About my faith, part two

This past December, I wrote this post about my faith journey. Here is the link; rather than me retell the whole story again, you can click on it to learn more.

But in this post, I'm going to tell you more about my particular church, why I like it, and the people who shape it.

One of the reasons why I like being a Unitarian Universalist is that no two services are alike. Take this month's services, for example. We began the month of February with a service led by our Covenant of UU Pagans, the "Winter Cross Quarter Fire Festival." This was the service on which I based my "Perspective" post. The following week, we had another lay-led service based on the concept of truth. How do we know what's true? What determines the truth, and why? I participated in last week's service, titled "One Singular Sensation," a service devoted to spirituality and the place single people have in society. I may post my sermon up on the blog, if anyone's interested.

Unitarian Universalism doesn't have a creed, but has its base in Judeo-Christian religious traditions. Basically, it's dedicated to developing and promoting "the inherent worth and dignity in every human being". This is what I love most about my faith, that every human being is valued, regardless of race, color, creed, or sexual orientation.

There are so many people from different backgrounds that attend my church. In addition to the Covenant of UU Pagans, we have atheists, agnostics, humanists, former Catholics, and former Episcopalians at my church. Everyone contributes to the church, and everyone's contributions are welcomed.

Just as important as the diversity of services is to me, the feeling of community I receive from the church is wonderfully enriching. I have made so many new friends in the church. It's a small enough community that if anything happens to anyone, either good or bad, we all rally around for support. We had, for example, a special collection for a family whose mother was fighting breast cancer. We collected over $1200 for this family; an astounding amount, given these tough economic times.

My favorite part of the service is "Joys and Concerns". It's a short part of the service, usually about five or ten minutes, where we share what's going on in our lives, both good and bad. We request prayers, for example, for people who are fighting illnesses, for pregnant women, or for good karma for job interviews. That's how wide it can range. Joys and Concerns helps me bond with my fellow parishoners, and brings us all much closer.

We don't have too many rituals in the church, but the ones that we do have are very interesting. Our church year runs from September to June, same as the school calendar does. At our first formal service of the year, in September, we have what's called "Water Ingathering". Every member of the congregation brings in a water sample from somewhere special to them. We pour all of our water samples into a bowl, and our minister takes it home with her, boils it, and filters it. This water is used for celebrations throughout the year, such as child dedications (our version of baptism).

So...in a nutshell, that's the story of my faith. If you have any more questions for me, pass 'em along!

P.S. You may have seen me mention a blogger known as PeaceBang in my posts. She's a UU minister at a congregation in Norwell, Massachusetts and is an absolute riot. Go over to her blog, which is on my blogroll, when you get the chance. PeaceBang rocks!