’t killed a person since 1939. The Midlands were founded by pacifist Quakers and attracted likeminded emigrants who set the cultural tone. “Mennonites, Amish, the Harmonists of Western Pennsylvania, the Moravians in Bethlehem and a lot of German Lutheran pietists came who were part of a tradition which sees violence as being completely incompatible with Christian fellowship,” says Joseph Slaughter, an assistant professor at Wesleyan University’s religion department who co-directs the school’s Center for the Study of Guns and Society.

[anastasiaoftheironwood]

Oracular Seidh Ritual, November 26, 2023

The Seidhjallr Team of Hrafnar Kindred presents a ritual of Oracular Seidh on Sunday, November 26, 2023. The November event features a journey to Helheim, to ask the Ancestors questions for the people. Given the time of year, we expect the dead will be quite active and ready to speak!

Hrafnar is a Troth-associated Kindred.

Would you know more prior to attending? Check out “The Hrafnar Seidh Ritual” at https://seidh.org/articles/seidh/

Disclosure: I am a member of the Seidhjallr Team, and will be the Cyber Warder for the event.

It will be a hybrid event: *in person at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists (BFUU) at 1924 Cedar Street, Berkeley, CA. *via Zoom for those unable to attend in person.

Doors and the Zoom meeting will open at 5:00 PM PST for set up, and the pre-ritual information talk will begin at 5:15.

DM me for the Zoom link.

There is no set fee, but for those who can, we will pass the hat to help defray the cost of the hall.

[woodpengu]

For the first time in about 16 years... I stepped foot into a church, a place of fellowship and communion, a building of a particular type with a particular purpose. And for the first time in my life, it healed me.

No, I'm not a Christian, nor will I ever be... to my parents' disappointment. This was a Unitarian Universalist organization, the first I've ever stepped foot in (though have been curious about since the first time I saw one in another city what feels like a lifetime ago). I had no idea what to expect, but my nervous system draws its own conclusions from trauma rather than logic. Bless my fiance for her effortless and endless patience (no pun intended) as she held my hand, massaged my knuckles, and kissed my cheek through the entire experience. I was there for her sake more than my own, but part of it was also for me.

One never knows how a new thing will go until they do it, and that is a much more terrifying statement to one who is both neurodivergent and severely traumatized. Risk aversion is a steadfast companion. My normal walking into such a place in the past was met with niceness, not kindness. A "Welcome" for being here leaden heavily with conditions for daring to exist in such a space, and a strict propriety. So, of course I was mute with anxiety and terror from the moment I woke up this morning, sleep fitful, appetite altered, senses tuned to suffering and a heightened awareness of being somehow seen as deficient.

I did not expect jeans and t-shirts. I did not expect kindness and welcome. I did not expect a service paying homage to the necessity of democracy on the coattails of an attempted assassination. I did not expect the open admittance of many of the congregation to be in agreement with my own feelings. I did not expect to be approached with genuine grace and warmth, especially after admitting my experience with religion. I did not expect to walk in shut down and walk out opened as a lotus to the sun.

We'll be going back. The exposure therapy is working in this one regard.

[weirdcultstuff]

Today I watched a Unitarian Universalist service on zoom. It was really very nice!

Kind of bittersweet.

Lately I’ve been really, really missing the aspect of having weekly rituals and community. Just the part about having somewhere to go once a week, a reason to get dressed nicely, bake something for a potluck, sing in a group, make small talk with familiar people in between the rows of chairs. So I thought I’d give it a try.

“Unitarian Universalist Fellowship” is what my local one is called. I remember looking them up a while ago, maybe last year? And I wasn’t interested then because the group is open to people worshipping anything and any deity, and I felt it would be too triggering to be around the word “god” a lot. But I read the website a lot and they’re open to atheists and agnostics too, and I figured it might be an okay space to engage in some of my weirdo traditions (like wearing a head covering but not in the way that MEANS things) with all the different religions they’re okay with.

And it was genuinely really nice! I kinda want to go in person sometime now, just to see.

Their opening statement was “love is the spirit of this fellowship and service gives it life. Celebrating our diversity, and joined by a quest for truth, we work for peace, and honor all creation. This is our covenant.”

I’ll never be religious again the way I was. I will never be the most devoted member of any religious group, even open ones like these. I don’t want to be, and I can’t anyway. My brain is super skeptical of things like “quest for truth” and “creation” and “spirit.” But I can light a candle for someone concerned about their niece’s cancer, and it won’t be vibes or prayers or energy, but it will be a token of support and community and solidarity, and it will be a way to appreciate and process events happening around me.

And I never thought I’d be able to have that part again, without it hurting too much. But I guess that’s how healing works. Who knows 🤷‍♀️

[thekimspoblog]

Fantasy of the Day is inspired by a fanfiction I read a while ago, but I can't remember the author.

The Riverton Unitarian Interfaith Church threw a baby shower for Kim; it's something they would do for any member of the fellowship. The fact is Kim doesn't really like the congregation. Her friendship with the other women is superficial at best, and after that crap some of them pulled during the wedding, she doesn't trust them.

On top of this, she's just uncomfortable being the center of attention.

But if she really doesn't like it, she can leave, and she won't, because she wants access to the organization's resources. She doesn't hate any of these people as individuals; she just pities them for being so easily conned. And their passions as a mob were something she simply couldn't fathom.

They kept referring to she and Jimmy as "Abraham and Sarah", and that was... worrying... But it's best not to look a gift horse in the mouth; smile and open the presents.

[cambriancrew]

We've been pretty meh about our spirituality for most of the time since our divorce. But lately, that's been changing. We've been participating more in communities like /r/OpenChristian, which is an explicitly welcoming to queer people community. We've been looking at Scripture again, using the YouVersion app to compare translations of our favorite passages. We've been listening to (carefully curated) Christian music. (Absolutely hate a lot of it, especially Skillet's "I hate myself I'm a terrible person" vibe, and a lot of the "Jesus is my boyfriend" songs, "I will die for you" persecution complex songs, and the very boring clearly designed just to be easy to play and sing in church music.) We've been looking at churches to attend when we get a car again. There's an Episcopalian church not too far that looks like it has a good sized congregation, not too small and not too big. And there's a Unitarian Universalist fellowship we found that we really want to go to.

But mostly it's just been like... This is something we need. Not just for the inbuilt community and support. But also because, at least for us-Willows and Varyn and Jas, this is something strengthening for us. It's a crucial part of our identities, and a crucial part of how we view the world.

We're never going back to being a Bible-thumping, apologetics-focused, "we're right y'all are wrong" kind of Christian that we were growing up and for a lot of the time when we were married. That was a toxic mindset. Our faith is important because it's part of the reason we're so full of love for people. And THAT'S the mindset we want to curate for ourselves. Not just in matters of faith, but in ALL matters. This ESPECIALLY includes discourse.

On our Uber ride to work today, the driver was playing a show where a Christian was debating a Muslim about who Jesus is. And it was so painful to listen to, knowing that not that long ago we would have been cheering on the Christian for "winning" the debate. Except he was clearly just better skilled at debate, not in actually caring about the other man.

We don't want to be like that.

It's not going to be easy, but we are going to do our best to try.

[banji-effect]

We, the undersigned organizations, write to express our urgent concern regarding dire and escalating violence in Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territory, which continues to result in significant human suffering and loss of civilian life.

We condemn all violence against civilians by Hamas and the Israeli military. In this critical moment, we believe it is imperative that U.S. policymakers take measures to immediately de-escalate the violence to prevent the further loss of civilian life. We urge Congress and the Administration to:

Publicly call for a ceasefire to prevent the further loss of life;

Prioritize the protection of all civilians, including by urgently securing the entrance of humanitarian aid into Gaza and working to secure the release of hostages; and

Urge all parties to fully respect international humanitarian law.

We implore Congress and the Administration to abstain from rhetoric that exacerbates violence and to unequivocally condemn all violations of international law. Over the last several days, the Israeli government has cut all food, fuel, and humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip. On October 12, Israel issued an evacuation order for the entire northern Gaza Strip, telling residents to evacuate south of Wadi Gaza. This amounts to approximately 1.1 million people. The U.N. is calling for this order to be rescinded, warning it will have “devastating humanitarian consequences.”

We again urge Congress and the Administration to publicly call for, and help to facilitate, an immediate ceasefire to prevent the tragic loss of more innocent Palestinian and Israeli lives. Thank you for your urgent consideration.

Sincerely,

Alliance of Baptists American Baptist Churches USA American Friends Service Committee American Muslims for Palestine Americans for Justice in Palestine Anera Arab American Institute Auburn Theological Seminary Center for Civilians in Conflict Center for Jewish Nonviolence Center for Victims of Torture Church of the Brethren, Office of Peacebuilding and Policy Churches for Middle East Peace Common Defense Council on American-Islamic Relations Demand Progress Democracy for the Arab World Now The Episcopal Church Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Fellowship of Reconciliation Freedom Forward Friends Committee on National Legislation Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect Grassroots International Historians for Peace and Democracy If Not Now Institute for Policy Studies New Internationalism Project International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN) Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Jewish Voice for Peace Action Just Foreign Policy Justice Democrats Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Mission Convention MADRE Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Minnesota Peace Project MPower Change Action Fund National Council of Churches National Iranian American Council Neighbors for Peace Nonviolent Peaceforce PAX Pax Christi USA PC(USA) Office of Public Witness Peace Action Project on Middle East Democracy Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft Quixote Center ReThinking Foreign Policy Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights RootsAction September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows Sojourners The Duty Legacy The Unitarian Universalist Association The United Methodist Church - General Board of Church and Society The Zomia Center United Church of Christ United for Peace and Justice UNRWA USA Women for Weapons Trade Transparency Working Families Party World BEYOND War Yemen Freedom Council Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation Yemeni Alliance Committee

[billgavemeextrachips]

I freaking love Unitarian Universalists.

The fellowship I attend only has about thirty regular and semi-regular attendees, and out of those thirty, there are three die-hard Whovians (myself included) and at least half a dozen other fans of the show.

Now apparently I and the other two die-hard Whovians are going to put together a Sunday service on “UU Principles in Doctor Who.”

AAAAAAAAAH! I’m so excited!!!

(Also feeling really honored that they thought to ask me to help, since I’ve been a Whovian for two years now, and at least one of these other guys has literally been a Whovian since before I was born.)

I’ve already been granted dibs on the second UU principle: “Justice, equity, and compassion in human relations.” I’m going to center my talk on the Twelfth Doctor, (no surprise there, lol,) and may even get to play a clip of his “I Do What I Do Because It’s Right/Decent/Kind” speech for the whole fellowship to watch. (!!!)

I have no idea when this is actually going to happen. We’ve agreed not to even think about the nitty gritty planning stuff until after New Year’s. Part of me wants it to happen next November, for the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who...

Except there’s no way I’ll be able to contain my excitement for eleven whole months.

Maybe we should aim to present the message sometime this upcoming spring, and just mention it’s the show’s 60th anniversary year? :-/

But yeah. At any rate: I freaking love Unitarian Universalists. ^_^

[hootenanie]

this morning my Unitarian Universalist fellowship had a moment to acknowledge the passing of David Crosby 😭

[skinnerhousebooks]

We’re thrilled to announce our newest title, The Rough Side of the Mountain: Black Women’s Ministries in Unitarian Universalism, edited by Rev. Dr. Qiyamah A. Rahman. It’s available to pre-order now from inSpirit: The UU Book and Gift Shop.

In The Rough Side of the Mountain, editor and scholar Qiyamah A. Rahman collects and explores the unique journeys of Black Unitarian Universalist clergywomen, celebrating their wisdom, resilience, and contributions within and beyond Unitarian Universalism. Rahman provides crucial historical background and context, outlining the history of female Black spiritual leaders going back to ancient times, African spirituality, the Black church, the Civil Rights Movement, and Unitarian Universalist history. This singular anthology lifts up the stories and wisdom of Black Unitarian Universalist clergywomen past and present, whose contributions to this faith are just beginning to be recognized. 

Rev. Dr. Qiyamah A. Rahman is a Unitarian Universalist minister residing in St. Croix, Virgin Islands where she served the UU Fellowship of St. Croix, from 2012 to 2018. Inspired by the social justice witness of Unitarian Universalism, she devotes her primary research to the richly diverse narratives of Black Unitarian Universalist women and girls. Her scholarship and writing have appeared in Darkening the Doorways: Black Trailblazers and Missed Opportunities in Unitarian Universalism, Standing Before Us: Unitarian Universalist Women and Social Reform, Voices from the Margins, and BLUU Notes.