From the Minister's Study
I don’t want to write about the December
Holidays much, but I want to remind you of the
many events we’ll have as the month moves
on. We begin by being part of the Black Mountain
Christmas parade on Dec 4th—if you
can’t ride on the float, come cheer for our
ecumenical singing, led by choir director Linda
Metzner. Also this holiday season, we will light
our usual Advent wreath, stage a hilarious
musical about the several winter Holidays,
observe Hanukkah, and have a candlelight
Christmas Eve service.
* * *
One of the things I realized by being part of the UUSC/UUA Just journey to Uganda is that Unitarian Universalism is truly an international movement. Its easy to think that Unitarian Universalism belongs to the United States, since both Unitarian and Universalist denominations were created and fostered here. However, in other parts of the world, Unitarian and or Universalist movements have also grown, and sometimes completely independent of American UUs. Most of us have heard that there are about as many Unitarians in Hungary/Romania (Transylvania) as in the US, but did you know that there are strong Unitarian and/or Universalist groups and churches in India, the Philippines, Indonesia, and many other countries?
- India has the largest population of Unitarians in the world outside of the US—there are 10,000 or so who live in the Khasi Hills region of North East India, and there is another, smaller population, who converted to a form of Hindu Unitarianism in southern India.
- In addition to the congregation of 200 that I visited in Uganda, neighboring Kenya has some 600 members in Unitarian congregations.
- In the Philippines, there are several thousand Unitarians.
Many American Unitarian Universalists might have a difficult time with the theologies of some of these groups. It is clear that they tend to be much more Bible-centered than we are. However, what we share is the believe that Jesus was a great teacher, not a god, and that the world gets better through the work of our own hands. In my visit to Uganda, I was amazed to visit the school for 500 children and the home for 20 HIV-impacted orphans that the small congregation in Kampala has created in less than 3 years. What we share is the belief that our actions speak louder than our words, and the confidence that, the work of bettering the world is ours to do. The challenge is for us to continue to work together for common goals, and not be put off by differing views about god. I think that the Unitarians and Universalist groups that are emerging in other countries (often after learning about American Unitarian Universalism on the internet!) will have a lot to teach us about being faithful people in the years to come, and that, if we are serious about our goal of creating world community, we must continue to reach out to them. If you’d like to learn more about the trip I took, and even explore the possibility of joining the UUSC for a future trip (a spring JustWorks trip is being planned for Haiti) , go visit www.uusc.org.
—Sally Beth