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by Rev. Katie Lee Crane

Ever been to town meeting? Where everyone has an opinion and everyone has the right to express it responsibly? Where every person who registers has a voice and a vote? That's what happens in our Unitarian Universalist churches, too. The people in the pews make the decisions. There is no hierarchy of deacons or bishops, no central authority such as the Vatican. Each UU congregation is an autonomous organization that makes decisions for itself. Each is self-supporting and self-sustaining. It is based on this simple premise: one member, one vote.

Last week, I wrote about how diversity is the essence of our community, its life blood. In this free church of ours, we believe that no one person has THE TRUTH, but through interaction with one another, we might come closer to it.

Naturally, this creates some interesting challenges. For example, if we are committed to the democratic process where at least the majority has to agree, and yet we have wide diversity within our membership, how do we ever decide together what is important?

The short answer is: it isn't easy. For many of us, though, this is the best, most hopeful, most visionary aspect of who we are as a community of faith. We are a microcosm of the world: different people, different cultures, different races, different orientations, different needs, different hopes, dreams, resources, problems, and fears.

When we are at our best, these differences provide a culture for growth and change that is both liberating and exciting. Making decisions together isn't easy. But, by being in community together, we are practicing how to live in the world; we learn how to name the differences — even appreciate and hallow them — and still function as a unified body.

One of our great contemporary UU theologians, James Luther Adams, a student of Paul Tillich, said that the function of a free church is to bring humans together into a community that has the power to change people. Done well, it elicits a commitment to a way of life that makes a difference.

It is not that we want to reduce our differences to a lowest common denominator. Quite the opposite is true. We want to engage in dialogue about our differences. We are, at our best, seeking understanding of one another.

Wilfred Cantwell Smith, a 20th century scholar of religions, put it this way: "we are not talking about it (an idea);" "we are not talking about them (the other);" "we are not talking with them about it and them." "We are talking with one another about us."

What does it look like to be talking with one another about us? It means worship that honors the many ways we make meanings. It means religious education that teaches us not only how to respect others' beliefs, but also how to discern our own. It means learning how to trust our own authority and how to use it responsibly.

When you visit a Unitarian Universalist worship service, you will find some things to be just exactly like what you've seen in other churches: friendly, involved people, lively children, beautiful music, thought-provoking sermons, readings that nourish, cajole, prophesy or comfort.

You will find sanctuary from the world as well as engagement in it. You will find time for quiet, inner reflection and also time for communal connections. But some things may seem different, too. Few Unitarian Universalist churches follow any one scripture. Instead, the reading may be from an ancient Hindu Veda or a contemporary poet. The sermon might be inspired by a news event or a Native American tradition. The children's story may retell an ancient tale or create a new one. Each week the theme is different.

Like so many other communities of faith, you will see and hear UUs working for children's rights and international human rights. You will find us active in fighting poverty and in promoting economic justice, in ecology and protecting the environment. You would find us striving to prevent violence in all forms. You would find us speaking out against racism and homophobia. You will discover us on the School Committee and the Conservation Commission. You would meet us at the Post Office and Town Meeting. You will learn how we struggle to put our deepest spiritual and ethical values into practice in our complex world.

You will see how we worship and serve together, how we depend on each other to grow and learn, and how we expect to change. You will see that we have made a commitment to a way of life that makes a difference to us and, we hope, to our world.

Revision 3. Last edited Fri 11 Apr 2008 11:30am by TomYelton