April Unitarian Universalist Thread - All Welcome

[Adele_Mommy]

Welcome to the April support, community, information, conversation, and fun thread for UUs and UU curious.

Here is the link to the previous March Thread.

Come on in and say "Hi", ask a question, tell a story, or feel free to just lurk for awhile.

I think Spring may finally, actually be here! In honor of Earth Day on 4/22 I have changed my screen saver banner to the quote attributed to Chief Seattle that fits so beautifully with the seventh principle:

Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. ~Chief Seattle, 1855

Wishing you all a month of peace, joy, love, and time to appreciate nature.

: :

Adele

[~*max*~]

That is a beautiful quote Adele. I am going to share that with my family.

[Adele_Mommy]

Glad you like it!

[Adele_Mommy]

The Iowa Supreme Court unanimously upheld the ruling removing the ban on same-sex marriages. Now my minister can perform legal same-sex marriages again! Yayyyyyyyyyy!


:::

[CariOfOz]

Originally Posted by Adele_Mommy

The Iowa Supreme Court unanimously upheld the ruling removing the ban on same-sex marriages. Now my minister can perform legal same-sex marriages again! Yayyyyyyyyyy!


:::

That's awesome!!!

[ZenMamaJen]

Originally Posted by Adele_Mommy

The Iowa Supreme Court unanimously upheld the ruling removing the ban on same-sex marriages. Now my minister can perform legal same-sex marriages again! Yayyyyyyyyyy!


:::

That is amazing!!! I was so happy to hear this news, even though I live in good ol' backward Pennsylvania.

[artgoddess]

Beautiful quote Adelle. I was so happy to hear about Iowa.

Our church is hosting an "ethical eating" luncheon after services on the 26th, the Sunday after Earth Day. Should be a lot of fun.

[DaughterOfKali]

Popping in to sub. Didn't go to church today because of my cold.

We will now be having coffee hour outside at church (weather permitting). I love it when it's warm enough to sip tea/coffee outside!

[HikeMama]

Okay, so UU might be for me me. As an atheist, what can my family and I expect to get from a sunday service?

I know it would probably be best to just go, but understand that my anti-religious tendencies make me really hesitant and I don't want to bring my daughter into something that I might consider negative...

[chaoticzenmom]

I haven't posted on this thread before. Here's what I got out of last week's service. I learned a little about water and it's value, scarcity and how to greet the day better. I got a pamphlet on where to find the organic u-pick farms, CSA's and farmer's markets. My 7yo learned about the importance of civil disobedience and my 9yo learned about the principles of Secular Humanism.

I don't know if all UU's are similar, but this one is very liberal and open. It was funny to watch a Presbyterian minister tiptoe/stumble around our principles...he accidentally used the words "god's children" once.LOL He was there to talk about the local foodbank...not to minister.

My 9yo's sunday teacher is an athiest and I know that some of the other ones are too. Gay/lesbian, anti-war and pro-choice bumper stickers can be purchased there every Sunday.

[~PurityLake~]

Originally Posted by JamieHornych

Okay, so UU might be for me me. As an atheist, what can my family and I expect to get from a sunday service?

I know it would probably be best to just go, but understand that my anti-religious tendencies make me really hesitant and I don't want to bring my daughter into something that I might consider negative...

Last Sunday, it was Music Appreciation week. Several members played musical pieces. A couple people sang, one woman played a couple pieces on the piano, a couple played Irish jigs with their accordian and guitar, and then a young music student played her wooden flute with them. The minister had us all participate in a funny song, 'My heart to your heart, I wish you well', which added different body parts which you touch to your neighbor while singing the song. She was glad we humored her (she's a 1st/2nd grade teacher during the week).

Another week, a young woman gave a presentation with photos/slides of her trip to a small village in Africa in which she and a couple other people, brought medical supplies and gave vaccines, tests and deworming to the residents of the village.

Our church is strongly humanitarian, and positive and accepting of absolutely everyone. Each service has a candle lighting ceremony to share joys or concerns.

[Adele_Mommy]

It is true that I get different things from different services, but in general, here are some of the things that I get out of being a member of a church and attending services each week.

1. Inspiration to social activism. Sometimes the sermons explicitly provide a call to action, but even when they don't, being part of a religious community committed to social justice inspires me to do more myself, and I know we accomplish more working together as a group than I can by myself as an individual. Also, I am more motivated to go ahead and do the things I know I should and even the things that I want to do but might not make time for.

2. Community. I have made friends at church and every week I spend time with supportive people who care about me and about whom I care. I get a sense of "belonging" and I care deeply about my church as a congregation as well as the individuals in that congregation.

3. Religious education for my daughter. UU provides my daughter with the opportunity to learn about other religions and ways to think about her own beliefs. She also has a lot of fun with people (kids and grownups) she likes. I also appreciate that UU gives her a religious identity she can embrace and feel proud of. When a schoolmate tells her she is going to hell because she does not "believe in Jesus", she can say there is no hell, which is what I said growing up as an atheist, but she can also say, "I'm Unitarian Universalist and we don't believe in hell." which puts a little added authority behind the statement in her mind, and I think she finds that comforting and helpful. Also, when her friends talk about what church they belong to and various fun church activities, she has her own church experiences to relate.

4. Ritual and ceremony. UU does not provide nearly the ritual as, say, a Catholic church, but I enjoy having regular routines and rituals such as lighting the chalice at the beginning of each service. I also like the ceremony. My daughter's Dedication was extremely moving and meaningful for me, and I like the seasonal ceremonies we do such as the Flower Communion service in the Spring and the Blending of the Waters in the Fall.

5. A time of peace and contemplation. By attending services regularly, I intentionally set aside time to relax and renew myself, and to think about "the big picture" instead of my day-to-day concerns.

[~*max*~]

Very nicely said Adele. I agree 100%. Those are the reasons I attend UU also.

[Stargirl]

Child Dedication

Hi everyone,

For those of you who have had your children dedicated and have chosen sponsors for them, what name did you use? We don't want to use Godmother for example but still convey a spiritual and special person. Fairy Godmother is already taken. ha ha ha

Many thanks in advance,
~Erin

[~PurityLake~]

I swear I posted but it's not here.

How about Spiritual Mentor.

Or maybe use something similar meaning in another language that makes it sound prettier or cuter.

[Adele_Mommy]

I did not have sponsors when my dd was dedicated and the UU dedications I've seen that did include them just called them godparents. However, I did a little searching on the web and the one term I found that spoke to me and I liked was "guide parents". I like the idea of adults who act as spiritual guides for my child, and of course "guide parents" sounds very similar to "godparents". Just an idea of course.

Purity - both you and Stargirl also posted on the old March thread, so that's probably where your missing post is.

[Adele_Mommy]

My daughter brought home this AMAZING book from her school library: The Wolves Are Back. It tells a sweet, simple story about a wolf pup and explains how returning wolves to Yellowstone National Park affected so many other plants and animals and restored balance. The illustrations are gorgeous. I think this would be an excellent book for any children's RE session about the Seventh Principle and/or the interdependent web.

[ocelotmom]

Originally Posted by JamieHornych

Okay, so UU might be for me me. As an atheist, what can my family and I expect to get from a sunday service?

I know it would probably be best to just go, but understand that my anti-religious tendencies make me really hesitant and I don't want to bring my daughter into something that I might consider negative...

Just a warning, in case your local church is anything like mine...

Sundays associated with major Christmas holidays (like Christmas and Easter) tend to be the most blatantly Christian-influenced at my UU church. If you choose to go this Sunday, be aware that the content may not be representative of a typical sermon.

[~PurityLake~]

Ocelotmom, your post made me check my UU church's website to see what is happening this Sunday (is this easter sunday?) and this is what will be discussed:
“What Do People Mean When They Say, ‘I’m Not Religious’” – The Rev. Richard R. Gay “Life Everlasting: the Promise of Easter– The Rev. Beatrice Hitchcock

[HikeMama]

Originally Posted by ocelotmom

Just a warning, in case your local church is anything like mine...

Sundays associated with major Christmas holidays (like Christmas and Easter) tend to be the most blatantly Christian-influenced at my UU church. If you choose to go this Sunday, be aware that the content may not be representative of a typical sermon.

We were thinking about going this sunday for the easter egg hunt.. it sounds like fun for Eva and we think it's the best time for us to get an idea of how many other kids her age are in the congregation... but we ARE a little hesitant about the Easter holiday. (We were raised I guess secular christian? you know, we had santa and the easter bunny, but no jesus rising from the dead) so this is what we've been doing with Eva...

But I'm looking for a different way to do holidays. Atheist/agnostic/humanist UU's- what holidays do you celebrate? We're thinking about doing solstices. We only do xmas and easter for the family tradition and the gifts... and it just doesn't seem like us.... (sidenote: I'm finally confident enough to do things I believe instead of what is the social and cultural norm... I firmly believe I wouldn't have had a c-sect. if I had been confident enough to go to a midwife and do natural like my heart told me, but I was scared and went to an OB because that's what everybody does and it was all medical intervention from there.... --Sorry, coming to peace with my daughter's birth experience, went off on a little tangent)
Anyway, right--- what holidays do you do and how do you do them?