Comment on the simplicity of the church?
How does this contrast with churches in other denominations?
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A reflection of our visit to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Providence by Nina Carriero, Lauren Santiago, Alicia Hartley, and Michelle Un.
As I walked into the Unitarian Universalist Church on Sunday morning, the one thing that I noticed, even though superficial, was the lack of decorations within the church. Coming from a Catholic background and attending four different Catholic churches during my childhood, the decorations I found common in all of those churches were not present in this church. I was used to beautiful stained glass windows scaling the walls, figures of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph around the church, and crosses, sometimes 10 feet tall with Jesus, hanging above the pulpit. One church I attended even had beautiful wooden plaques hanging on the walls surrounding the sanctuary that illustrated the path and events that led to Jesus' death on the cross. But this church was different. In my opinion, it was plain. Beige was the primary color within the church and the one thing so noticeably different were the two flags hanging from the balcony below the organ, the American Flag and the Rhode Island State Flag. Growing up in Texas I am definitely accustomed to seeing flags everywhere and on everything, but never in a church. In all four Catholic churches I attended I can not recall ever seeing a flag in the church; outside yes but inside no.
ReplyDeleteAfter learning a little more about Unitarian Universalists by talking with several members of the community and the pastor himself, I believe the flags to be of great importance, something I did not understand upon my first sighting of them. The flags represent two of the communities that the people in the church belong to: The United States of America and Rhode Island. This church is less a place of religion than it is a community with some religious people. Community comes first whereas religion comes second. In the churches I have attended, these two have been in reverse order.
I, like Alicia, was also struck by the simplicity of the church. Like she said, Roman Catholic churches tend to be quite extravagant, with tall, stained glass windows, Stations of the Cross, and lavish alters, behind which hangs the crucified Jesus. None of this, however, could be found in the Unitarian Universalist church. I think that its simplistic décor reflects the churches general attitude: religion is what you make of it. The bare, white walls demand no specific beliefs, creeds, or practices. Members can enter the place of worship without being overwhelmed by images meant to dictate what they should believe. They can make what they wish of their time spent inside of the meetinghouse, and share that time with a diverse collection of other people who may or may not have the same beliefs.
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