Unitarians: From the Name Change Discernment Working Group {removing the word "church" from the name as it is "triggering"}

Universal Unitarian bloomington ^

[Cronos]

Removing the word “church” from our name has been proposed and the decision was made recently to weigh the extent of interest in replacing “church” with something else. Our group conducted a survey to gauge support and we received a total of 295 responses from members and friends of the UUCB.

For the first question, respondents were asked to indicate their support ranging from “strongly disagree (1)” to “strongly agree (5). The table below indicates their level of support.

The reasons given by those in agreement with the change (groups 4 & 5, 49.2%), fell under two general themes:

• Lack of inclusivity. The most common response focused on the idea that “church” is strongly associated with Christianity and is not inclusive to those from other faiths, have been unaffiliated, or are agnostic or atheistic.
• Negative association with the word “church.” The word itself can be distressing or even traumatizing for those who had negative experiences tied with Christian religion.

For those who were neutral (group 3, 28.5%), the following themes arose:

• No compelling reason for change. These responses were essentially non-committal.
• Can see both sides of the argument. The concern was that both sides of the argument made legitimate points and neither side pushed or pulled them over.
• Need more information to make a decision. This group wanted to know more before they made a commitment.
• Have continuing questions about the impact. They were concerned about broader impacts of the change.

For those who disagreed with the change (group 1 & 2, 22.4%), responses fell under these themes:

• “’Church’ describes in a single word what we are.” This quote represents the most common theme in this group, in that “church” was seen as a commonly recognized identifier for a group of people who follow a common religious tradition.
• It reflects our Christian-based history, better to change people’s understanding of what “church” means. This reflected a concern about abandoning our roots and ceding “church” to others.
• Concerns about how this affects how we are viewed in other contexts. These included risking our tax-exempt status and our standing with other faiths.
• Labeling or branding. What do we call ourselves? How do we refer to our grounds and building?

For the second question, we asked “If the change takes place, what will we replace “church” with? We offered four forced choices (community, congregation, fellowship, society) and an open-choice “other.” “Congregation” was the first choice, with “community” not far behind. The other two were far less popular and have been dropped from consideration. Another option that was volunteered most often, was to call ourselves “the Unitarian Universalists of Bloomington.” This option will be included in discussions.

[Cronos]

Key Quote: "The word church itself can be distressing or even traumatizing for those who had negative experiences tied with Christian religion... ‘church’ is strongly associated with Christianity and is not inclusive to those from other faiths, the unaffiliated, or agnostics."

[TBP]

There has been a trend among some theological traditions to replace hte term “Chursh” with somethign like a spiritual center.

[j.havenfarm]

It’s been “church” for atheists for a long time. It’s refreshing to see them give up the pretense

[Jim Noble]

“Coven” is available. “Magic circle” would probably not be appropriate since I’m sure most Unitarians “follow the science”.

[fella]

Just another part of “The Great Falling Away”.

[Not A Snowbird]

This bewilders me:

‘church’ is strongly associated with Christianity and is not inclusive to those from other faiths, the unaffiliated, or agnostics."

[Kudsman]

Legion, host and hive would also fit.

[Cronos]

But what exactly do they DO? Church for atheists, so is it like a self help group or what? And people go??

[Cronos]

The whole thing bewilders me, why does it still exist?

[Deo volente]

I was hired to play piano for one of their ‘services’ back in the 1980’s and I recall there were no prayers, but there was a lively foreign policy discussion, and of course it was heavily anti-Reagan. A bunch of elderly liberals venting.
I got paid at least.

[Salman]

Trying so hard to be perfectly inoffensive.

As "salvation by works" goes, this is pretty weak. { snicker }

[Cold Heart]

Spirtiual Learing Center?

[Dilbert San Diego]

So to be politically correct, we cannot call a church a church?

Or are they saying their organization is not really holding services in a church?

Then, are they really a religious denomination? Or are they some sort of other organization?

[PeterPrinciple]

Folks,

So what is a church? It has a lot of different meanings.

For most it is an institution or a club house. Most “churches” are not even good club houses. Ask people at your church why they are there. What is the unifying reason? You will hear some revealing answers, especially the one that comes from your lips.

I find the following the best understanding of church:

Mal 3:16 Then those who feared the LORD spoke with each other, and the LORD listened to what they said. In His presence, a scroll of remembrance was written to record the names of those who feared Him and always thought about the honor of His name.

There is more for those who want to read it in context. I suggest the whole Bible.

[j.havenfarm]

The First United Methodist Church is kind enough to make their facilities for meeting and events for a group I’m with. The photo displays there are dominated by pictures of congregation members at Pride events , and of course a Pride flag hangs from the front of the church. I get the impression that “social concerns” occupies a rather large portion of their time. But they still pretend to follow Jesus, so surely there’s time spent on liturgy.

The Unitarians are liberated from wasting their time on liturgy. Think about those clips of loopy protester interviews you see. I imagine their “services” are a lot like what you would see if you gathered a bunch of those lunatics in a big room and just let them cut loose with their madness

[jmaroneps37]

Unitarian buildings are not churches. They are places where people go to mock religion, especially Catholicism. I attended a wedding at one of these fake churches years ago. I realized there was more religious fever in a bowling ally than where I was.

[AZJeep]

Yes, they do not has pastors, they have speakers.
They just get together, listen to some random speaker, talking about some random message and they have discussions.
God is not present there!

Removing the church from the name would make it clear.

[Midwesterner53]

Church was removed from your organization years ago.

[Midwesterner53]

Perhaps Mosque would better describe your relationship to our God.

[xp38]

I think this refers to those who attend. I doubt anyone just passing by the place cares a whit that it’s called a church or whatever. Church might suggest to some it’s Christian which they are certainly trying to say they aren’t. This to me is a big leftwing thing. They love to remove so called offensive labels.