Last weekend, I met a friend from high school in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she and her husband now live and work. Actually, we found each other a few months ago on facebook (where else?). She reminded me that we attended school together from kindergarten through graduation. It was fun to find an old friend from my childhood and they were very gracious hosts.
On Saturday afternoon we went to the Science Museum of Minnesota to catch the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. You can read more about it at: http://www.smm.org/scrolls/. In a nutshell, the Dead Sea Scrolls are ancient biblical and non-biblical texts found in the desert near the Dead Sea in 1947. The scrolls date to the time of Christ. The exhibit was fascinating.
As part of that exhibit, there was an exhibit of the Saint John’s Bible. This was a complete and very pleasant surprise for me. I have some of the Saint John’s Bible in my office (no I didn’t swipe it – it’s a reproduction that I bought). If you’d like to see more of this great project, check it out at http://www.smm.org/scrolls/familyguide/#saintjohnsbible.
On Sunday morning we attended a service at Unity Church-Unitarian in St. Paul. I don’t believe I’ve ever attended worship with a Unitarian congregation before and it was very interesting. My reflections on this experience might make more sense if you read a short synopsis on Unitarian Universalism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitarian_Universalists.
The building looked like a nice and ordinary church. The service (from the worship folder, to the hymnal, to everything that was said and done) was structured like an ordinary worship service. The sanctuary was beautiful and packed! On this particular Sunday, they were celebrating the Unitarian equivalent of baptism, which they called a “Celebration of New Lives.”
There were a couple of things that pricked my Lutheran sensibilities. One of the pastors said something to the effect, “unlike creedal churches.” Lutherans are one of the creedal churches. We believe in the ancient creeds of the church (Nicene, Apostles, Athanasian). A creed is a statement of belief and it sets boundaries, which attempt to define what it means to be a Christian. This is the major difference between Lutherans and Unitarians. The pastor’s reference to this fact was really helpful, both as a teaching for their own members and as a disclosure to visitors.
One of the pastors said something dismissing the idea of original sin and called the children being celebrated “original blessings and fellow redeemers.” While I didn’t agree with that statement, it was beautiful and appealing. The idea of original sin is kind of off-putting to and misunderstood by most adults. It’s hard to look at a baby or small child and think of them as sinners. The true meaning of the concept though is something a little different and very important. Original sin means that the human condition is broken and therefore human beings are separated from God. This brokenness needs God to step down and say, “I love you and I forgive you, I will never leave you or forsake you.” In other words, the human condition (original sin) needs a gracious redeemer (God).
The final thing that felt strange to me about this service was that there were no readings from the Bible and very little conversation about God. In fact, I don’t remember Jesus’ name being mentioned even once, but I may have missed it. Instead there were readings and meditations from a variety of sources. The sermon was entitled “Real Self Reliance.”
After worship, I went to brunch with my friend and her neighbor, who is an active member of Unity Church. The brunch was delicious and the conversation was great. At one point, I asked the Unity member if the members of her church considered themselves Christians. She said she thought most probably did. I’m pretty sure she’s right and the denomination clearly has roots in Christianity.
But, it would be hard for a Lutheran to recognize as Christian the beliefs and practices of the Unitarian Church. In fact, since the hallmark of the Unitarian Church is a rejection of the Doctrine of the Trinity and the creeds, it would be impossible for a Lutheran to call this a Christian denomination. I don’t mean that as an insult, because I believe God loves all people: Jews and Gentiles, Christians and non-Christians, Catholics and Protestants, Atheists and Agnostics. Instead, I mean it as an observation about what is different between our two traditions.
And here is a curiosity… Intellectually I find a lot about the Unitarian tradition very appealing; for example their celebration of the human intellect and their respect for the individual’s search for the divine. I also appreciate their overt call to social action. Mainline Christians (like us) too often want to avoid any conversation that might be political. Unitarians (on the left) and others (on the right) feel that the natural consequence of a religious belief is social action: to protest or vote or volunteer. I think the Unitarian Church has a clearer understanding and does a better job of articulating this call to action, than our tradition does.
So here’s my general take on other denominations: I think each denomination tends to have some strengths that we could learn from, and each has a quality or belief that would cause of us to celebrate what it means to be Lutheran. I want to explore this some more as I visit other churches this summer.
Last weekend was a great experience! Next Sunday, I hope to worship at my parents’ ELCA Lutheran church in Algona, but finally we’ll have to wait and see where the wind blows.
Peace,
Pastor
