Who Are We Today & How Did We Get Here
.jpg)
Jessica York wrote in her, Faith Like a River work, “Unitarian Universalism is a living faith. We think that people should be free to believe what they must believe – the truth of their life experiences – instead of professing belief in what they are told to believe. This is what we mean when we say ours is a ‘creedless’ religion. Creeds are often associated with ‘orthodoxy’. Those who do not agree with the beliefs stated in the creed are often labeled ‘heretics.’”
Being a living faith means that any one of us can change what we believe, if we have an experience that causes us to challenge our previous beliefs.
When this congregation of four persons first met, in a room at the Public Library in Lenoir in 2005, we decided that we wanted to meet regularly every Sunday as a Unitarian Universalist Church. We quickly attracted a few more people, and decided to name our church The Unitarian Universalist of Caldwell County. Our mission was to establish a PLACE. “Our Mission is to establish a place where compassionate people can satisfy their spiritual needs in an atmosphere that promotes tolerance for differences, freedom of expression, and a search for the truth. We affirm a commitment to world peace, justice for all, and the maintenance of our environment.”
When we applied for membership into the Unitarian Universalist Association, their representative encouraged us to join one of the UU churches in Boone or Hickory, to strengthen their membership, rather than taking the chance that we may fail. We successfully argued that the travel distance would be a hardship on our members, and the UUA relented. We were admitted as an, “Emerging Congregation.” We then applied for non-profit status as a church with the US and State Internal Revenue Service.
We wrote by-laws and organized ourselves consistent with requirements of the IRS and the recommendations of the UUA. Since UU churches enjoy congregational polity, (i.e., individual congregations have wide latitude to make decisions on their own, much like the Baptists) we began building our Mode of Operation and our Order of Service based on our Mission and the UUA Principles.
Membership in the UU of CC only required a person to sign the “green book.”
At that time, the Southeastern District of the UUA (headquartered in Richmond, Virginia), was named the Thomas Jefferson District. UUA members decided that his name should be removed, and replaced with Southeastern. Even though Jefferson was philosophically a Unitarian, a Virginian and one of the nation’s founding fathers, he was also a slave owner who fathered children by a slave he owned, and that was offensive to our members and not consistent with our Principles.
.jpg)
.jpg)
Also, the “Emerging Congregation” status, and the tithing requirements for “Associate Membership” were changed by the UUA.
Our Congregation continued to evolve to meet our needs. Restrictions on our use of the library meeting room became an increasing concern. We did not know from week-to-week whether we would be allowed to have a meeting space, so we began to look for an appropriate alternative place.
We surveyed the congregation to make sure that our Order of Service include something that would allow everyone to meet their spiritual needs and expectations (music, meditation, etc.).
We also began to see the need to protect our congregation from those who would use our liberal religion to attack or harm others. So, we adopted our own Covenant that we affirm each Sunday.
Our Covenant: “In this sacred space we honor every person’ search for the truth, and support individual expression of alternative points of view consistent with our Principles. To protect and promote human dignity and provide a safe haven for all who enter this space, we covenant to demonstrate respect for both ourselves and others.”
As a congregation, we decided that we would continue to be “Lay Lead” rather than seek to find an ordained minister.
In the Summer of 2010, we were made aware that the home of Tana Murray’s parents would soon be on the market. We talked with Tana and her siblings. They offered to sell us the property at a price we could afford and financing was made available. Not everyone in the Congregation was pleased with our leaving the library and going into debt. Some actually left us because of their feelings.
Not long after leaving this library, the County Commissioners restricted the use of the library meeting rooms, and later, took the rooms away from the library and converted them for others uses.
We were fortunate to have the time and leadership of John Elian and other members with building experience, to renovate and adapt this space for our use.
We moved in and dedicated our Church in October, 2010.
Going on 17 years, now, we have been able to learn and grow without having to pay for any staff. We have been able to do this because of the volunteers caring for and maintaining our building and grounds, cleaning and decorating our Church interior, providing furniture, and equipment, providing leadership on committees and as officers, and planning and presenting meaningful services.
.jpg)
.jpg)
During our first few years, we subscribed to an online UU resource named Church of the Larger Fellowship. Using it helped us form meaningful services without having to, “Re-invent the wheel.”
We Have tried to honor our commitment to the UUA PRINCIPLES and our By-Laws in the governance of this congregation. Decisions are made using the democratic process.
Our religious community is a living body, constantly learning and growing to meet the spiritual needs of our members. That means that, as our needs change, we must be willing to change the way we do things to meet those needs. Listening to each other speak, taking anonymous surveys from time-to-time, and considering every person’s ideas and feelings as important, is crucial.
What questions or comments do you have regarding the current status of the UUA in general, or our congregation, specifically?
