Ethnography - Grade: A PDF

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Ethnography about Universalist Unitarians...

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March 11, 2019 Professor Adam Sweatman Survey of World Religions

“We are a liberal faith community of seekers and doers,” boasts the website for the Iowa City branch of the Unitarian Universalist Society. Unitarian Universalism; that’s not a religion I had heard of before and my interest was piqued. My girlfriend’s sibling attends the church and had mentioned it before, honestly the way they described it made me think it was a pantheist church. I was close, but not quite. So what exactly is Universalist Unitarianism? According to their website and the various pieces of literature I was greeted with, it’s more of a community of spirituality and humanitarian beliefs than it is a set religion. It doesn’t seem to have the rigid structure of organized religion like Christianity or Islam does. Universalist Unitarianism, however, does pull its traditions from Christianity and Judaism, as well as other world religions. They have seven key principles that make the basis of their faith: “1. The inherent worth and dignity of every person. 2. Justice, equity, and compassion in human relations. 3. Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations. 4. A free and responsible search for truth and meaning. 5. The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large. 6. The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all. 7. Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.” All of these principles became abundantly clear throughout my experience at the UU church. The UU church itself was in Coralville up a winding road and perched atop a hill in a forest. The trees were bare and gave the hidden church away. I won’t lie, I was uncomfortable at

the sight of it. The church was almost forbidding, it was large and covered in vertical slatted gray vinyl. The lawn was covered in rows of black solar panels and at the head of the parking lot stood slate black plaques with the 7 principles of Unitarian Universalism cut into them. Walking through the windy parking lot I felt a sense of unease; I hadn’t been to a service since I was 14 when my father passed. I gripped my girlfriend’s hand as we walked towards the glass doors of the UU church. When we entered, I was surprised with the interior. It was warm, with tall windows and high ceilings, nothing like the outside had hinted at. It didn’t smell how I expected it to. I have such vivid memories from going to catholic church as a child that I assumed it would smell the same; the copper-y, wet, almost blood-like scent I had come to associate with old chapels, bronze bowls full of holy water, and my nana. The UU church smelled fresh and brand new, and it looked the part too. I slid into the side coat room to take off my jacket and breathe a few deep breaths. The sense of unease hadn’t dulled despite the pleasant interior. My girlfriend pulled me out of the coat room and pushed me towards a welcome table in the entrance. The woman standing there greeted us warmly and prompted us to make some nametags for ourselves. She mostly held conversation with my girlfriend, giving her pamphlets and contact sheets to register as a member if she so desired. I don’t know if the woman sensed my tenseness or if it was because I was a bald woman in a church, but I forged on. Before finding our seats, the woman mentioned that today’s service would be a little longer than usual due to the induction of new members into the church today. We thanked her and made our way to the seated area to get ready for the service. Another woman greeted us on our way to find seats and gave us “order of service” pamphlets. It was almost like a playbill for the church service, laying out the details and order of

events as they would happen for that morning. We found seats towards the middle and took in our surroundings. The main room was just as gorgeous as the entrance; floor to ceiling windows to let in the early Sunday morning sunshine and high ceilings that made me feel less trapped. And the chairs were comfy, like really comfy. A welcome change from the hard pews I had grown up complaining about. The small choir in the front corner of the room practiced their hymns next to a baby grand piano. People filed in and filled the seats, greeting each other as they passed. We saw the new inductees take their seats towards the front, boasting their newly laminated nametags. They were all white. And old. I don’t know what else I expected from a church in Iowa, but it was something I noticed, nonetheless. Everyone began to quiet down when a woman approached the podium at the front of the room. She wasn’t the minister, but she had authority. She started the service by making us introduce ourselves to the people around us “in the spirit of radical hospitality.” I always dreaded this part as a child, getting my cheeks pinched and talking to strangers was never a fun experience. I avoided the former, but the latter was an inevitability. It wasn’t as bad as I was dreading it to be. Everyone was very friendly and very interested in us being newcomers. The greetings lasted what seemed like a long time before we were called back to attention by the same woman. She then directed our attention to the baby grand and a young man began banging out “Joshua fit the battle of Jericho.” A slice of familiarity that only heightened my unease. After the prelude, a different woman approached the podium. Again, not the minister but someone with weight. She read us a poem about the problems that building walls causes. After that she finally introduced the minister. She was a small woman in her billowing robes with a strong voice. She called forward a young girl to light a chalice that was adjacent to the podium.

After it was lit, she began what I assume was a prayer and the congregation sang their part in unison back to her. My legs bounced as this happened, being full of nervous energy. The choir then burst into song and we were beckoned to stand with them. The hymn was about building bridges, a positive and much-needed message given the climate of today. I was full of so many mixed emotions, the congregation was so welcoming, and their hymns and readings were so in sync with my own beliefs, but they were a church nonetheless, and I can’t help but have a feeling of discomfort in such a setting. The hymn ended and we took our seats again. Then the new member ceremony began. The new members sitting at the front got up and formed a line at the front of the room next to the lit chalice. They were asked to promise not to stray from the 7 principles of Unitarian Universalism, and then to light their own personal candles from the chalice. Afterwards, they collected yellow roses from the minister to signal their new friendship to UU. After this, the congregation sang to the children as they filed out of the main room and made their way to their Sunday worship classes. Collection baskets were then sent around, I tossed a few dollars into one. I suppose it was my thank you for letting me observe their faith for a class, even though they had no knowledge of my intentions. The minster again took control of the room. She asked for a moment of silence and meditation. After a few minutes she broke the silence and invited the choir to sing another hymn. As a child I heard many a hymn in church, but none ever really stuck with me, they never moved me. But this one, it got me. It was incredibly cheesy but one of the lyrics went “How could anyone ever tell you you’re anything less than beautiful?” I don’t ever remember hearing that kind of corny acceptance in catholic church as a kid. As a gay woman, I always felt alienated by most religions, but here was this one singing about acceptance. Here was this one with a female

minister. Here was this one with people coming up to my girlfriend and me to get to know us. Principle 3, “acceptance of one another…” In that moment I felt my unease finally melt away. After the hymn, the minster read us more pieces about walls and the human need to build them, but the importance of resisting that. Walls only separate us when we should be united. After all, principle number 6 is “the goal of world community…” Another hymn was sung and then we finally got to the meat of the morning; the sermon. It was aptly called “Tear Down the Walls.” The minister told us the stories of the young Buddha, trapped in his father’s palace walls and his need to break out of them to reach his true potential. She told us the story of Joshua and the tumbling walls of Jericho. I was a little shocked, I knew the UU combined stories of several world religions but everything up to this point had felt so Christian to me. Even more shocking than that was the minister blatantly calling them myth. She told us the stories in the bible and specifically the story of Joshua couldn’t be proved, but it was the messages illustrated by the myth that were important. The people around me shook their heads in understanding and agreement. Had we been in my nana’s church, I’m sure there would’ve been a small outcry. Principle number 4, “a free and responsible search for truth and meaning.” The sermon ended, and a closing hymn was sung as we exited the main room. My girlfriend and I headed for the coat room, the promise of breakfast pushing us out the door. We almost made it. A large board full of literature about the church caught my eye and I had to stop. The more literature the better my paper, yeah? As I grabbed pamphlets, a man came up behind us. Gary. He greeted us, called us out for being new, teased me for wasting paper by grabbing a newsletter instead of looking it up online. The minister came up behind him and welcomed us as well. “Justice, equity, and human relations,” rang in my ears as Gary pulled us deeper into the church to give us a tour. Principle number 2. He brought us into an area full of

tables, food, and lots of people. He set us loose to fend for ourselves, we grabbed some refreshments so as not to disappoint by turning heel and running for the door. We found a table and immediately the woman who had first greeted us sat down with us to chat. She told us the history of the church, how they started out in one of the oldest building on the south side of Iowa City. I’ve seen it before, it is old. Falling apart, really. She told us about the issues they faced there, the dreadful heat in the summer, the crumbling infrastructure. She then told us how they got their new home in Coralville. A vote. “The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process in within our congregations and in society at large,” principle number 5. She kept chatting with us, another man sat down to join the conversation. He ate his bagel with his multitool knife, an image I won’t forget. As they all spoke, a woman tapped me on the shoulder. “Can I tell you something?” She asked me. I figured it would be comment on my hair, older women often tell me it’s cute or brave. To my shock it was about the tattoo behind my ear. “Did it hurt? I’m planning on getting one pretty soon, you see I’m deaf in one ear and I think it would be funny to have an ear with a line through it behind that ear.” Her name was Jamie and she must’ve been about 70 years old. She held onto my shoulder as she showed me the tattoos on her legs, slowly pulling up her pant leg. We chatted another 10 or 15 minutes about our tattoos and our plans for new ones. She joked about her plan to shock the nursing home attendants when the time came. This was my favorite part of the experience. She talked to me like a person, and I was able to be apart of the conversation without feeling judged or uneasy. I was just me. Principle number 1, “the inherent worth and dignity of every person.” We put our cups in a bin, said goodbye to everyone who had been so kind to us, and made our way to the door. I felt a firm hand grab my arm as I passed a table, “See you next week,

yes?” Gary. I nodded and wished him a good week. I won’t join their congregation, at least I have no plans to. But I think I’ll be back. I don’t know if I’ll participate in prayer or song, but I know I’ll be welcome regardless of that. If nothing else, I need to see how Jamie’s tattoo turns out. Principle number 7, “respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.”

References https://www.uusic.org/. n.d. Website. 11 March 2019....