A sermon delivered by Charles A. Gaines on October 29, 2006 in the West Valley Unitarian Universalist Church of Glendale, AZ
Hello, my name is Charles Gaines and I am for the next three months your consulting minister. In defining myself, I stress consulting more than ministering. Despite reports to the contrary, I consider my ministry interests comparable to what the Wizard of the East told Alice and her friends when she encountered him on their way to Oz. "Oh, I'm not much of a good wizard, but still, I am a wizard." For me in these later years, I focus more on my consulting role. And to describe this consulting role, let me share this story.
Once upon a time, a shepherd was looking after his sheep on the edge of a deserted road. Suddenly a brand new Lexus SUV screeches to a halt. The driver, a man dressed in a Cerutti suit, Gucci shoes, Ray-Ban sunglasses, Rolex wrist watch, and a Versace tie got out and asked the shepherd, "If I can guess correctly how many sheep you have, will you give me one sheep?"
The shepherd looked at the man, then looked at the grazing sheep and replied, "Okay". The man parked his SUV, connected his notebook and mobile-fax, entered into NASA website, scanned the ground using his GPS, opened a database and 60 Excel tables filled with logarithms, then printed out a 150 page report on his high tech mini printer. He turned to the shepherd and said, "You have exactly 1586 sheep here".
The shepherd answered, "That's correct, go ahead and pick a sheep." The man picked an animal up and put it in the back of his SUV.
The shepherd looked at him and asked, "If I can guess your profession correctly, will you return my animal to me?" The man answered, "Yes, why not?" The shepherd said, "You are a consultant". "How did you know?" asked the man. "Very simple," answered the shepherd. First, you came here without being called. Second, you charged me a fee to tell me something I already knew. Third, you don't understand anything about my business. Now can I have my DOG back?"
One thing I most hope to accomplish while I am here is to engage you in a process of creating a Golden Age for this congregation: a time when you become known for the quality of your worship, ministries, programs, and facilities, a time when you can be named as "one of the very best in the southwest district."
Our Unitarian and Universalist denominations have had golden ages. For Unitarians, it occurred from 1825 to 1865. It was a time when intellectual, cultural, commercial, and political forces in America were influenced by Unitarians. This was especially so in Boston.
Harriet Beecher Stowe, whose father was an orthodox minister, assessed the Boston scene when she moved there in 1826. Here is what she wrote:
All the literary men of Massachusetts were Unitarian. All the trustees and professors of Harvard College were Unitarians. All the elite of wealth and fashion crowded Unitarian churches. The judges on the bench were Unitarians.
Why, do you know that The Brattle Street Church in Boston -twice - had opposing candidates for governor among its membership.
But even Beyond Boston, Unitarianism was a force in society. The Whig Party, with Daniel Webster, John Quincy Adams, and Millard Fillmore, all Unitarians, espoused Unitarian principles of economic progress and freedom from tyranny. Before the Civil War, John C. Calhoun and Jefferson Davis - both Unitarians - were saying the same thing from the southern perspective.
Even more important than the political was the cultural dominance spawned by Unitarians - those living giants of the 19th century. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., James Russell Lowell, Louisa May Allcott, Hawthorne, Poe, Longfellow, - all of them household names throughout America. Today it is hard to believe how so many influential people could have been identified with one small religious movement. Indeed, in the American Hall of Fame, 25% of those honored at Unitarian Universalists, and most of them lived during this period in history.
Well, I could go one, but you get the idea. It was a Golden Age for us - and we've seen nothing like it since. Moreover, it ended rather abruptly. And there were two reasons for this.
First, Unitarianism could not survive the split between the mill owners who adapted to the southern conviction that slaves were necessary for the cotton trade and the abolitionists who condemned slavery as immoral. Even before the Civil War, but certainly during and after it, throngs of establishment Unitarians in Boston became Episcopalians. Anglicans were not consumed on this battleground.
And a second reason for the decline of Unitarianism came from William Ellery Channing who started it all with by publicly declaring himself to be a Unitarian in a sermon he Baltimore. He is known as the Father of American Unitarianism. But later, in 1825, Channing refused to accept the invitation from 20 Unitarian ministers to become the first president of the American Unitarian Association that they were founding. Indeed, he even refused to even join the organization. He declined by saying their efforts were "the guilt of the sectarian spirit." He later wrote:
I distrust sectarian influence more and more. I am more detached from a denomination, and strive to feel more my connection with the Universal Church with all good and holy men.
Channing's distrust of denominations, along with generations of Unitarians who feel that they didn't need to invite others to their way of thinking has suffocated the spirit of promotion and extension since those early years. No other Golden Age has occurred.
There is another story of a Golden Age. It has to do with Universalism, and the story is similar. Universalism grew out of the very soil of America. Unlike other major denominations which were founded in Europe, or as the Congregational and Unitarian churches whose members had prestige, education, and privilege - the Universalist beginnings were modest.
But the American spirit and character nurtured it. So if you need examples, think of Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and the Father of American Psychiatry. Or of Horace Greeley, P.T. Barnum, and Elihu Washburn, who was most responsible for creating both Abraham Lincoln's and Ulysses Grant's popularity.
In business there were Luden's Cough Drops, Friend's Beans, L.S. Smith typewriters, Bell Jars. In social reform there was Adin Ballou whose Hopedale Community outlasted all the other utopian experiments, and who advocated pacifism, women's rights, and the abolition of slavery before his contemporaries and whose writings influenced Tolstoy. Or Clara Barton, the founder of the Red Cross. And in theatre, there was Otis Skinner, said to be the greatest Shakespearian actor, and Edwin Markham, the poet who wrote:
He drew a circle that shut me out;
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout'
But love and I, we had the wit to win;
We drew a circle that took him in.
And in education, Universalists founded Tufts, St. Lawrence, Goodard, Buchtel Colleges, and the California Institute of Technology.
This was all part of the Golden Age of Universalism. In 1840, Universalists were found in every state and territory of the nation - 700 societies and 311 preachers. Then in the next 12 years, the number doubled so that by 1852 there were 800,000 Universalists in America. One of of every six citizens was a Universalist.
The decline of Universalism resulted from similar reasons as Unitarianism. The Universalists felt it didn't matter if you became a Baptist or Methodist, just so long as you were a good person. "We're all going to the same place," they said. So Universalists stopped celebrating Universalism. Denominational officials even encouraged some churches to merge with churches in other denominations or go out of existence.
Compare all this with today. Why, do you realize that there are as many people living in Glendale, right here where you are, than there are identified Unitarian Universalists? Not even as many because according to the U.S. census - 218,812 people live here. According to our UUA Directory, there are 215,383 Unitarian Universalists.
Given those statistics you might feel skeptical about whether another Golden Age is possible. Well, I am skeptical, too. For it will take a great deal of consciousness raising by both ministers and members of our churches to make it happen. Channing's "guilt of the sectarian spirit" still lingers among us.
But I am less skeptical when it comes to a local church such as this one. S Golden Age can happen here if you share a expansive vision for this place. So I say. Don't worry about the Unitarian Universalist Association. Don't even worry about what's happening elsewhere in Arizona. Don't compare yourself to other places you read about or hear. Nothing kills the spirit more than a lack of self-esteem, a refusal to look at alternative behaviors, reluctance over making changes or considering a new idea, passivity when listening to newcomers or volunteering to help out. You've heard it before. "We've tried that once - four years ago." "It won't work here, we're different." "We can't afford it, so let's not ask." So and so won't like it, so let's not do it." That's what sabotages good intentions, discourages people from volunteering and visitors from returning. Who wants to join a congregation of losers? No, winning congregations say, "let's try it", "let's see if it will work", "let's see if we can afford it", and "let's go for it!' And it begins with setting priorities that make a Golden Age possible. One major change is in the atmosphere of the church itself, when it becomes positive, upbeat, celebrative.
But hear my confession: I believe membership growth is not really about balancing a budget, filling up a church, or joining a committee. For me, membership growth is about saving our world. And I am not ashamed to use that phrase here. Anyone who has criticized the policies or actions of the current administration in Washington or here, and then doesn't care about getting more people to share our values, seems inconsistent. I am serious in my concern about what is happening in America, the land I love. Moreover, as a fairly new resident to Arizona, I despair over what is happening right here: the fact that we rank so low among states in our funding of education for our children, that so many legislators want to cut social programs, that our ability to provide medical care and the number of physicians practicing in this state is declining, that we want to built walls to keep people out, not love's winning wit to win. So when I read about what's happening in our state and world and then belittle the idea that more people ought to be Unitarian Universalist seems to me to be inconsistent. No, I say, we need more governors in the state houses across America, more legislators in Washington, D.C., and more judges on the benches to protect a woman's right to choose, habeas corpus, the 1st amendment of the Bill of Rights, and all other liberties currently threatened by many who dismiss such previous freedoms. We need more people thinking about saving our environment, guaranteeing individual free choice, promoting justice and compassion in arenas where drugs, AIDS, the homeless, and children dwell. We need more people who look beyond borders to one world and one people with international justice for all. And I say our theology, values, and faith can make a difference and can contribute to creating that better world which awaits us. Its a Golden Age when it happens.
Can you believe larger numbers of people in Glendale and Peoria who already share our values should be invited to this place to help change the world? I have faith that as long as we are together - you and I can work to strengthen this church so a Golden Age will evolve. But we have to stay together, stay focused, and celebrate everything we accomplish. And we begin by taking one step at a time. That's what Marge Piercy writes in her poem "The Love Road."
Two people can keep each other
sane, can give support, conviction,
love, message, hope, sex.
Three people are a delegation,
a committee, a wedge. With four
you can play bridge and starts
an organization. With six
you can rent a whole house,
eat pie for dinner with no
seconds, and hold a fund raising party.
A dozen make a demonstration.
A hundred fill a hall.
A thousand have solidarity and your own
newsletter'
ten thousand, power and your own paper;
a hundred thousand, your own media,
ten million, your own country.
It goes on one at a time,
It starts when you care
to act, it sharts when you do
it again after they said no,
it starts, when you say we
and know who you mean, and each
day you mean one more.
So the real questions that I am asking you this morning are: "Do you share my vision of a Golden Age for your church? And can you support in the coming months those activities that may just evolve the vision and take some steps toward that end?
I've shortened my sermon a bit this morning in order to provide a brief period for some of you to share how you feel about evolving a Golden Age here. I have a microphone. We have some time, so who would like to begin?
Part of creating a Golden Age here comes from feeling grateful that you have such a place as this Unitarian Universalist church with which to be identified. So in closing I ask you to think about how this place can be a haven for those who are discontented, a solace for those with dampened spirits, and a place where people can come for hope and courage. I hope you will embrace such people with open arms. Yes, I ask you to be grateful for all this. Take this religious environment seriously. Resist bad mouthing it, even though at times it may not live up to all your expectations. Speak well of it to your friends and neighbors. Don't be ashamed to tell them why you belong here. Mention a number of the good things that have occurred here, and you were inspired. Your friends may be looking for exactly the same thing, so don't be afraid to invite them to join you in one of our Sunday services.
The Golden Age will come by you and me living as if it were happening right now, beginning this morning, right now through our zest for our faith and this place where it is embodied. And it is, you know. Right now, right here, it is beginning. Do you believe it? Can you feel it happening - right now, right here. The Golden Age? Why, it's just beginning to occur - and you and I are part of it all. I salute you. And I stand in awe of its advent.