This I Believe...
A collection of views from UU church members
A collection of views from UU church members
This I Believe...
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Nancy L. - May 2010
This I Believe...
By Nancy L.
May 2010
I am a Baptist minister. So, why, you ask am I up here talking about Unitarian
Universalist beliefs?
I became a Baptist minister before I knew what a Unitarian Universalist was. Let me
tall you how it came to be that I am here.
Just before I went before the Ordination Review Committee to present my paper and
theological understandings my partner at the time told me to take off my left wing,
radical, lesbian, feminist hat and try to sound moderate. I tried, but I was not too
successful as you can imagine. The committee had a few questions and clarifications
about my paper. First, they asked me if a Muslim could go to heaven. I said, “Well,
first you are assuming there is a heaven and hell and next you are assuming there is
some judgmental God who sorts people out.” Not at all sure what kind of question
they were even asking, I then said, “Yes of course a Muslim would be in heaven if
there is one”. They asked a few other assorted questions, which I answered. Then, I
was told that in my paper I was rather vague about on the divinity of Christ. In my
mind, I thought isn’t everyone vague about such things? Is there a definitive answer
that I am supposed to respond with? I answered with as vague an answer as was in
my paper. I said something like, “Jesus came to save us from our sinful nature and
teach us how to live more fully through our relationship with God.” I didn’t think they
could argue with that and it worked for me.
Then it came to the vote. They sent me out into another room for the vote, which
usually took about 3 minutes. I had been to many of them and that had always been
the case. I was out there for what seemed an hour. All of my abandonment issues
kicked in and I was sure that they had left me and gone home. It turns out that
because the vote was not unanimous, there was a question of whether majority was ¾
or 51 percent. Since no one had the bylaws with them, someone had to get a copy.
When they called me back in, it seems they had had quite and interesting conversation
about my theology. The discussion included three options:
1. That I was a Unitarian Universalist
2. That I should go back and take more bible course, since I had obviously missed
something.
3. Baptists have (at least in theory) held these beliefs:
a. That the interpretation of scripture is up to each individual.
b. Religious freedom.
Fortunately, they settled on the third and I was ordained. But, today, I thank that
person who suggested that I was a Unitarian Universalist. He planted a seed for me.
Soon after my ordination, I sought out to discover what UU’s believe since I might be
one. This way I could vote “yes” or “no” to these allegations. I voted yea, and have
been a member of a UU church ever since. So, am I a Uni-Bapta-versalist, a Bapte-
Uniterist, Universal Baptist, Baptist UU, UBU, BUU, UUB? No, I am just another
human being searching for truth and meaning. Here, I am free to do that in the context
of this fellowship.
By Nancy L.
May 2010
I am a Baptist minister. So, why, you ask am I up here talking about Unitarian
Universalist beliefs?
I became a Baptist minister before I knew what a Unitarian Universalist was. Let me
tall you how it came to be that I am here.
Just before I went before the Ordination Review Committee to present my paper and
theological understandings my partner at the time told me to take off my left wing,
radical, lesbian, feminist hat and try to sound moderate. I tried, but I was not too
successful as you can imagine. The committee had a few questions and clarifications
about my paper. First, they asked me if a Muslim could go to heaven. I said, “Well,
first you are assuming there is a heaven and hell and next you are assuming there is
some judgmental God who sorts people out.” Not at all sure what kind of question
they were even asking, I then said, “Yes of course a Muslim would be in heaven if
there is one”. They asked a few other assorted questions, which I answered. Then, I
was told that in my paper I was rather vague about on the divinity of Christ. In my
mind, I thought isn’t everyone vague about such things? Is there a definitive answer
that I am supposed to respond with? I answered with as vague an answer as was in
my paper. I said something like, “Jesus came to save us from our sinful nature and
teach us how to live more fully through our relationship with God.” I didn’t think they
could argue with that and it worked for me.
Then it came to the vote. They sent me out into another room for the vote, which
usually took about 3 minutes. I had been to many of them and that had always been
the case. I was out there for what seemed an hour. All of my abandonment issues
kicked in and I was sure that they had left me and gone home. It turns out that
because the vote was not unanimous, there was a question of whether majority was ¾
or 51 percent. Since no one had the bylaws with them, someone had to get a copy.
When they called me back in, it seems they had had quite and interesting conversation
about my theology. The discussion included three options:
1. That I was a Unitarian Universalist
2. That I should go back and take more bible course, since I had obviously missed
something.
3. Baptists have (at least in theory) held these beliefs:
a. That the interpretation of scripture is up to each individual.
b. Religious freedom.
Fortunately, they settled on the third and I was ordained. But, today, I thank that
person who suggested that I was a Unitarian Universalist. He planted a seed for me.
Soon after my ordination, I sought out to discover what UU’s believe since I might be
one. This way I could vote “yes” or “no” to these allegations. I voted yea, and have
been a member of a UU church ever since. So, am I a Uni-Bapta-versalist, a Bapte-
Uniterist, Universal Baptist, Baptist UU, UBU, BUU, UUB? No, I am just another
human being searching for truth and meaning. Here, I am free to do that in the context
of this fellowship.
