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 … Read more →
Tag Archives: Evangelism
Individuality and the American Dream
I’ve been thinking this past week about a class I took during my undergraduate degree, called “Political Thought in American Film”. It was class in my minor that combined two things I love, politics and movies… how could I resist? Specifically, I’ve been thinking about two films we watched in … Read more →
Is the Constitutionality of Military Chaplaincy in Danger?
This week, I received an email from an organization I track, known as the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. It is an organization that advocates both legally and in the media, for the protection of the Free Exercise of Religion in the military, often with more passion than restraint. Yet, over … Read more →
The Role of Faith for the Military Chaplain
In the fall of 2011 I was honored to attend the first ever OutServe Leadership Conference. This was the first time for this organization of LGB persons actively serving in the military to gather publicly, since such public gatherings and recognition was made possible by the repeal of Don’t Ask, … Read more →
Faith is Hard… and Liberal Religion Needs Some
One of the earliest articles I wrote here at Celestial Lands is one where I seek to define, for myself, the meaning of faith (that faith is not belief, it is “sacred trust”). I sometimes think we Unitarian Universalists and others of Liberal Religion have a harder time coping with … Read more →
“Government-Paid Missionaries for Christ”
Recently I received a letter from a fellow Unitarian Universalist who is very concerned by incidents and attitudes he perceives among some military chaplains, where they seem to understand themselves as “government-paid missionaries for Christ”. The letter details some of his own research into the issue of some chaplains who … Read more →
Should Military Chaplains Meet Civilian Chaplaincy Certification Requirements?
Most times I take a position on an issue when I write an article for Celestial Lands. This time, I am torn. I know the reasons that I chose to complete at least the base educational requirements for becoming a Board Certified Chaplain by the Association of Professional Chaplains (APC) … Read more →
THE QUESTION (Part 5)
Go to Part 1 Why it is important to “plant a seed”, and how I learned to let go of the results. When I speak of “planting a seed”, I speak from personal experience, for many years ago a seed of Unitarian Universalism was planted in me. It rested on … Read more →
THE QUESTION (Part 4)
Go to Part 1 Opening the answer to the Inquisitive Question “So, can you tell me a little about Unitarian Universalism?” and drawing more questions. This may come as a shock to those brave and committed souls who read the long blog articles at Celestial Lands, but the two keys … Read more →
THE QUESTION (Part 3)
Go to Part 1 The inquisitive “can you tell me a little about your faith?” and Questioning the Questioner. This version of THE QUESTION “Just what is Unitarian Universalism?” is my favorite. It often comes from someone genuinely interested who is trying to understand. It is not an invitation to … Read more →
THE QUESTION (Part 2)
Go to Part 1 Understanding the difference between representing your beliefs and representing Unitarian Universalism. One of the first challenges I faced in learning how to respond well to THE QUESTION “Just what is Unitarian Universalism” (asked most often by my more conservative Christian colleagues) was learning to separate with … Read more →
THE QUESTION (Part 1)
Just What is Unitarian Universalism, Anyway? One of the great benefits of spending several weeks (or even months) taking a course with my military chaplain and chaplain candidate colleagues (and now chaplain assistant colleagues too) is that I get asked “THE QUESTION” over and over. When I was at the … Read more →
Can a Relational Faith be Online?
For the first time in the almost four years that I have been actively preaching in Unitarian Universalist Churches, I presented a sermon at a church that podcasts its services… so there is now an audio of that sermon online. I have listened to the podcasted and streamed sermons of … Read more →
What Does It Take to Make a Unitarian Universalist?
This past summer I did something pretty radical for a Unitarian Universalist seminary student… I performed a communion service adapted from a Universalist service from the late 1800’s. It was at the U.S. Army Chaplain School, so my “congregation” consisted of Baptist, Methodist, Evangelical ministers and Catholic Priests. After the … Read more →
The Movement of Unitarian Universalism
The Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations is not the Movement of Unitarian Universalism, rather a service organization for a part of that Movement… congregations. For years I used to correct people when they referred to the UUA as “our denomination”, and I finally quit trying, for two reasons. One, it … Read more →
A Missionary Faith
Last night, I attended a gathering of Micah’s Porch, a Unitarian Universalist missionary outreach in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago. It was perhaps not what most people would conceive of as being mission… and I’m sure that there are more than a few people who might have an adverse … Read more →
Becoming Better Christians
Rev. Cynthia Cain, in her blog Isten Aldjon, Y’all, has posted the story of evangelical Methodist college students coming to the worship services of her UU congregation in Kentucky and accosting members and visitors about why they were attending a UU church. Sadly, I am not surprised by the story. … Read more →
Prophets and Evangelicals
As I was driving to the church yesterday after posting my reflections on the one-year anniversary of my oath as an army officer, I was a little worried. I am trying not to be so “out front” when something going on in the military community annoys me. I know that … Read more →