Join us on April 15

Back in December, our church, the Kingston Unitarian Fellowship, moved to a new building. And next month, on April 15, we will celebrate the official opening of the building and welcome visitors to an open house. Since the new building can accommodate more people at our Sunday service, some of us feel we should let more people know about our church and our religion. (To be clear, I'm writing now on behalf of myself, not KUF.)

One problem is that Unitarians don't proselytize. Although many of us are quite opinionated on a variety of topics, when it comes to our church, most of us keep a low profile. As our minister, Kathy Sage, pointed out in a recent sermon, Unitarianism was actually outlawed in England for a while. It wasn't legal in England until 1813. Before then, keeping a low profile was essential.

Dissenters have always had a hard time. For example, back when the King James Bible was being written, the authors knew that 1 John 5:7 was a gloss and considered omitting it. But, in spite of the scholarship, they kept the verse in since they didn't want to be seen as pandering to the Unitarians.

Another problem is describing our religion. If you talk to a number of Christians, for example, you'd quickly see what that religion is all about. But if you talk to a number of Unitarians, you might get different answers from each. Unitarianism doesn't preach a specific creed. Strictly speaking, it has no creed. We all recognize that many of us are on a spiritual journey, and that we all have different spiritual needs. We all have different approaches to understanding the world around us, and we all can share and learn from each other.

That said, we generally follow a set of seven principles. The first principle is to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. You can read the rest at our web site: About Us. Looking at these principles, to me they seem self-evident. How can anyone argue with these principles? In fact, these principles look very much like the eight points of Progressive Christianity.

If you look to church or religion for definite answers to the great questions of life, universe, and everything, you probably won't find them at a Unitarian church. Or maybe you will. Either way, you will be welcomed at a Unitarian congregation, just as you are, no matter who you are. We won't tell you what to believe, or how to live your life. But we'll support you in your own search for spiritual meaning.

Again, the open house is on April 15. I hope to see you there!

Cheers! Hans