February 2000
 From Your Minister
by Rev. Jane Ranney Rzepka, minister, CLF
It's not an easy religion, this Unitarian Universalism—particularly when one is looking at it from the outside. I can tell. On the phone, in the mail, and in our email, newer members of the Church of the Larger Fellowship ask repeatedly about Unitarian Universalist dogma.
To be sure, many members of CLF have been Unitarian Universalists for a lifetime—or at least a few years. You have been active members of congregations off and on, here and there, as circumstances allowed. Some members are ministers. But commonly, our members are in the process of discovering and exploring Unitarian
Universalism for the first time.
To those new among us, here's what I want to say about this religion: We have a solid, specific, historic tradition grounded in reason, freedom of conscience, and respect for other points of view. We appreciate everyday wonders, and we cultivate spiritual depth. We care about high ethical standards and justice in the here and now.
Typically, though, as newcomers, you ask questions that provoke a different set of sentences, answers that relate to the religions you've come from. Naturally, many of you ask about the Bible, God, and Jesus. You have questions about Unitarian Universalist doctrine; you want to know "what we believe."
Of course the trouble is, we don't have a doctrine! No creed, no dogma, no catechism. Unitarian Universalism isn't concrete or codified. But still, your questions
deserve answers.
An early minister of the Church of the Larger Fellowship, George Marshall, wrote a book in 1966 called Challenge of a Liberal Faith. When I was a teenager, I often used the appendix of the first edition as a crib sheet to explain our religion to my friends. Marshall writes:
What do Unitarian Universalists believe about God?
"There are a multitude of beliefs held by us.... Some would agree with Jesus, God is love.' Others would join with Gandhi in saying 'God is truth.' Others join with scientists in saying God is 'the first cause,'....
"Others define God as the integrating force, that which makes meaning in our experience, that which makes sense out of life, the power for good, etc. Generally speaking, Unitarian Universalists find God within the natural order, not outside of it. ...All Unitarian Universalists do not agree in the necessity for belief in God.
What do Unitarian Universalists think about the Bible?
"It is looked upon by us as a body of literature, composed of many books, not one, and covering may fields of knowledge including legendary stories, poetry, history, drama, prophetic books, and biographical accounts.
What do Unitarian Universalists think about Jesus?
"...He appears to us as a great teacher, rather than as a member of the Trinity. ...It is the ethics of Jesus, rather than the doctrines about him that are attractive to us."
I hope that you will ask your own questions from your own point of view. Request
books from our loan library. Take a look at Unitarian Universalist websites.
Talk to one another on the email list. And
most important, please know that we welcome you to Unitarian Universalism.
To the extent that readers paid attention to the biographical write-up, some may have noticed that I live in New England. Others may have noted in passing that I have children. A few others may have seen that I majored in religion in college, or went to theological school in California—the standard kinds of things.
But there was one reader who made a different observation having read the information in Quest. What he noticed were the names in the box: "Melski" and "Rzepka." I received a letter.
The letter came from the Polish National Catholic Church, Central Diocesan Archives and Library, Bishop Hodur History and Archives Commission. It was a lovely letter, its author hoping to write an article about "the participation of Polish Americans in religious denominations other than Roman Catholicism." He knew all about the Unitarian heritage in Poland, the Socinians, and our history of anti-trinitarianism there in the 16th century. He seemed excited.
The trouble is, although I have about 16 little chunks of geographical heritage in me, not one of them is Polish. My husband fills the bill 100 percent no doubt some of you do too; but me, not at all. And Linda Melski's not Polish either!
The writer brought a certain perspective to his reading of Quest. Because he works professionally in the Polish American community, he was bound to notice that both "Melski" and "Rzepka" were probably Polish, when it had never occurred to me. I think, though I don't know for sure, that the writer, looking through his own personal lens, assumed that Polish-surnamed Unitarian Universalists are descended from the Socinians in Poland. He comes from a tradition where if you are Roman Catholic, chances are pretty good that your parents and grandparents and their ancestors were too—it stands to reason that it would be the same for Unitarian Universalists. Finally, in his religion, if a member of the clergy has a Polish last name, that priest is almost certainly actually Polish, not a woman married 30 years ago who changed her name altogether.
Our ways as Unitarian Universalists are not obvious to the newcomer. If you are new or still learning, please know that I am thinking of you, wondering always where you've come from, what you are bringing, how you are seeing us, and what you'd like to include of your past.
Jane Rzepka, Minister
Quest February 2000 Contents
 REsources for Living
Betsy Hill Williams, Religious Education Director, CLF
The aerial camera panned out across the New England countryside and dramatically zoomed in on the white clapboard church in the town center. An unfortunate misunderstanding was about to fall prey to a confrontational expose by Bryant Gumbel on his short-lived CBS series "Public Eye With Bryant Gumbel" three years ago. The church was the UU church in Concord, Massachusetts and the event that triggered Gumbel's visit involved the 20-plus-year-old human sex education program, "About Your Sexuality" (AYS). As the UUA came to the defense of the program, a new comprehensive lifespan sexuality program was
already in progress.
Years of work went into securing grants and institutional support for this new curriculum, to be developed jointly by the Unitarian Universalist Association and the United Church Board of Homeland Ministries. although the new program was never directly threatened by the public airing of the Concord controversy, it did put sex education and liberal religion in an uncomfortable spotlight. I wonder, in hindsight, if perhaps Gumbel's critical review had the opposite effect of its intention. Rather than softening our commitment to sexuality education, our resolve was strengthened; to create the best possible program, with an inclusive and flexible design to meet the needs of all ages in congregational, family, or secular settings. Our Whole Lives (known as OWL), is the result; an outstanding, comprehensive sex education program that I hope every CLF family will use—at least once!
"Sex Is Everywhere," opens the Parent Guide to OWL and "Parents Are Primary Sexuality Educators," follows the second subtitle. The question is not whether your children will learn about sexuality at home, but how they will learn about sexuality at home; not whether they need to know about homosexuality, lovemaking, masturbation, or sexual abuse, but whether you want to have an influence on their knowledge. Few of us in the current parenting generation would argue that sex education was adequately presented in our growing-up years. OWL gives us a second chance—to join the lifelong process of sexuality education and learn for ourselves about sexual development and the complex and diverse expressions of human sexuality, and to do a better job of educating our children than the generation before us.
The goals of the Our Whole Lives curricula are: to provide accurate information about sexuality in a forum in which all sincere questions are respected and addressed, to provide learning about sexuality issues that includes not only facts but also feelings and values, and to develop the skills necessary to make healthy, responsible decisions throughout life.
Starting with Sexuality Education for Grades K-1, OWL progresses through the years with four additional separate and complete programs: Sexuality Education for Grades 4-6, Grades 7-9, Grades 10-12 and Adults. Each program has a religious supplement, Sexuality and our Faith, A Companion to Our Whole Lives, which grounds the content of the curricula in our UU values and principles. Curriculum content includes anatomy, gender identity, sexual orientation, relationships, communication, lovemaking, decision-making, responsible sexual behavior, and abuse of sexuality. The emphasis in each curriculum and the details of information given vary to meet age-appropriate standards. All five OWL authors are leading experts in the field of sexuality education.
The Parent Guide to OWL Grades K-1 and Grades 4-6, written by UUA Children's Program Director Patricia Hoertdoerfer, is a particularly valuable part of OWL for CLFers. It discusses parent concerns and offers scripted answers to common questions raised by children, to help parents develop confidence and accuracy in their communication. Guidelines and tools for using everyday events as "teachable moments" and becoming an "askable" parent are also included. In addition to the Parent Guide, "homelinks" and handouts make the elementary-age programs particularly well suited for home use. although the Grades 7-9 program is geared for group process in an institutional setting, it too contains valuable information for both parents and kids, with activities and stories that could be good discussion starters.
One of the assumptions of the OWL program is that open communication creates a healthy family environment and nurtures trust. Every "teachable moment" is an opportunity to discuss facts, values, feelings and to interact with your children in a respectful and caring way. OWL helps families create the accepting and affirming environment that fosters strong self-esteem and a lifetime of healthy, responsible
decisions.
The CLF Loan Library will carry all components of OWL as they are published. Still to come are the Grades 4-6 curriculum (due out this month) and the Grades 10-12 and Adult programs (to follow in the spring). We will also have copies of the supplementary materials: What's the Big Secret? Talking About Sex With Girls and Boys by Laurie Brown and Marc Brown, It's Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris, illustrated by Michael Emberly, and the video Raising Healthy Kids: Families Talk About Sexual Health. All components of OWL are sold through the UUA Bookstore. Training for leaders of the Grades 7-9 curriculum is offered through the UUA, and some supplemental visual materials for that program are only available to trained leaders.
Please call me if you have any
questions about putting this essential program into your family life.
You can reach me any weekday but
Friday at 617-742-2100, ext. 165.
Quest February 2000 Contents
Last updated June 12, 2005
|
