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What are your church services
like?
What do children and teens do on Sunday mornings?
What do you teach children?
I've heard that Unitarian
Universalists can believe anything they want to. Is that true?
What does a person have to do
to join a Unitarian Universalist church?
How are Unitarian
Universalist ministers trained?
What is the significance of
the flaming chalice, the symbol of Unitarian Universalism?
Since Unitarian Universalists
don't have a creed or doctrine, how can one describe a set of beliefs that they
hold in common?
What are your church services like?
Services are held each Sunday
at 10:30
AM. They are customarily 60 to 75 minutes long.
Topics are listed in our
What’s With UUS newsletter. The readings, hymns, themes, and ideas in our
worship services reflect the many sources of wisdom that we honor as Unitarian
Universalists: traditional biblical sources, wisdom from the world's religions,
the writings of poets and philosophers and social scientists, and most
importantly, our own personal experiences in life. Our hymnal, published by the
Unitarian Universalist Association, is called Singing the Living Tradition. To
learn more about our principles and purpose see What We Believe.
The Liturgy follows a basic
protestant format with readings, hymns, a time for all ages story, a moment for
prayer or reflection, and a sermon. Some
Sundays afford the opportunity for a “polylog” a shared congregational response
to the topic and sermon. Approximately
once monthly we share an intergenerational service that is more story based and
welcoming to all ages.
Dress is informal from dress
shirts and skirts to jeans.
Greeters will meet you at the
door to welcome you and give you an order of service. At your first visit you will be asked if you
would like to fill out a visitor information form that requests your preferred
contact information.
The Character of our services
is welcoming, energized and life affirming.
We deal with topics that directly affect our lives in ways that are open
and honest – affirming the inherent dignity of all people and respecting a
diversity of religious pursuits.
More on our Worship Services:
Our minister, Rev. Anya Sammler-Michael, leads most Sunday services. These
services usually follow what many think of as the traditional Protestant
worship format: readings, hymns, prayer/meditation, sermon, response. Sermon topics
vary widely but all address the spiritual needs of the gathered community. Rev.
Anya may talk about our UU history and tradition, a contemporary social issue,
or personal spiritual growth and transformation. Past sermons are available on
this web site in text and audio form in the Sermon Archive.
Some Sundays we have guest
speakers or lay leaders from our own community in the pulpit. Our Worship
Associates are responsible for organizing services when the minister is not in
the pulpit. They also help establish the philosophy, priorities, and plans for
our worship services. Often we have services that are music-filled, with
contributions from our many talented UUS musicians and singers.Table with
Chalice
No matter who preaches the
sermon, some elements of the service remain the same every week; our own
precious rituals. We always begin our services by lighting the chalice, a
symbol of religious freedom. We make time in every service to share spoken
personal joys and sorrows, and during our Offertory people have an opportunity
to light silent candles of hope, memory, and gratitude. We close every service
by joining hands and saying together these words:
“This church is dedicated to
the proposition that behind all our differences and beneath all our
diversities, there is a unity that binds us together and makes us one, in spite
of time and death and the space between the stars. We pause now in silent
witness to that unity.” - Rev. David
Bumbaugh
What do children and teens do on Sunday mornings?
Children of all ages are welcome to stay in the service with an adult. Parents or guardians should consider the appropriateness of the topic and the ability of the child to sit through the service. During the service every Sunday we staff a nursery for children ages four and under. We also run a Religious Exploration (RE) program for children and teens. Children's RE classes meet during the worship service, unless the service is specifically designated as intergenerational. Intergenerational services take place approximately once a month and are welcoming to all ages. A youth group for teens in high school meets during the worship service approximately twice a month.
When visiting us, we ask that you
introduce your child to her or his class leader before the service.
Children stay with their families until after the Story for All Ages.
At that time class leaders and assistants escort children to
their classrooms. To find out more about what children can expect on Sunday mornings and procedures followed at UUS, see Children's RE Program.
What do you teach children?
Children explore a variety of topics in RE, including world religions and the application of Unitarian Universalist principles to everyday life. Children and teens gain an understanding of themselves and their place in the world, build community together, develop a sense of responsibility to others and to the world, and learn respect for other religions and cultures.
Parents are a child's first and most important teacher. We encourage you to share your own beliefs and values with your children and talk about how your ideas have changed over time. Also, frequently discuss the topics introduced in the worship service and in RE classes.
I've heard that Unitarian Universalists can
believe anything they want to. Is that true?
No. One would not be
considered a Unitarian Universalist if they held that adherence to a specific
docterine or creed is necessary for access to God or Truth or spirituality or
for membership in our congregations.
In addition it is adverse to
Unitarian Universalist values to believe that God favors any group of people
based on any inherent qualities, such as skin color, gender, sexual
orientation, physical ability, etc.—or that any group of people is more worthy
of access to opportunities than any other as a result of these qualities.
We don't believe that
autocratic, undemocratic or overly hierarchical systems are appropriate methods
of organizing our congregations or the larger society.
We don't believe that
humanity has the right or moral authority to exploit the environment or other
life forms with whom we share this planet.
What does a person have to do to join a
Unitarian Universalist church?
Making the decision to become
a member of the Unitarian Universalists of Sterling has both spiritual and
practical implications.
Spiritually speaking the
decision implies that you are committed to the principles and values that
Unitarian Universalism embraces. It is a
public affirmation that you stand with a group of people who are determined to
live out their faith in the world. And
it is a spiritual commitment to an ever-evolving process of self discovery and
growth.
Practically speaking the
decision enables you to become a participant in the democratic processes of the
congregation – specifically voting on important decisions such as the budget,
or a plan to purchase a new building, or to call a new minister.
Publically speaking the
decision is a public commitment to support the values and principles of our
Unitairian Universalist faith.
The Unitarian Universalists
of Sterling have developed a Membership Covenant to express the specific
commitment to membership that our congregation expects. In addition they have drafted a Path to
Membership to help new visitors become aquainted with the congregation as well
as the Unitairan Universalist Faith. We
hold an Inquirer’s Class after church the first Sunday of each month, and hold a
“New UU” class and New Member ceremony each quarter for those wishing to join
the church – you can search our calendar for those events.
How are Unitarian Universalist ministers
trained?
Technically, our
congregations are free to call whomever they wish to be ministers of their
communities. However, almost all our churches select from a group of ministers
that have been approved by the Ministerial Fellowship Committee of the UUA. To
obtain approval from this committee, ministers must have earned a Masters of
Divinity degree from an accredited theological school, completed a year of
supervised ministerial internship, read over 30 books from a required reading
list, completed a course of clinical training in pastoral care, and met a
number of other requirements before interviewing in front of the committee
itself.
There are two specifically UU
seminaries in the United States: Meadville/Lombard Theological School in Chicago and Starr King School
for the Ministry in Berkeley, CA. Some of our ministers graduate from other seminaries
that are non-denominational. Both Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, MA, and Andover Newton Theological School
in Newton, MA, have sizable numbers of Unitarian Universalists
enrolled in their programs.1
What is the significance of
the flaming chalice, the symbol of Unitarian Universalism?
IMAGE
The flaming chalice is made
up of two archetypes—a drinking vessel and fire. The chalice represents
sharing, generosity, sustenance, and love, among other interpretations. The
flame symbolizes witness, sacrifice, testing, courage, illumination and more.
The origin of the symbol
comes from the Unitarian Service Committee. The USC was founded during World
War II to assist war refugees who needed to escape Nazi persecution. Artist
Hans Deutsch drew the flaming chalice in 1941 so that the USC could have it as
a symbol for official documents.
The director of the USC,
Charles Joy, wrote this about the symbol when it was first drafted:
“It represents, as you see, a
chalice with a flame, the kind of chalice which the Greeks and Romans put on
their alters. The holy oil burning in it is a symbol or helpfulness and
sacrifice. . . . This was in the mind of the artist. The fact, however, that it
remotely suggests a cross was not in his mind, but to me this also has its
merit. We do not limit our work to Christians. Indeed, at the moment, our work
is nine-tenths for the Jews, yet we do stem from the Christian tradition, and
the cross does symbolize Christianity and its central theme of sacrificial
love.”
Today, the flaming chalice is
the official symbol of the UUA. It also functions as the logo for hundreds of
congregations. It is also a part of worship in many congregations—services
often begin by lighting a chalice while saying some brief reflective words.1
Since Unitarian Universalists don't have a
creed or doctrine, how can one describe a set of beliefs that they hold in
common?
Unitarian Universalists often
describe their commitment to their religion as a commitment to living their
faith in the world. For UUs it matters
more what you do than how you specifically state your beliefs. For example a UU might find powerful lessons
for promoting justice and compassion in the teaching of both Jesus and
Buddah. Similarly they may find
revelation in the Bible, the Koran, the poetry of Emerson, the ideas of Copernicus
… the list goes on.
As a result an integral
aspect of UU community is the commitment to shared learning. At the Unitarian Universalists of Sterling
our Adult Education Classes, Covenant Groups, Small Groups and worship services
provide the space to share ideas and beliefs.
We hold that a free and responsible exchange of ideas promotes spiritual
self-discovery and guides us toward the work of healing our world.
Once such free and
responsible search engaged a large body of Unitarian Universalists in the
development of our Principles. Our
Principles are a list of values and practices affirmed by Unitarian Universalists.
There are seven principles
which Unitarian Universalist congregations affirm and promote:
1.
The inherent
worth and dignity of every person;
2.
Justice, equity
and compassion in human relations;
3.
Acceptance of one
another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
4.
A free and
responsible search for truth and meaning;
5.
The right of
conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and
in society at large;
6.
The goal of world
community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
7.
Respect for the
interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
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The Unitarian Universalists of Sterling
offer a place where reason and spirituality converge. We welcome
members of the community who are seeking such a religious home. Our
mission is to make the community a better place to live by promoting a
variety of religious expressions, working toward social justice, and
fostering diversity. In order to carry out this mission, we covenant to
listen to each other, encourage the exchange of creative thought, and
respect our differences.
