FAITH LIKE A RIVER: THEMES FROM UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST HISTORY A Tapestry of Faith Program for Adults BY JACKIE CLEMENT AND ALISON CORNISH © Copyright 2011 Unitarian Universalist Association. This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at www.uua.org/re/tapestry 1 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We gratefully acknowledge the use of the following material: Excerpt from Unitarian Universalism: An Heretical History, a DVD produced by the Unitarian Universalist Church of Rockford, IL, 1995. "Would You Harbor Me?" Words and music by Ysaye M. Barnwell copyright 1994 Barnwell's Notes Publishing, recorded by Sweet Honey In The Rock (R). Used with permission. Visit Ysaye M. Barnwell's website (at www.ymbarnwell.com) for further information. "Humanist Manifesto I," copyright 1933 by The New Humanist and 1973 by the American Humanist Association. Please note that this is no longer a current statement of humanist convictions; it has been superceded by Humanism and Its Aspirations: Humanist Manifesto III (at www.americanhumanist.org/who_we_are/about_humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_III). Excerpt from Mark Harris, Elite: Uncovering Classism in Unitarian Universalist History (Boston: Skinner House, 2010); used with permission. "Unitarian Summer — the Isle of Shoals," excerpted and adapted from Frederick T. McGill, Jr. and Virginia F. McGill, Something Like a Star (Boston: Star Island Corporation, 1989). "Love and Power: The Universalist Dilemma," the John Murray Distinguished Lecture, delivered at the UUA General Assembly in Boston, June 2003, by Rev. Rosemary Bray McNatt. "Of Madmen and Martyrs: A Unitarian Take on Knoxville," a blog post by Sara Robinson, July 28, 2008; used with permission. "The Seven Tribes," a traditional story of the Khasi people as relayed by Darihun Khriam, the first woman minister in the Khasi Hills. "Under Our Charge — the Utes and the Unitarians" based on research by historian Ted Vetter and written for this program. PREFACE Thucydides wrote that history is philosophy taught by examples. If this is true, then we would do well to study the examples—the stories—from our own faith history to shape a philosophy for living our own faith. This program provides such an opportunity. By presenting the sweep of Unitarian Universalist history and heritage through the stories of its people and events, the program invites participants to place themselves into our history and consider its legacies. What lessons do the stories of our history teach that can help us live more faithfully in the present? What lessons do they offer to be lived into the future? Engagement with our history and heritage does more than celebrate our Unitarian Universalist identity. It grounds our faith, our Principles, and our spiritual growth in a wider tradition and offers a context for deepening faith, values, and spirit. As one in the Tapestry of Faith series of curricula for adults, this program weaves Unitarian Universalist values, Principles and Sources with four strands: spiritual development, ethical development, Unitarian Universalist identity development and faith development: Spiritual Development. In Everyday Spiritual Practice, Scott Alexander defines spirituality as our relationship with the Spirit of Life, however we understand it. Our spirituality is our deep, reflective, and expressed response to the awe, wonder, joy, pain, and grief of being alive. Tapestry of Faith programs seek to form children, youth, and adults who: Know they are lovable beings of infinite worth, imbued with powers of the soul and obligated to use their gifts, talents and potentials in the service of life Appreciate the value of spiritual practice as a means of deepening faith and integrating beliefs and values with everyday life. Ethical Development. When we develop our ethics, we develop our moral values—our sense of what is right and wrong. We also enhance our ability to act on those values, overcoming oppressions and despair. Tapestry of Faith programs seek to form children, youth, and adults who: 2 Realize they are moral agents, capable of making a difference in the lives of other people, challenging structures of social and political oppression and promoting the health and well being of the planet Accept that they are responsible for the stewardship and creative transformation of their religious heritage and community of faith in the service of diversity, justice and compassion. Unitarian Universalist Identity Development. Participation in a Unitarian Universalist congregation does not automatically create a Unitarian Universalist identity. Personal identification with Unitarian Universalism begins when individuals start to call themselves Unitarian Universalist and truly feel a part of a Unitarian Universalist congregation or community. Identity is strengthened as individuals discover and resonate with the stories, symbols and practices of Unitarian Universalism. Tapestry of Faith programs develop children, youth, and adults who: Affirm they are part of a Unitarian Universalist religious heritage and community of faith that has value and provides resources for living Recognize the need for community, affirming the importance of families, relationships and connections between and among generations Accept that they are responsible for the stewardship and creative transformation of their religious heritage and community of faith in the service of diversity, justice and compassion. Faith Development. When we develop in faith, we develop as meaning-makers. Faith is about embracing life's possibilities, growing in our sense of being "at home in the universe." Faith is practiced in relationships with others. While faith has aspects that are internal and personal, it is best supported in a community with shared symbols, stories, traditions, and values. Unitarian Universalist faith development emphasizes each person's religious journey—each person's lifelong process of bringing head, heart and hands to seeking and knowing ultimate meaning. While the primary focus of this program is Unitarian Universalist identity development, each strand is woven, to some degree, into each workshop. May these workshops come to life in your hands and in the hearts, minds, and spirits of the people you teach. Gail Forsyth-Vail, Developmental Editor 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS WORKSHOP 1: WADING IN – AN INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 12 WORKSHOP 2: AGAINST THE FLOW – ORTHODOXY AND HERESY ..................................................... 31 WORKSHOP 3: RISING TIDES – REASON AS A RELIGIOUS SOURCE .................................................... 48 WORKSHOP 4: THE VERDANT SPRINGS – REFORMATION ..................................................................... 73 WORKSHOP 5: GOD'S GONNA TROUBLE THE WATER – MARTYRS AND SACRIFICE ...................... 96 WORKSHOP 6: SHALL WE GATHER AT THE RIVER? – RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE ............................ 119 WORKSHOP 7: WE'RE ALL SWIMMING IN THE STREAM TOGETHER – COVENANT ...................... 142 WORKSHOP 8: GENTLY DOWN THE STREAM – POLITY ....................................................................... 162 WORKSHOP 9: RISE IN THE SEA — UNITARIANISM .............................................................................. 182 WORKSHOP 10: RISE IN THE SEA — UNIVERSALISM ............................................................................ 200 WORKSHOP 11: AS TRANQUIL STREAMS THAT MEET AND MERGE — CONSOLIDATION .......... 221 WORKSHOP 12: I'VE GOT TEARS LIKE THE RAINDROPS — FREEDOM ............................................. 240 WORKSHOP 13: MIRAGES AND OASES — IDEALISM AND UTOPIANISM ......................................... 258 WORKSHOP 14: THE SEVEN SEAS — GLOBALIZATION ........................................................................ 280 WORKSHOP 15: THE WATER IS WIDE — MULTICULTURALISM ......................................................... 303 WORKSHOP 16: RIPPLES IN THE WATER — THE EVANGELISTS ........................................................ 329 Note: If you add or delete text in this program, you may change the accuracy of the Table of Contents. The Table of Contents is an auto-generated list; if you change content and want an accurate representation of the page numbers listed in the TOC, click the table and click “Update Field.” Then, click “Update page numbers only.” Click OK. 4 THE PROGRAM Engage participants with primary source To acknowledge our ancestors means we are materials aware that we did not make ourselves, that the Encourage participants to explore the history of line stretches all the way back, perhaps to God; their own congregations or to Gods. We remember them because it is an easy thing to forget: that we are not the first to Give participants the tools and inspiration to suffer, rebel, fight, love and die. The grace with research more deeply topics of particular which we embrace life, in spite of the pain, the interest sorrow, is always a measure of what has gone Offer participants a way to enter into the story of before. — Alice Walker Unitarian Universalism so that it becomes History is often viewed as a linear progression, where personally relevant. events follow events and actions occur in reaction. But LEADERS history is not straightforward. This program guides participants to explore the dynamic course of Unitarian, A team of two or more adults, either lay leaders or Universalist, and Unitarian Universalist history—the religious professionals, should facilitate these people, ideas,