Thoughts after meeting with Rev. Dawn:
- Peace. I can be who I am and go to a Unitarian Universalist church. This really feels like a relief. I can be my ball of contradictions, my mess and will probably meet other people there who are like me.
- Difference is celebrated. Different religious backgrounds, cultural identities, sexual orientations. That fits in with my value system.
- Community is important. Community with food is even better. I’m pro food.
- No Christian icons. No icons. The sanctuary reminds me of a Quaker meeting house – open and airy.
- Ceremonies are celebrations of people, not God or gods or Jesus.
- Dawn likes to quote Thoreau and Emerson and John Lennon. Cool.
- No judgments from the pulpit. No dogma. No persuasive sermons to vote for a particular candidate.
UU material from my meeting
- Pay what you can when you can.
- Religious education for kids is about ALL religions. The purpose: to teach respect and to provide language for cultural understanding. This could be what I’ve been looking for.
- Religious education – at least at Rev. D’s congregation – also includes a sexuality curriculum. Respect your body. Respect other people’s bodies. And enjoying your body is okay. All things I believe and want my kids to hear.
- April is a busy month. In fact, I chose to contemplate spirituality during April on purpose. At First U. it’s busy because they have a seder for Passover (led by the Jewish Unitarians), a pancake breakfast and Easter Egg hunt for Easter, a discussion of B’hai and one about spring pagan rituals. Rev. Dawn also quoted Buffy the Vampire Killer when discussing rebirth. I could hang with this.
- Coffee is one of their sacraments (well, at least that was a joke we shared).
Will I go to services on Sunday?
12resolutions 
Slayer, my friend. Buffy the Vampire Slayer… 🙂 Not…uh…that I’m a purist or anything.
*whistles*
This sounds like a marvelous congregation!! I’m looking forward to hearing more…
let me know what you think….we’ve really enjoyed our time since joining a UU church here. Very different from my Episcopalian upbringing, in lots of really good ways. 🙂 xoxo
You basically just wrote my exact experience in finding the UU church I’ve been attending for about 18 months now. For all the reasons you list and more, I quickly felt very much at home there and now realize how much I was missing before — a diverse multi-generational community, meaningful dialogue about spirituality minus dogma and judgment, intelligent services that are thought-provoking and inspirational, exposure to a range of beliefs and traditions, liberal social action, and heck yeah church potlucks!!
My 7th-grade daughter just finished the UU sexuality/relationships program (OWL, Our Whole Lives) and I can’t begin to explain how amazing it was for her. I know yours are a little young for that :o) but the concept itself is a perfect example of what UU is all about.
I can’t wait to hear what you think if (when??) you go check out a service or two.