Exploring Unitarian Communities

Unitarian communities are places where one can work out what one believes and holds sacred in a safe, holding space. These communities may be congregations or fellowships or engagement groups or societies. They will often include members with differing beliefs, but shared values. There are several different types of Unitarian community prevalent in the UK in the 21st century.

image: flickr.com

Twenty years ago, Andrew Hill published The Unitarian Path, in which he identified three distinct faith communities within Unitarianism, with the proviso that these were positions on a spectrum, rather than contained or mutually exclusive. In summary, they were: Unitarian Christian, religious humanist and those who recognised transcendence of one kind or another as being at the heart of most religious traditions.

I think that these definitions are still relevant today. Hill concludes that "There are many touching areas and crossover points within these three faith communities. Unitarian Christianity so easily finds common cause with a universalised theism; and a naturalised Christian theism is less problematical for religious humanists. Humanists also find common cause with Christians and theists in values which transcend individual persons, and in appreciating the importance of symbol and myth. All of which brings these three different faith communities to common ground and a shared community."

I believe that there are more than these three faith communities within Unitarianism today: for example, one that has moved away from Christianity altogether, and one in which the earth and the spiritual are at the centre, rather than humankind. And of course there are the agnostics and spiritual seekers, and those who call themselves atheist (in the sense that they do not believe in any divine being). In terms of belief (or lack of it) we are a diverse bunch indeed.

Over the last couple of decades, there has been a move away from the intellectual approach of earlier times, towards a more heart-centred or emotion-centred approach to our faith. Many Unitarians are acknowledging that some mysticism has its place within our panoply of beliefs too.

The existence of these very diverse faith communities, this religious pluralism, is one of Unitarianism's strengths; this ability to accommodate people of differing beliefs. Today, most Unitarian communities in the UK aver what Hill calls "an open acceptance and co-existence of different theological positions." This is evident if you look at the various different societies affiliated to the General Assembly, from the neo-Pagan Unitarian Earth Spirit Network , and the spiritualist Unitarian Society for Psychical Studies, to the Unitarian Christian Association (to name but three). All their members are also Unitarians, and all believe in something beyond the human / natural world. I believe that the great thing about Unitarianism is that there is room for all of us. Even within a small congregation, there could be Liberal Christians, religious humanists, universalists and experientialists. And some of us fall into more than one of these categories. But what matters is that we truly believe that Unitarianism is "the Religion of the Larger Affirmation" and that the values that we share are more important than our diverse beliefs.

I leave you with Michaela von Britzke's vision for  the future of Unitarian communities, when she writes:

"The times require us to move beyond our emphasis on the intellect and our dependence on the pulpit-based hierarchy, to become more expressive, egalitarian, and inclusive. We need to spend more time on holistic learning. We need to deal with shadows and projections, learn to deal with conflicts, work in groups, encounter each other deeply, in pain and joy. Sunday sermons, I believe, are the celebratory sauce for the bread pudding of daily living with integrity." 

In other words, we need to become truly welcoming spiritual communities, places where our individual spiritual and religious quests can safely be undertaken, in an atmosphere of freedom and respect and acceptance. A base from which we can go out and live our faith, not just talk about it.