Posted by Rev. David on September 14, 2012
Freedom is one of the most misunderstood concepts in the United States, and perhaps in the world. Be it Religious Freedom, or Freedom of Speech, or the Freedom of the Press, the Freedom of Association, or any of the common conceptions of freedom that we experience in the United States, I believe that we as [...]
Categories: Defining Religious Langauge, Patriotism, politics, Prophetic Voice
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Tags: American freedom, attack, embassy, free, freedom, freedom of association, freedom of religion, Freedom of Speech, freedom of the press, History, Islam, liberal, liberalism, politics, Prophetic Voice, protests, relationship, religion, responsibility, violence
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7 comments
Posted by Rev. David on August 27, 2012
It has now been over 2 years since I was ordained as a Unitarian Universalist Minister, and each of those years I have spent in more than full time ministry as a minister in our congregations, as well as a reserve military chaplain. Prior to that was a little over 5 years of ministerial preparation, [...]
Categories: ecclesiology, Ministry, Pastoral Care, Turnings
| Tags: change, David Pyle, liberal faith, military chaplain, Ministry, ordination, past, relationship, religion, responsibility, soldier, tranformation, transition
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Posted by Rev. David on May 4, 2012
In the last few months, I have been wrestling with one particular set of theological and epistemological questions… and I’m not done with them yet. That has been part of the reason for the fall-off of writing here at Celestial Lands. Unsure of where I was flowing around the issue, I was unsure of what [...]
Categories: liberal faith, theology
| Tags: adaptive challenge, adaptive change, adaptive problem, belief, belief vs. truth, how to believe, knowing, liberal faith, objective truth, religion, science, science and religion, science vs religion, scientific method, technical problem, theology, truth, truth with a capital t
| 2 comments
Posted by Rev. David on April 4, 2012
We human beings have many times many different prejudices. I’m not trying to make a value statement in saying that, just naming something that I believe is an inherent aspect of human nature. We are deeply prejudiced beings. It is impossible that this not be the case. I have never met anyone who did not [...]
Categories: theology
| Tags: can humans know truth, God, knowing, liberal, liberal faith, objective reality, paterns of knowing, percpetion, preconception, prejudice, racism, reality, relationship, religion, theology, theory of knowing, truth, ultimate truth
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Posted by Rev. David on March 30, 2012
One of the aspects of a Clinical Pastoral Education Residency that was most valuable to me was spending a year with ministers from other religious traditions, being required to have deep discussions about theology, about pastoral care, and about our life experiences. It not only helped me to broaden my own horizon, but it also [...]
Categories: liberal faith, theology
| Tags: book, Christian, David Pyle, faith, God, good and evil, hope, justice, liberal, liberal christian systemic theology, liberal faith, nature of god, religion, Rev. Pyle, Spiritual Practice, systemic theology, theology, Unitarian, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalist, Universalism, Universalist, UU, UU systemic theology, write a book
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Posted by Rev. David on February 17, 2012
One of the first essays I ever wrote in seminary, and the first essay I ever had published, was on the need for Unitarian Universalism to develop integrated spiritual practices that can be shared and engaged by large groups of Unitarian Universalists. In that essay, I make the case that someone could make a spiritual [...]
Categories: Faith, Principles as Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Practice, UU Movement
| Tags: Abraxis, faith, Humiliati, liberal faith, Ministerial Sisterhood, Ministry, monastic order, relationship, religion, religious order, Spiritual Practice, unitairan, Unitarian, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalist, Universalism, Universalist, UU, UU order, uu practice, UU Principles, UU Spirit, UU spirituality
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Posted by Rev. David on February 14, 2012
I remember something that my Drill Sergeant said to me, my first day of Basic Training some 20 years ago, when I was an 18 year old private at Ft. Leonard Wood Missouri. We were all in one of our first formations, and he asked us if any of us would like to take a [...]
Categories: Equality, Military, Military Chaplaincy, Prophetic Voice, Religious Freedom
| Tags: Alliance Defense Fund, chaplain, chaplain religious freedom, Chaplains Alliance for Religious Liberty, David Pyle, election, Equality, Forum on the Military Chaplaincy, free exercise of religion, Military, military chaplain, military religion, military religious freedom, Ministry, politics, Prophetic Voice, religion, Religious Freedom, responsibility, soldier, Unitarian Universalist, Universalist, UU, UU Military
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Posted by Rev. David on January 28, 2012
What it means to be a Unitarian Universalist has been on my heart this last week. Not surprisingly, considering that many UU’s are currently thinking about similar things in reaction to the recent white paper from Rev. Peter Morales titled “Congregations and Beyond”. I know there is a lot behind that paper that is not [...]
Categories: ecclesiology, Faith, liberal faith, UU Movement
| Tags: church membership, congregations and beyond, dan hotchkiss, David Pyle, faith, governance and ministry, liberal faith, liberalism, Peter Morales, politics, Prophetic Voice, relationship, religion, religious identity, responsibility, unitairan, Unitarian, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalist, Universalism, Universalist, UU, UU identity, UUA
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Posted by Rev. David on January 20, 2012
Break not that circle of enabling love, Where people grow, forgiven and forgiving, Break not that circle, make it wider still, Till it includes, embraces all the living. –Hymn 323, Singing the Living Tradition Recently, the conversation has begun again about what makes a Unitarian Universalist. Are you only a Unitarian Universalist if you are [...]
Categories: Evangelism, Ministry, UU Movement
| Tags: activism, church growth, church outreach, David Pyle, Evangelism, faith, hope, justice, liberal, liberal faith, liberalism, Ministry, Peter Morales, Prophetic Voice, relationship, religion, religious movement, religious tradition, responsibility, unitairan, Unitarian, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalist, Universalism, Universalist, UU, UU movement, UU Principles, UUA
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Posted by Rev. David on December 5, 2011
Unitarian Universalists are almost always surprised when they see me wearing the Christian Cross on my Army Chaplain uniform. Perhaps they should not be, given the Christian ancestry of our two founding denominations, but they are. Reactions have ranged from mild curiosity to outrage to some deep pastoral need. On several occasions, those reactions have [...]
Categories: ecclesiology, Military, Military Chaplaincy, Ministry, UU Movement
| Tags: chalice, chaplain, chaplain symbol, Christian, cross, David Pyle, faith, flaming chalice, Jesus, liberal, liberal faith, Military, military chaplain symbol, Ministry, religion, soldier, unitairan, Unitarian, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalist, Universalism, Universalist, UU, uu chapalin, UU Military
| 9 comments
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