TO PARTICIPATE IN THE "LISTENING POST,"
PLEASE CLICK HERE
|
ENTER YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS HERE TO
RECEIVE OUR E-MAIL NEWSLETTER
Just enter the address where you want it sent.
|
Click here to view past issues of the denominator newsletter
|
"God is One" 400 Years of Unitarianism
Click HERE to read a sermon by the Rev. J. Frank Schulman
about Francis David who introduced Unitarianism
to Transylvania in 1568.
|
Some draw a circle to shut us out;
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
The Community though has the wit to win;
We'll draw a circle to take them in.
--- paraphrasing Edwin Markham
|
An article entitled "How Responding to People's Needs Hurts the Church" by Elizabeth I. Steele appeared in the Spring 2008 issue of the Congregations magazine. It suggests, "People turn to the church for emotional and spiritual well-being. They envision the church as providing what they think they need to ensure contentment and satisfaction."
The article asked, "What happens when these people feel their needs are not being met?" It observed that those people "may leave, or they may challenge whatever is happening and whoever is in charge until the promised care-taking and attention are provided."
The article suggests that the emphasis on responding to needs interferes with people's "understanding of the church as a community of faith whose members struggle together to draw closer to God and to express that closeness in how they live and interact with the world." It expresses concern for the disruption caused within the church by such misunderstanding.
I feel more concern for the people who feel powerless to influence a church's (and even a denomination's) agenda and actions. I believe that the acceptance of a "faith that the One is for all of us" will lead us to the spiritual growth we really seek and the spiritual gifts we yearn to give.
As we begin to realize that we are all children of the One, we will generate our own agenda and actions to serve each other and to help to change each other's lives for the better. Serving and helping each other one-at-a-time can do more than all the religious organizations that are merely struggling to outdo each other.
--- Paul Yonge
|
|
