-What were your initial impressions of the Unitarian Universalist congregation in Providence?
-Was it more like a community than a congregation?
-What kinds of people were present in the congregation?
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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.
The congregation was very friendly and welcoming. Almost immediately after we sat down, the woman in front of us recognized us as visitors, and gave us a bit of background information on the church and told us to ask her if she had any questions. Additionally, after the ceremony, all the visitors and newcomers were invited to stay for coffee hour to talk about the service and the church. There were even congregation members wearing purple scarves, designated as “Purple People Greeters”, who were specifically assigned to greet and welcome newcomers. Members approached us and were very helpful with any questions that we had. The coffee hour even had a Newcomer’s Café, where the Reverend greeted us and was very open about discussing the church. Additionally, one of the main missions of the Unitarian Universalist Church of
ReplyDeleteProvidence is to “recognize the inherent worth and dignity of every person”, and thus there was a great emphasis on welcoming and encouraging all people, regardless of race, religious background, or sexual orientation.
The First Unitarian Church definitely felt more like a community than a congregation to me. But in my opinion, that is not necessarily a bad thing. Everyone knew everyone, and everybody seemed generally happy to be there, including the children. As a child, I could not think of anything more boring than having to sit through an hour long service, and if it was any longer than an hour, God help my mother because my sister and I would complain about it for the rest of the day. In fact, my sister and I would either spend the entire time coloring in the bulletin, racing through the hymnal to see who could get to the next hymn faster, or make so much noise that my mom would ship us off to the baby room. Looking back on it, those probably were not my proudest moments. But the children in this congregation looked like they were having fun; they were not dragged to the church against their own will, or if they were, they still seemed to be enjoying themselves once they got there. In fact, before the service started, Nina leaned over to me and commented on how much people were talking before the service. Both of us had gone to Catholic churches where once you entered the church, you whispered when you said anything and you kneeled down and prayed before the service began. At this church, it was different. I did not notice anyone praying before the service and everyone was chatting with their neighbor. This might just be the different etiquette rules placed on Catholic versus Unitarian Universalist services, but I also think it might have something to do with the type of congregation it is. Whereas in a Catholic church you are at mass to listen to a priest give you some sort of religious education, in the Unitarian Universalist church you are there to learn how to become a better person and open yourself up to truly understanding who you are in this world. Chatting before the service was just another way for the members to get to know one another and discuss the things in life that help them understand who they are.
ReplyDeleteAlicia, I can completely relate to your experience of entering church and kneeling in silent prayer, hardly even making eye contact with anyone. If someone were to speak inside of my Roman Catholic church at the same volume and level of casualness as people did at the Unitarian Universalist Church, they would get angry stares, without a doubt. It was refreshing to enter such a friendly and carefree environment. I didn't have to worry about how I was dressed, making too much noise, or acting "inappropriately". Everyone was just relaxed, chatty, and eager to get to know the rest of the community.
ReplyDeleteMichelle, how did the mood of the Unitarian Universalist Church contrast with that of the Presbyterian church you attended while growing up? Was your church relaxed and community-oriented, or was it strict and solemn like the Roman Catholic Church?
Lauren, Michelle, and Nina--One thing that I noticed was the lack of ethnic diversity within the congregation. Thinking back on the churches I have attended, none of them have been very ethnically diverse and I grew up in a very ethnically diverse area. I was wondering if this was true of the churches you all have attended. Was the area you grew up in ethnically diverse, and if it was did the churches you attended reflect that diversity?
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, there was the general age distribution that I expected. There was a majority of old(er) people, some families with kids, and fewer people who looked alone or coupled who were between the ages of 20-40. Did you expect this as well?
Alicia, that is a very interesting point. I think that while the church was diverse in belief, I agree that it was not ethnically diverse. If anything, I expected the Unitarian Universalist to have a more diverse congregation, and was quite surprised and disappointed at its lack of diversity. However, I don't think that this is particular to this Unitarian Universalist Church. I remember hearing one quote from Martin Luther King Jr. who said said that "the most segregated hour of Christian America is eleven o'clock on Sunday morning." Even though this quote is from 1963, I still get the feeling that churches remain heavily segregated. While schools and other public services such as transportation were forced to integrate under the law, churches were neither obligated nor encouraged to do so. What do you guys think about this?
ReplyDeleteI am from Princeton, NJ, which is a very diverse, but somewhat segregated, town. It is hard to say if my church, Saint Paul’s, is diverse because there are many masses held each weekend. Though there are some, but not many, minorities represented at the mass my family and I usually attend on Saturday evening, many minorities attend the Hispanic mass. I suppose the parish is primarily white and Hispanic, and though that is some diversity, there are many other races that are absent or underrepresented.
ReplyDeleteI thought that a liberal church like Unitarian Universalism would have been much more diverse than the Roman Catholic Church, but was wrong. It seems that most members were upper-class, well-educated, politically-oriented liberals, a small group into which minorities might not always fall. I would imagine that the UU Church would be very welcoming to minorities, but apparently their views and tradition do not appeal to very many non-whites.
I agree with you, Michelle, that this lack of diversity probably isn't limited to the Unitarian Universalist Church. I think that we could all learn a lot from each other if segregation in places of worship decreased or, if possible, ended altogether.
Additionally, after doing some research, I found that UU’s were very involved in the fight against racism in the United States. In fact, one of the founders of the NAACP was actually a UU. Also, a previous head of the Unitarian Universalist Association was African-American, making the UU one of the first traditionally white denominations to be headed by a member of a racial minority. Given the church's involvement in the fight against racism, the lack of diversity it is even more surprising.
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