I went to a Unitarian Universalist Church the other day and it was an interesting experience. No, I am not converting, I had to go to another religious movement/cult for a class and they were the easiest to figure out when they met. I would write a total review, but I'm kinda lazy so I won't. I did however run into my friend Ed at the church (surprising because he goes to St. Athanasius as well) and Ed wrote a good review of the church on his blog.
I think Ed does a great job describing the UU church. His thoughts almost exactly echo mine especially when he mentions the service being boring. Oh my goodness, it was the most boring thing I've ever been to - even more boring than a Dr. Gould greek class.
The only thing I would add onto his post is that I agree that it looked much like the protestant/emergent services. In fact I would argue that it is a lot like so much of protestantism. A great deal of the service reminded me of seeker churches and even a bunch like the chapel services here at the Seminary. This, however, is not a good thing. I'm not making this point to say: "yay, look how close they are to the truth." rather it is surprising how far so much of weak protestantism (including so many of our chapel services here at the seminary) have strayed from boldly proclaiming the truth with any amount of urgency. This service really reminded me a lot of Quest Community Church which I have recently blogged about. That may be a cheap shot, but I really think(from what little I've seen) that Quest is a far cry from proclaiming the gospel and is so afraid at alienating people that they might as well be Unitarian Universalists.
I suppose that's it for now since my cults class is almost over. I had an idea for a post in class today but it may take some time to develop as I feel I should attend some services at Quest before I try to use our class paradigm to qualify them as a cult. But it should be a fun try.
- Ben
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4 comments:
Dr. Gould...hah...
Wow, that's just amazing to me, Ben. I mean, all I really know about Quest is from you, a few people who go there, and their literature in the community. I had just assumed that their philosophy was "get people saved as fast as possible and by any and every means possible," and not "get as many people as possible into our group." Have I misread you, or is that what you meant?
If it is, it sounds kind of terrifying... (and actually, even if it's not, I'm not sure I really believe in puppy-mill Christianity)
Ed.
My impression of Quest has been sort of what you said, but the salvific focus is not so much on the Kingdom of God, but rather on the local church itself.
I found that everyone at Quest was very willing to talk about Quest and encourage me to come to Quest but there wasn't anything else beyond the Quest-talk other than a some vague generic God concept.
It seems to me that what I would tongue-in-cheek call the cultic aspect of Quest was the fact that it was THE driving emphasis of everyone I encountered there. Everyone was extrememly nice, but their emphatuation with Quest was cultic and erie. It is almost like a hyper-denominationalism in which Quest becomes the denomination.
Does that make sense??
I know I'm sounding real pejorative, but this ecclesiology just bothers me to no end! I believe it is doing more harm to the church than it is good.
I went to a Unitarian Universalist Church the other day and it was an interesting experience. . . ;-)
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