UUCT member
Recently, I was approached at a playground by a friendly woman who described herself as a Jehovah's Witness. She approached me gingerly before beginning her introduction. In the course of our brief conversation, she asked me what religion I belonged to, and I quickly answered “Christian”— without elaborating further. She began to describe her faith to me, and I mentioned one aspect of belief that I shared with her, about the time when humans would live on earth in harmony, saved by God. She seemed surprised by this commonality, and I explained, “I am a Universalist.”
Sh
e cited her unfamiliarity with the term, and I told her that Universalism basically meant that God was too good to damn people, so we would all be saved. (I believe that this applies to all people, and not a select group; obviously, I part ways here with many of my fellow Christians.) I had several restless young children with me at the time, and I didn’t go into detail about my church or how complicated it might be to be a self-described Trinitarian Christian in a mostly Humanist, self-described Unitarian congregation. (As my grandmother might say, “That’s a story for another time.”) When I left, I felt like I had missed an opportunity to talk further about who we are and what we do, and even why a Christian would want to be part of a liberal, deliberately pluralistic religious congregation. I am not sure that I would have known even how to explain my feelings to her. Why didn't I just tell her about my church?
I will be the first to say that there are many things about which I strongly disagree when it comes to the Jehovah's Witnesses—too many to enumerate in a single blog post. That said, there is I admire about the Jehovah’s Witnesses: they are willing to boldly share their faith with others. I think Unitarian Universalists could do well with more of this. Despite the fact we are an historically influential religion, most Americans still don't know about our denomination. I think it's time to change that.
Growing our church and our denomination is one important aspect of this, and I think there is definitely a place for “UU-vangelism” among friends and in the wider public circle. But what about just becoming more visible to others? Would most of your loved ones know that you attended a Unitarian Universalist church, and would they know what it was? We might not go knocking on other people’s doors or approaching frazzled mothers on playgrounds, but how will we witness our faith?
There has been much talk in recent years about Unitarian Universalists developing their elevator speeches. (For those who don't know: an elevator speech is a personal summary of our faith or Unitarian Universalism in general that could be explained during the time that one is in an elevator with a stranger.)
My response is something that I am still struggling with. I feel very comfortable, for example, speaking with strangers whom I think will be sympathetic to our principles. I feel comfortable inviting unchurched friends who have a similar world view to visit our church. But I don't feel comfortable yet talking to my religiously conservative cousins about what Unitarian Universalists believe in detail, or why my family chooses this church over theirs, or why gay marriage is such an important part of that— for us, among other things.
Then what about strangers who are not sympathetic to our principles? How do I engage strangers in a genuine, respectful dialogue that will leave them with a positive impression of Unitarian Universalists?
I gave my address to the Jehovah's Witness church member (on purpose), and she is coming by today to talk with me. I plan to be a good “UU witness” and listen to her perspective on things. I also hope to speak boldly about those aspects of my own faith that are important to me and to Unitarian Universalism. I am not sure of the exact words that I will say, but I think that will come more easily with practice.
If someone asked about your faith and about Unitarian Universalism, what would you say?
