Universalist Pentecostalism, old-time paganism, and more

The problem with Christmas
Jess Row grew up in a white, liberal, Unitarian family, celebrating Christmas in a typical American way. Now an American Buddhist looking at Christmas, he believes that we've lost the ability to let gifts make us happy. "Overwhelmingly today, we assume that the way to make people happy at Christmas is to give them what they have told us they want." But this removes the giver's responsibility for the gift, he explains, and the gift is essentially an extension of our karma. (Slate.com 12.22.05)

Universalist Pentecostalism
Featured on the public radio program "This American Life," the Rev. Carlton Pearson, a Pentecostal pastor in Tulsa, Oklahoma, formerly had one of the city's biggest churches. But a few years ago he was denounced by almost all of his former supporters, and his congregation dwindled to just a few hundred people. His sin? He stopped believing in hell, making him one of the most visible proponents of the doctrine of universal salvation. (This American Life - Episode 304, 12.16.05 download with fee)

How ancient is neo-paganism?
In discussing Wicca's history and vitality, Mark Oppenheimer cites Cynthia Eller's Beacon Press book "The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory," which debunks many traditionally accepted theories about the origins and history of Wicca. The book, Oppenheimer explains, drew fire from the Wiccan community, but he argues it could have been an opportunity for Wiccans to take an honestly religious position—one of faith in spite of conflicting facts. (Slate.com 12.21.05)

Texas couple declares $4.5 million gift to Unitarian Universalism
Texas residents the Rev. Dr. Frank Schulman and his wife Alice recently announced their decision to give $4.5 million from their estate to the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. "We wanted to contribute as much money as we could to the Unitarian movement because we believe in its principles so strongly," said the Rev. Schulman, who is terminally ill with brain cancer. (Conroe Courier - Conroe, TX 12.19.05)

See also: "'Religion is the answer': Schulman invests in Unitarian Universalism's future" (uuworld.org - 11.1.05)

Virginia couple mourns loss of home, rights
Barbara Kenny and Tibby Middleton spent years hiding their relationship before they finally found a place where they felt comfortable being a same-sex couple. They had a townhouse, a community they loved, and a spiritual home at the local UU church. But when a new Virginia law took effect declaring that same-sex couples were not entitled to the benefits or protections that straight, married couples get, they were forced to uproot their lives and move away. (The Washington Post - Washington, DC 12.18.05)

See Also: "Film documents law's effect on same-sex couple" (uuworld.org - 8.15.05)

A surrogate mother, Kwanzaa in Maine, Christmas controversies, and more

UUSC founders honored for saving Jews from Holocaust
Massachusetts papers prominently featured a story about two Unitarians who have been posthumously named “righteous among the nations” by Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust remembrance authority for saving hundreds of Jews from the Nazis during World War II. The Rev. Waitstill Sharp, a Unitarian minister, and his wife Martha Sharp spent six years helping Jewish and other refugees escape from the Holocaust. In 1940 they helped organize the Unitarian Service Committee, which is now the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, an independent human rights organization.

A front page story in the Boston Globe tells the Sharps’ story in detail and describes the work their grandson, Artemis Joukowsky III, invested in documenting their heroic efforts. (Boston Globe 12.12.05, registration required)

One of the Jewish refugees Martha Sharp rescued spoke last week at a commemorative celebration at the Massachusetts church Waitstill Sharp served from 1936 to 1944. Other speakers included Amnesty International USA executive director William Schulz, UUA president William G. Sinkford, and descendents of the Sharps. (Wellesley Townsman - Wellesley MA 12.15.05)

See also Unitarian couple honored for World War II heroism (uuworld.org 12.12.05) and Church celebrates members’ World War II heroism (uuworld.org 12.19.05).

Jesus for the rest of us
A columnist for the Kansas City Star asks representatives from a broad range of religions -- Baha’is and Jehovah’s Witnesses and Muslims and Mormons, for example -- what they think of Jesus. He interviews the Unitarian Universalist minister from Overland Park, Kansas, about UU views:

Jesus is often honored as a wisdom teacher but is not considered divine and certainly not part of any Trinity, which Unitarians reject.

The Rev. Thom Belote, pastor of the Shawnee Mission Unitarian Universalist Church, says that “if you ask a Unitarian Universalist if they believe Jesus was God, most would probably answer no. And it would be a tremendous mistake to interpret this reply as a negation, a rejection or a denial.

“We say that Jesus was fully human, no different than you or I, except that he made use of that humanity more fully than you or I ever will. … Jesus’ ministry did not so much point to a kingdom in a time to come. It said that the kingdom is already here.” (Kansas City Star 12.17.05)

Belote has more to say at his blog.

Personal voices
A Unitarian Universalist writes about her decision to become a surrogate mother for a gay couple -- and about the unexpected grief she felt in giving up her newborn daughter. She has visited the little girl and her adoptive fathers four times in the past two years and says, “I didn’t expect to care so much about how I fit into this child’s life.” (New York Times 12.12.05, registration required)

A member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greensboro, N.C., writes this week’s “Faith Matters” column for the local paper and describes how she lives a Pagan life in a Christian culture. (News & Record - Greensboro NC 12.17.05)

A California Unitarian Universalist reflects on his civil rights activism in North Carolina in the 1960s and draws lessons for legalizing same-sex marriage. (Times Standard – Eureka CA 12.19.05)

UU ministers object to death penalty
An article about reactions to California’s execution of convicted murderer Stanley "Tookie" Williams quotes the Rev. Christopher Craethnenn, minister of religious education at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, who marched with other death penalty opponents from San Francisco to San Quentin: “This is less about Tookie and more about the criminal justice system,” Craethnenn said. “We spend so much energy on young men of color, while corporate criminals who ruin millions of lives go unchallenged.” (San Francisco Chronicle 12.13.05)

The Rev. Jacqueline Luck, minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Jackson, Miss., writes in a letter to the editor: “I am concerned about those who hire the executioner -- you and I. We are guilty of premeditated murder whether the condemned is guilty or not.” (The Clarion-Ledger - Jackson MS 12.14.05)

’Tis the season for church advertising
The Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations isn’t the only denomination trying to catch seekers’ attention with giant video ads in New York City’s Times Square this holiday season. The Religion News Service reports that O’hsin Technology, the company that has exclusive rights to sell ad spots on the NBC/Panasonic Astrovision billboard, approached several religious groups with the idea of advertising in Times Square at discounted rates -- and the UUA, the United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church, and Focus on the Family jumped at the opportunity. (Cleveland Plain Dealer 12.17.05, registration required)

See also UUA ads on the Big Apple big screen (uuworld.org 11.14.05)

Celebrating Kwanzaa in the whitest state
The Unitarian Universalist Church in Bangor, Maine, held a Kwanzaa service on December 19. One woman brought her biracial granddaughter to the event because, she said, “There aren't many opportunities to expose her to African-American culture” in the state. During the service the president of the Greater Bangor Area NAACP described Maine as the “whitest state in the union,” but told the multiethnic congregation that Kwanzaa can help bring people together. (Bangor Daily News - Bangor ME 12.19.05)

Christmas miscellany
Like many Unitarian Universalist congregations, the Unitarian Universalist Church in Davenport, Iowa, will host a traditional Christmas Eve service on Saturday night. But its Sunday program, on Christmas Day, will be unusual.

[T]he church will sponsor a Dec. 25 gathering to help teenagers in crisis.

“We’re not expecting as big a crowd as normal,” the Rev. Roger Butts said. Hot chocolate will be served and participants will bring gifts for those in the emergency youth shelter operated by John Lewis Community Services.

“Christmas is a terrible time to be homeless,” he said, “especially for kids.” (Quad City Times - Davenport IA 12.18.05)

Nothing says Christmas like Harry Potter. The Unitarian Universalists in Wakefield, Mass., planned a “Hogwarts Holiday Recital” for Sunday’s service the week before Christmas featuring “entertainment by the children of the Hogwarts-Wakefield UU Campus.” (Reading Advocate - Reading MA 12.15.05)

Meanwhile, the UU church in Reading, Mass., offered a special afternoon service called “When the Holidays Hurt.” The Rev. Tim Kutzmark says, “With all the colors, and lights, and songs and parties, it can be hard to find a quiet place that acknowledges some of us are struggling. . . . We are opening our doors to anyone who hurts in any way this holiday season, and offering a safe and healing place for comfort and support.” (Reading Advocate - Reading MA 12.15.05)

What should the government call its seasonal shrubbery? In response to this season’s much-discussed manufactured controversy, a Christian Unitarian Universalist minister puts in a vote for “holiday tree.” The Rev. Bob MacDicken, minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Catawba Valley, says, “It seems to me that anyone who needs a government tree to bear a name from their religion ought to be ashamed that their faith is that weak.” (Hickory Daily Record - Hickory NC 12.9.05)

The Community Newspaper Company, publisher of 87 newspapers in eastern Massachusetts, selected the Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry as one of the recipients of its annual “Gifts of Hope” charitable giving campaign. An article in the Wellesley Townsman profiles the Urban Ministry’s programs for inner-city children and interviews Steve and Carolee Fogg, members of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Wellesley Hills, about their volunteer work with the program. (Wellesley Townsman - Wellesley MA 12.15.05)

Pool hall transformed into UU sanctuary
After 46 years, the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Bennington can stop packing and unpacking its boxes every week: Members purchased a former pool hall for the congregation, spent the summer and fall cleaning and remodeling, and last week began holding services in their new home. (Bennington Banner - Bennington VT 12.10.05)

See also the coverage of the congregation’s renovation work at the New Hampshire-Vermont District website.

Historic Unitarian church finds new owners
The New Jersey Unitarian church founded 114 years ago by poet William Carlos Williams’s parents hasn't been used as a Unitarian church in a long time: Since 1981, the building has been home to the Ukrainian Catholic Church of Rutherford. But an article about the sale of the historic building to the nondenominational Abundant Grace Christian Church devotes several paragraphs to the history of the Unitarian congregation and Williams’s lifelong membership in it. (Herald News - Rutherford NJ 12.17.05)