Paul Wilczynski's Observations

JLR: Understanding Unitarian Universalism's Lack of Mass Appeal

The Journal of Liberal Religion has an article entitled Developmentally Challenged: Understanding Unitarian Universalism's Lack of Mass Appeal. Its level of analysis befits a publication whose name starts with "Journal".

Among other things, it compares Robert Kegan's Theory of Human Development with James Fowler’s theory of faith development.

In discussing the UU Principles, the articles says

As apparent through the above noted sources, there is huge variety in the lenses that can be brought to bear in interpreting the Unitarian Universalist principles. While ministers can provide one lens (their own) for drawing on sources of wisdom and in interpreting the principles, there is a central assumption that individuals within a congregation are “self-authoring” and capable of deciding for themselves how they approach and interpret the religion. As Unitarian Universalist minister Steve Edington puts it, “While we are bound by a set of common principles, we leave it to the individual to decide what particular beliefs lead to those principles.” As described above, this level of individual engagement, autonomy, and self-authorship is a characteristic of the 4th order of consciousness. Thus, at the level of religious beliefs, Unitarian Universalism demands a minimum of 4th order meaning making from its adherents.

And we have to be even higher on the list to find UU sermons meaningful:

In a UU worship service, the minister and/or lay worship volunteers seek to highlight universal truths, typically by drawing connections with a reading or two, several hymns or musical selections, and a sermon that would probably include personal reflections on the topic at hand. This gestalt presumes that the worshiper is capable of being in dialogue vicariously with the worship leader over the nature of truth, meaning, and ultimate reality. It assumes that the worshiper is not “closed” in his/her meaning making, as would be the case at a pure 4th order of consciousness in which the individual is content in defining meaning in a purely self-referential way. It assumes an open, dialogic process, in which the worship leader’s take on truth is not considered ultimate or authoritative, but one meaningful experience or viewpoint that we can learn from. This is clearly a 5th order/stage worship experience, as described earlier. For reasons similar to those encountered in our examination of UU adult religious education, in order for this style of worship to be meaningful, 5th order thinking has to have some resonance with the individual; the worshiper needs to be beyond pure 4th order meaning making.

Nobody said being a UU was easy. A tip of the hat to Radical Hapa.

posted by Paul Wilczynski @ 8:02 AM