Hear me out, I go to a Unitarian Universalist church for the music and sense of community. There is no shared theology among UUs, only a set of shared values. UU services vary a lot by the specific congregation. Ours has had services on celebrating gender identities, promoting social justice, mourning global conflicts, and fighting climate change. Sometimes relevant theology from a variety of world religions is incorporated into services, but there is no expectation to be a believer and there are many atheist members in my church. The rest of the time we have potlucks, play board games, do community service projects, etc.
I have casually considered attending a UU church near us. They seem very chill based on their website.
I would have to overcome my dislike of meeting new people and being awake and fully clothed before 11:00am on a Sunday. Those are the main challenges for me, personally.
I’m hoping to attend some public events at the a local nature preserve as a way of easing into social events with strangers. They have programs on bird watching, mushroom cultivation, etc… A year’s membership cost $40 and it comes with free parking and free access to their programs. They’re also part of a larger network of nature parks, so benefits include free admission to any of those.
Honest and serious question: Do you get any underlying cultish vibes? Specifically, are there sub-groups that may take the overall concepts too far?
Just looking at the literature, it seems healthy. Spirituality can be separate and distinct from religion, so that is cool. My only concern is that of a “gateway”. A comparison would be how AA is “not religious” but it actually is with many different AA groups and it’s super subtle.
Just curious, s’all. I am sure others have similar questions.
Not OP, but UU is mostly hippies and people who love church but hate religion. I haven’t seen any cult-like vibes in the three UU churches I’ve been to. It’s pretty chill and a nice place to meet folks.
It probably depends heavily on the specific congregation. I haven’t seen those vibes personally though. In my experience nobody really bothers the people who just show up occasionally, except to be friendly at coffee hour. UU are very much about democracy and so the local make up of the congregation can take it in many directions. Try it out on zoom if they offer a hybrid attendance to see if it’s a good fit
Hear me out, I go to a Unitarian Universalist church for the music and sense of community. There is no shared theology among UUs, only a set of shared values. UU services vary a lot by the specific congregation. Ours has had services on celebrating gender identities, promoting social justice, mourning global conflicts, and fighting climate change. Sometimes relevant theology from a variety of world religions is incorporated into services, but there is no expectation to be a believer and there are many atheist members in my church. The rest of the time we have potlucks, play board games, do community service projects, etc.
I have casually considered attending a UU church near us. They seem very chill based on their website.
I would have to overcome my dislike of meeting new people and being awake and fully clothed before 11:00am on a Sunday. Those are the main challenges for me, personally.
I’m hoping to attend some public events at the a local nature preserve as a way of easing into social events with strangers. They have programs on bird watching, mushroom cultivation, etc… A year’s membership cost $40 and it comes with free parking and free access to their programs. They’re also part of a larger network of nature parks, so benefits include free admission to any of those.
Looks neat. Nothing outside the US?
~50% of the time I attend virtually, because yeah it’s nice to sleep in on Sunday and make breakfast with the service on Zoom and camera off
(Free ayahuasca? jk!)
Honest and serious question: Do you get any underlying cultish vibes? Specifically, are there sub-groups that may take the overall concepts too far?
Just looking at the literature, it seems healthy. Spirituality can be separate and distinct from religion, so that is cool. My only concern is that of a “gateway”. A comparison would be how AA is “not religious” but it actually is with many different AA groups and it’s super subtle.
Just curious, s’all. I am sure others have similar questions.
Not OP, but UU is mostly hippies and people who love church but hate religion. I haven’t seen any cult-like vibes in the three UU churches I’ve been to. It’s pretty chill and a nice place to meet folks.
It probably depends heavily on the specific congregation. I haven’t seen those vibes personally though. In my experience nobody really bothers the people who just show up occasionally, except to be friendly at coffee hour. UU are very much about democracy and so the local make up of the congregation can take it in many directions. Try it out on zoom if they offer a hybrid attendance to see if it’s a good fit