Unitarian Universalism a Research Guide
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
the alert collector Neal Wyatt, Editor Building collections in religious studies is an important and often perplexing duty for many librarians. How much cover- Unitarian age is enough and to what depth? What titles offer appropri- ate information for the believer, researcher, and critic alike? And how are librarians that are not well versed in a particu- Universalism lar faith best able to approach a collection-building project? Tierney V. Dwyer earned a master’s degree in library science from Indiana University’s School of Library and Information A Research Guide Science in Bloomington. She wrote this guide when she was attending Unitarian Universalism services. Her guide to Uni- tarian Universalism resources offers assistance to academic librarians seeking to build a deep and reflective collection and to public librarians looking for one or two titles to represent this fascinating religion, a faith that Ralph Waldo Emerson and Louisa May Alcott practiced and that continues to guide and inspire a wide range of worshipers.—Editor nitarian Universalism is a liberal religious faith grounded in the principles of its founding religions: Unitarianism and Universalism. Unitari- anism began in the sixteenth century in Poland Tierney V. Dwyer, Uand Transylvania, where a number of Christians rejected the Guest Columnist idea of the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as God). These Unitarians declared that they believed in the oneness, Correspondence concerning this or unity, of God. In seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Eu- column should be addressed to rope and America, other Christian reformers discovered what Neal Wyatt (nealwyatt@comcast they deemed to be little biblical support for the Christian con- .net). Wyatt is a collection develop- cept of hell. These reformers came to believe in a universally ment and readers’ advisory librarian loving God and felt that God would grant all human beings from Virginia. She wrote The Readers’ salvation—they became known as the Universalists. Both Advisory Guide to Nonfiction (ALA of these religions existed independently around the world Editions, 2007) and is an editor of until 1961, when the American Unitarian Association and Library Journal’s “Reader’s Shelf” the Universalist Church in America joined together to form column and compiles LJ’s weekly the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). The UUA, “Wyatt’s World Lists.” headquartered in Boston, is the loosely governing body of the Unitarian Universalist Church, overseeing more than Tierney V. Dwyer is Reference and one thousand congregations in North America. But Unitarian Youth Services Librarian, Free Library Universalism is not limited to the United States and Canada— of Northampton Township, Bucks Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations can be found today County, Pennsylvania. on nearly every continent, and many of them work under the auspices of the International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU). In a given UU church today, one is likely to find Chris- tians of all denominations, Jews, Wiccans, Buddhists, atheists, agnostics, and people from other religions. The adherents of these faiths are free to practice their religion individually while still taking part in the pluralistic UU church commu- nity. While respecting the religious texts and prophets of 210 | Reference & User Services Quarterly Unitarian Universalism other faiths, the UUs do not hold these texts as dogma or Jones, Lindsay, ed. Encyclopedia of Religion, 2nd ed. Detroit: regard prophets as holy beings. They embrace the teachings Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. s.v. “Unitarian Univer- of other faiths to enhance their own understanding of the salist Association,” by John C. Godbey. 15 vols. (ISBN: world and of spirituality. Numbers in UU congregations are 0-0286-5733-0). steadily growing, and the religion is gaining more visibility This lengthy entry on UU provides an explanation of the in mass media and among the academic and research com- UUA including background, history, and beliefs of both Uni- munities. Information on this faith, however, is very scattered tarianism and Universalism. Formation and views of the UU and often difficult to find. church and discussion of the UUA’s membership in the Inter- This guide identifies and describes some of the most national Association for Religious Freedom is also included. important and current sources on the topic. It is designed primarily as a guide for academic libraries planning to build, Keller, Rosemary Skinner, Rosemary Radford Ruether, and or evaluate an existing, collection on UU and its members. Marie Cantlon, eds. Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in But, with the growing interest in the UU faith, public librar- North America. Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana Univ. Press, 2006. ies will find some of the selected texts useful in providing a s.v. “Unitarian Universalist Movement, Women,” by Cynthia basic introduction to the subject. Grant Tucker. 3 vols. (ISBN: 0-2533-4685-1). This source is unique in its specific focus on the role Bibliographies and history of women in the UU faith. It profiles important women like Judith Sargent Stevens Murray and Margaret Harris, Mark W. “Bibliography,” Historical Dictionary of Unitar- Fuller in the history and formation of both the Unitarian ian Universalism. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2004. (ISBN: and Universalist church. It discusses the emergence of female 0-8108-4869-4). clergy and women’s groups (which eventually consolidated Harris’ “Bibliography” is a comprehensive record of his- into the Unitarian Universalist Women’s Federation in 1963). tory sources. Although the bibliography is not annotated, The entry contains a lengthy bibliography. it begins with several pages of background information on resources, provides a table of contents, and indexes its items Melton, J. Gordon, and Martin Baumann, eds. Religions of the by the following headings: Periodicals and Yearbooks, Pub- World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices. lished Primary Sources, Biography, Histories (sub-categorized Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2002. s.v. “Unitarian Uni- by region, time period, etc.), and Worship. versalist Association” (ISBN: 1-5760-7223-1). This short entry provides background and history of the Robinson, David. “Bibliographic Essay,” The Unitarians and Unitarian and Universalist churches, discusses the details the Universalists. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1985 of the 1961 merger to form the UUA, outlines the organi- (ISBN: 0-313-20946-4). zational structure of the UUA, and lists the mailing address Although dated, this important source on American Uni- and Web site of the UUA. There is a brief bibliography. The tarianism and Universalism provides excellent commentary encyclopedia also contains relevant entries on “Unitarianism,” on the quality of the listed materials and contains an exhaus- “Universalism,” and “ICUU.” tive list of further sources. Roof, Wade Clark, ed. Contemporary American Religion. New Wright, Conrad. American Unitarian and Universalist Histori- York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. s.v. “Unitarian Uni- cal Scholarship: A Bibliography of Items Published 1946–1995. versalist Churches” (ISBN: 0-0286-4928-1). Cambridge, Mass.: Unitarian Universalist Historical Society, This entry discusses the merger of the Universalist Church 2001 (No ISBN available). of America (UCA) and American Unitarian Association (AUA) This bibliography focuses primarily on scholarly items to form the UUA. There is a brief comparative background pertaining to the history of Unitarianism and Universalism of Unitarian and Universalist religions and a discussion of in the United States. Although it was published in 2001, its changing movements in each in the twentieth century is also scope is limited to the years 1946–1995. It is indexed by au- included. Entries cover the dominant views of humanism thor, topic, and subject. and naturalistic theism in UU, the UU role in the civil rights, gay/lesbian rights, women’s rights movements, and the Viet- EnCyclopedias and Dictionaries nam War protests. The entry highlights politics in UU and discusses the demographics of UU members. There is a brief Harris, Mark W. Historical Dictionary of Unitarian Uni- bibliography, and extensive cross-referencing to many en- versalism. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2004 (ISBN: tries concerning issues in UU (i.e., “Ordination of Women,” 0-8108-4869-4). “Humanism,” etc.). Considered by many to be the most authoritative refer- ence work on UU, the dictionary contains a lengthy chronol- Indexes and Abstracts ogy and introduction as well as entries on important people, places, causes, issues, countries, and time periods. While significant articles on the topic can be found in several volume 47, issue 3 | 211 the alert collector databases, ATLA Religion Database provides the most compre- Journal Articles hensive coverage of Unitarian Universalism because its scope is narrowed to religious topics. In Advanced Search, use the Casebolt, J., and T. Niekro. “Some UUs are more U than U: keywords “unitarian universalis*” (be sure to truncate) in Theological Self-descriptors Chosen by Unitarian Universal- the Descriptor field, and over one hundred records will be ists.” Review of Religious Research 46, no. 3 (2005): 235–42. retrieved. For a more narrow and scholarly search, limit the This article discusses part of a larger sociological survey query to Journals or to Peer-Reviewed Journals. in which members of the UU faith were asked to choose from a list of theological labels they