The Preacher, the Farmer, and the Little Church That Waited
As a boy growing up in England, John Murray dreaded Sundays.
His family, led by a stern father, rose at dawn each Sunday to spend the whole day praying and attending church. After church John’s father would quiz him on the sermon. If John couldn’t answer every question, his father would strike him with a cane, or box his ears.
Sunday was a time to sit and think about hell–a place where most people went after they died, and burned in flames forever and ever.
John’s parents believed in the Calvinist idea of God–that God decided whether a person would go to heaven or hell before that person was even born, and a person could do nothing to change this. Furthermore, only a certain few people were chosen to go to heaven. People thought that if you attended church a lot, and if you worked very hard, and if you were very good, and if you made a good living, it could mean that God had chosen you for heaven.That is why John’s father was so strict. John tried to please his father. At the age of six, he could read entire chapters of the Bible. He developed a talent for speaking and, as a teenager, he was often asked to preach in nearby churches.
When John was nineteen, he left for London and took a job at a cloth mill. But he was careful to attend church every evening and on Sunday, and he woke every morning at 4:00 to pray. He began to think that maybe he was one of the special few persons chosen by God to be saved. He started to feel and act superior to others.
Then one day in church John met Eliza, the most beautiful young woman he had ever seen. He immediately fell in love with her, and she with him. Soon after, John and Eliza married.
At this same time in London, a small group of people called Universalists were preaching ideas about God that were very different from the Calvinists. "John," said Eliza one day, "who are these Universalists?"
"I don’t know," he answered. "I hear they are evil and dangerous people."
"What do they believe?" asked Eliza.
"From what I hear; they believe some crazy idea that…well, that every person will go to heaven because God is so good!" said John.
"To tell you the truth, John." said Eliza,"I sometimes wonder myself why a truly good God would want millions of humans to go to hell, through no fault of their own. Besides, John, is anyone really completely good?"
John felt uneasy. It seemed wrong to question what he had been taught all his life.
"Let’s find out more," said Eliza.
John and Eliza learned about theUniversalist ideas about God. They spent several years carefully thinking through their beliefs. In the end, they chose Universalism.
Their friends were shocked and refused to be friends anymore. John and Eliza didn’t care. Universalism gave them hope in place of stern judgment. John discovered that he no longer looked down on people. He now cared deeply about others, rich and poor. He and Eliza made new friends, and to add to their happiness, they had a baby boy.
Then suddenly everything changed. Their baby died and Eliza became sick. John spent all their money and borrowed more to save her, but she died, also. John was thrown into debtors prison for owing money.
"I have come to pay your debts, John, and get you out of this place," said Eliza’s brother who came to John’s rescue. John replied, "My wife and my baby are dead. I don’t care whether I live or die. Just leave me."
But Eliza’s brother brought John home anyway. "Come on, John," said his friends. "Preach Universalism for us. We need you."
"I shall never preach again," John said,"but I know what I will do. I’m going to cross the ocean to America, and lose myself in the wilderness. I am done with the world."
In 1770, John sailed to America in the Hand in Hand. The ship was supposed to dock in New York City, but the captain miscalculated, and instead, the Hand in Hand got stuck on a sand bar off the coast of New Jersey. The captain asked John to go ashore to find fresh food and water for the crew.
John was glad to get off the ship and after walking some distance through the tall pines, he came to a clearing with a large house and, to his astonishment, a trim looking church made of rough sawed lumber. A tall farmer stood in front of the house cleaning fish.
"Welcome" called out the farmer. "My name is Thomas Potter."
"And I am John Murray, from the ship Hand in Hand."
"Yes," said Thomas, "I saw your ship in the bay, stuck on the sand bar, she is."
"May I buy your fish to take back to the ship’s crew?" asked John.
"You can have them for the taking, and gladly:’ answered Thomas,"and please come back to spend the night with my wife and me. I will tell you all about this little church and why it is here."
John gratefully carried the fish to the sailors, and then returned to Thomas’ home for the night.
"Come, my friend, sit in front of our fire, this chilly fall evening," said Thomas. "I’m so glad you have come. You may be the very person I’ve been waiting for."
John wondered,"Waiting for! What could he be talking about?".
Thomas explained. "You see, I grew up here in these woods. I never had a chance to read or write, but I always liked hearing the Bible read, and I’ve thought a lot about religion. Trouble is, my ideas are different from the ideas of the preachers who travel through these parts. I built this little church myself for all the traveling preachers to use. I ask them questions and talk to them, but they don’t know what to make of me and my ideas. I keep looking for a preacher of a very different stamp. I want a preacher who will teach about a loving God who saves all people, not just a chosen few."
Today, when I saw your ship in the bay, a voice inside me seemed to say, "There, Potter, in that ship may be the preacher you have been so long expecting."
John said quickly,"I am not a preacher."
"But," said Thomas Potter, leaning forward, "can you say that you have never preached?"
"I have preached," answered John slowly,"and I believe, as you do, in a loving God."
"I knew it! I knew it!" shouted Thomas."You are the preacher for whom I have waited for so long! You’ve got to preach in my church on Sunday!"
"No," replied John firmly. "I never want to preach again. Tomorrow, as soon as the wind changes, I will be on my way!"
After John went to bed, he couldn’t sleep. He thought to himself as he tossed and turned,"I just want to get away from everything…if I preach Universalism I know there will be trouble. Folks here in America mostly have Calvinist views, just as in England.Why start trouble for myself in a new country? But Thomas Potter has such faith in me. And he’s so kind. Oh, I wish I knew what to do.
By Saturday night the wind had still not changed, and John finally agreed to preach the next moming. Thomas Potter was overjoyed. He grabbed his coat and hat and ran for the door."I’m going to spread the word to all the neighbors! They can expect a sermon such as they have never heard before!"
And so, on Sunday morning September 30, 1770, Thomas Potter’s dream came true and the first Universalist sermon was delivered in America. At last he could hear a preacher who talked of love instead of punishment.
As for John Murray, after that Sunday he knew he wanted to preach. Just as he expected, there were people who were angry at him for preaching ideas so different from Calvinism. They spread lies about him and stoned him, but he stuck to his beliefs and, in 1779, organized the first Universalist church in America in Gloucester, Mass. After many years, he fell in love again and married. He and his wife, Judith, had a daughter.
And if you’re ever in Lanoka Harbor, New Jersey, the little church that waited so long is waiting for you to visit in Murray Grove.
10 Tips for Taking Social Action
10 Tips for Taking Social Action
"Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity." – Oprah Winfrey
You’ve read about the Jackson kids. Anything they can do, you can do, too. Here are ten steps that will lead you to your goal.
1. Choose a problem. Look around your neighborhood. Are there any areas that look neglected or need improvements?Are there places that make you feel unsafe?Places that smell awful? Any problems with drugs, crumbling buildings, homeless people, hungry children, dangerous street crossings, grungy landscapes?
This is one good way to begin. You could also find a problem by thinking about a subject you have studied at school or in a scout troop. For example, if you have just finished a unit on mammals, you might ask yourself,"What kinds of problems do animals have or cause in real life?" If you can’t think of anything, you might call your local humane society, animal shelter, or research clinic.
The hard part won’t be finding a problem. (For some suggestions, see below.) The hard part will be choosing only one problem at a time.
2. Do your research. If you choose a problem from something you have studied at school, you already have valuable information to use. But try some new ways of researching,too.
Survey your school or neighborhood to find out how other people feel about the problem you want to tackle. Telephone officials for information, then interview them over the phone or in person. Write letters.Read magazines and newspapers. Checkout the Internet to find information or allies. If you happen to be a veteran couch potato, flip the TV to a news channel.
3. Brainstorm possible solutions and choose one. Think of what you might do to solve your problem. Brainstorm everything you can think of. Sometimes the zaniest ideas turn out to be the best.
After you have made a long list of potential solutions, look at each one carefully.Choose the solution that seems the most possible and will make the most difference.For example: We will help young people learn to read by volunteering as tutors in the elementary school; we will help reduce crime in our area by organizing a neighborhood watch program.
4. Build coalitions of support. A coalition is a group of people working together for the same goal. Find all the people you can who agree with your solutions.Survey your neighborhood; ask teachers,city officials, newspapers, legislators, other students. Call state agencies that deal with your problem. Send email to connect with businesses and nonprofit organizations interested in your issue.
This is very important to do. Organize all these people. The more people you have on your team, the more power you will have to make a difference.
5. Work with your opposition. For every good solution, there are people, businesses, and organizations that might oppose the plan. That’s why it’s important to ask, "Who or what might make it hard to carry out our plan?" It’s important to identify possible barriers before you run into them. You don’t want to be taken by surprise. Brainstorm with your coalition of support to help you identify who might object to your solution. Teachers and other experts can help as well. Then make plans to overcome others’ objections.
You might be tempted to think of the people who oppose your solution as "bad guys." But it can be more useful to see them as people with different needs and opinions.Get to know your "enemy" you might be surprised how far you can get by working together, and how many ideas you agree on.Not all the time, but in many cases, you and your opposition can both win–or at least accomplish more by compromising.
6. Advertise. Here’s good news:Television, radio, and newspaper reporters love stories of kid action. TV and radio stations usually offer free air time for worthy projects.
Call and ask to speak to a reporter who covers educational issues. Or you might write a letter. Be sure to include a phone number(yours?) the reporter can call for more information. Or send out a news release.
Don’t forget small community newspapers, even church bulletins. They can help you advertise, too. If you let people know what problem you’re trying to solve, and what solution you propose, You’ll suddenly find all sorts of people who want to climb aboard.
7. Raise money. After letting people know about your project, you might try to raise funds to support it. This isn’t essential,and many wonderful projects can be tackled without this step. But sometimes you have more power if you put money where your mouth is.
8. Carry out your solution. You have your lineup of team players, and you’ve advertised to let people know the problem you plan to solve. Now DO IT!
Make a list of all the steps you need to take. Give speeches, write letters and proclamations, pass petitions, improve your neighborhood or school (or you might just try to spiff up your own backyard).
9. Evaluate and reflect. Is your plan working? Are you congratulating yourself on your coolness, or do you feel more like you have a migraine headache? It’s time to evaluate your project and its progress.
Have you tried everything? Should you change your solution? Do you need to talk with more people? It’s up to you. You’re in charge.
Reflect on what you’ve learned. What have you actually accomplished? Write, draw, or dramatize your experiences; express your reactions to the service you have performed in an imaginative way.
10. Don’t give up. Unless you think it’s time to quit, don’t pay too much attention to folks who tell you all the reasons why your solution won’t work. If you believe your cause is really important, keep picking away at it.
Problem solving means weeding out all the things that don’t work until you find something that does. Remember; a mountain looks tallest from the bottom. Don’t give up. Climb!
WHAT’S YOUR PROBLEM?
Maybe you already know a problem you want to solve. Or maybe you’re truly stuck on finding an issue to pursue.
Four Rules of Brainstorming:
1. Brainstorm with a friend, your family, a group, or a class. The more brains you have to storm with, the more ideas you’ll have. But you can also brainstorm alone.
2. Everybody tries to come up with as many ideas as possible–from silly to serious, and everything in between.
3. All ideas are acceptable during brainstorming. Write all of them down now,and make your choices later.
4. Nobody criticizes anybody else’s ideas. Period. No exceptions!
You can brainstorm on blank paper, a chalkboard, a flip chart, a computer, or anything you choose. From the link below, you’ll find examples of a filled-in brainstorming form.
BRAINSTORMING I: Come up With Ideas (see example here)
A blank form for you to use is here.
BRAINSTORMING II: Choose Your Main Idea
At this point, you have many ideas, some of them crazy. Now you should choose an idea to work on.
Ask yourself questions.
For example: Which idea might make the biggest difference? Which idea might have the best chance to succeed? Which idea might benefit the most people? Which idea might cost the least to do? Which idea do I like the best?
QUESTIONS
1. Which idea might be the most possible to do?
2. Which idea do I like the best?
3. Which idea might help the most people?
4. Which idea might cost the least for us?
5. Which idea might help us learn the most?
Choose one basic idea to work with:
We will encourage sidewalk repairs in the Euclid area.
Now list the steps to carry out your Plan of Action.
For example: Give speeches at the community council. Write letters to the mayor. Write a news release for TV and radio.
Then write down who will be responsible for each step, and when.
WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?
Unfortunately, problems in need of solutions are easy to find, Reading the newspapers, watching the news on TV or listening to the radio, surfing the Web, reading books or magazines, or talking to people in your school and community can all help you identify problems that need to be tackled.
Here’s a list of topics that might get you jump-started. Ask yourself, "What’s the problem?" for each of these topics, Decide which ones you might want to work with, or brainstorm topics of your own.
Community Concerns
Schools
City growth and development; land use
Vacant lots, abandoned buildings
Beautification projects
Animals and wildlife
Libraries
Literacy
Parks and recreation
Sports and athletics
Social Concerns
Families
Child care
Friends and social relationships
Population
Immigration
Diversity
Clothing
Homelessness
Public health, mental health
Nutrition and hunger
Substance abuse (alcohol and other drugs, smoking)
Volunteerism
Support systems for children, the elderly, etc.
Poverty
Employment, unemployment
Governing Agencies
Transportation
Law enforcement and justice
Education
Business and labor
Lawmaking agencies and governments
Social agencies
Elections and voting
Court advocacy
The Environment
Energy production, energy use
Natural resources
Wildlife
Hunting and fishing
Pollution (air, water, land)
Weather
Garbage and recycling
Technology
Communication
Information access
Satellites and space research
Medical research
Industrial advances
Inventions and projects
The future of technology and space
Value Systems
Money
Economic growth
Human rights
Children’s rights
Ethics (morals and beliefs)
Religion
Censorship
Trade
Working conditions
Public Safety
Peace
Weapons and gun control
Safety and accidents (including industrial)
Terrorism
Disasters (earthquakes, floods, fires, storms, etc.)
Disease
Crime
Can you believe anything you want to as a UU?
Goal:
To think about what it means to you to be a UU and to learn a simple way to remember the UU principles.
Materials:
• Story: Free to Believe
• Copies of We Believe Poster to color: markers, colored pencils, crayons etc. for coloring.
• Pony beads in a variety of colors
• Sculpting clay (Fimo or Sculpy) to make special beads representing each of the 7 principles
• Cord and needle for stringing
• Pattern and instructions for UU Fortune Teller
Background:
A rosary is a string of beads used in the Catholic tradition as an aid in prayer. Each bead represents a prayer or a creed. It was invented in early medieval times by a monk to help his people, who couldn’t read. They used it to help them remember their prayers. Prayer beads are common in many faiths.
Activities:
Color a We Believe poster, one for each child.
Make your own rosary to help you remember the 7 UU principles. You can use this list of single words to help you think of a symbol for each principle. Then, make a bead to represent that idea; the shape itself could be the symbol, or you could draw a symbol on it. Here are the words and symbols in Traditions With a Wink. Use your own creativity!
• Equality: a bead with an equal sign
• love: a heart bead
• growth: a flower
• search: a horizontal bead, or a bead with an arrow
• vote: a small square box bead (like a ballot box)
• peace: bead with a peace sign on it
• earth: an earth or blue and green colored bead
String your special beads on a cord, placing your favorite color pony bead between each “principle bead.” Tie the ends together. Practice saying the principle as you finger each bead in the circle of beads you have created.
Make a UU Principles Fortune Teller
How can kids make a difference?
& The Kids Guide to Social Action by Barbara A. Lewis
Goal:
To hear the story of children’s involvement in the Civil Rights movement and to consider how to work for social change.
Activities:
Read: The Children’s Crusade, by Kate Rohde
Discuss:
Why do you think the adults finally agreed to let the children march?
Why did Sheriff Connor act the way he did?
How might your life be different if you had been born of another race?
How would you define “fairness?”
Social Action:
Read 10 Tips for Taking Social Action. As a family, brainstorm problems that you would like to work to resolve. Use the blank forms to fill in your ideas and come up with a plan.
Statements About Spirituality
Spirituality is the experience of a depth dimension to life, a dimension beyond the physical, the obvious, the provable, the universally shared.
Spirituality is a quickening, an evolving awareness of the depth dimension of one’s life and one’s connection with the universe. It arises from the search or longing for atonement – perfection- at-onement. It invites a way of living- an ordering of one’s life- which nurtures the evolving awareness- the quickening- for one’s self and others.
Spirituality is the faith that a depth dimension of one’s life does exist and the process one goes through to reach such faith.
Spirituality is the inner quickening that comes with a sudden or long sought awareness which touches the core of one’s existence.
Spirituality is the heightened awareness of oneself in relationship to humankind and the universe.
Spirituality is the relationship a person experiences with the universe and the meaning that relationship has for how that person orders and lives life. It includes personal experiences of insight and connection, interpretation and sharing of those experiences, and decisions to act in ways that bring one’s life into harmony with the meanings those experiences have evoked.
Spirituality. . .self-learning. practice, ripening …through reflection, interaction, and action . . will, grace, faith.
Spirituality is not a goal, nor a state of being, but the process of sell-learning, practice and experience of the awesome, which leads to a ripening of the self, of the soul.
Spirituality is what lies beyond our physical boundaries and mental capacity, beyond the limitations- and how it is bonded to our physical awareness and existence.
Spirituality Is a hazy, nebulous dimension of life that means many things to different people and at different times, and that they explain with many different vocabularies.
Spirituality is the expression of one’s relationship to God/dess and/or one’s connection with the universe.
Spirituality is at the core of meaning-making for those who experience it.
Spirituality involves the relationship between one’s consciousness and one’s soul- and between one’s being and the universe as a whole.
Spirituality is one’s inner self: soul (mind is not the self but a form of expression of the soul).
Spirituality is feeling and knowing- awareness and recognition and resonance.
Spirituality is the awesome, nonphysical aspect of life.
Spirituality is something (a capacity) that you develop. It is a way of ordering one’s life.
Spirituality is needing to be intentional (will) vs. needing to wait (grace).
Spirituality is the element of fate.
Spirituality is the search for ultimate meaning/ answers- birth, life, and death.
Spirituality is application or practice; hands-on, not in the head. It is very personal, intimate, and may be scary or it may be terribly common and matter-of-fact.
Spirituality is an evocation of feelings that leads into the spiritual; extrasensory, transcendent experience.
Background for Teachers
The lessons with a bible theme aim to teach middle schoolers about our Unitarian Universalist approach to the Bible. In Unitarian Universalism, the bible is seen as a library, a collection of small books bound together. The word "Bible" is Greek for "books". The Bible is made up of 2 sections, sometimes called the Old Testament and the New Testament. We, as UU’s, want to honor the fact that the Jewish people do not refer to their sacred text as "Old Testament". Instead, we can refer to the 2 sections as the Jewish Scriptures, or Torah, and the Christian Scriptures.
We believe that the Bible is the result of many people and writing over centuries of time, a long time ago. These people were trying to answer some very important questions, such as "When did the world begin, and how?" "Where did people come from" and "What does it mean that men and women feel about each other the way they do?" Although some people believe that the Bible’s answers to these questions are the only right ones (and they often call the Bible "the Word of God" for that reason), UU’s believe that there is no one final answer. There is "truth" in the Bible, in the truth of the insights and stories that still speak to us today. There is beauty, and myth, and poetry, and compelling stories that are worth knowing.
We acknowledge that our world has changed, though, and these stories are the result of times that are very ancient. We must use our own experiences and think for ourselves as well.
-paraphrased from "What to Tell Young People About Unitarian Universalism… a guide for adults to help in answering large questions simply." by Charles S. Giles.
" (William Ellery Channing’s) defense of Unitarianism was also a defense of the Bible and of religion. He recoiled against "the contemptuous manner in which human reason is often spoken of by our adversaries, because it leads, we believe, to universal skepticism." His words remain important even today, because fundamentalism of the right has its whiplash in fundamentalism of the left. When the true believer proclaims that the Bible is the unique word of God – to be accepted without question – the true unbeliever responds by dismissing scripture as a figment of demented imaginations.
A handful of Unitarian Universalists boast that in their church the only time the words "Jesus Christ" are uttered during worship is when their minister trips on the steps. Channing would have found them as unreasonable as those in this day who read their Bibles without thinking. To him the Bible was written not by God, but by inspired people, drawing from both history and experience, who sought to understand better the larger meaning of life and death. Fundamentalists may trivialize the Bible by excluding reason as the principal tool by which it may be understood, but this does not mean that reasonable reflections upon the stories and teachings contained therein cannot markedly advance our own humble search for meaning and for faith.
In addition to William Ellery Channing, another Bostonian who had something new to say about religion was Theodore Parker. In his great sermon, "The Transient and the Permanent in Christianity, " Parker offered a dynamic resolution for those of us who wish to mine the Bible for its wisdom without sacrificing our critical faculties. Much of what the Bible contains is time- bound, he argued, and therefore of marginal relevance to us today. But it also contains eternal truths, which we can mine without ever exhausting. "The solar system as it exists in fact is permanent", Parker wrote, "though the notions of Thales and Ptolemy, of Copernicus and Descartes, about this system, prove transient, imperfect approximations to the true expression. So the Christianity of Jesus is permanent, though what passes for Christianity with popes and catechisms, with sects and churches, in the first century or in the nineteenth century, prove transient also."
…ln the Bible, when religion is defined, its requirements entail concrete duties, not abstract theological formulations. "What does the Lord require of you," the prophet Micah asked, "but to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God." That is as abstract and theological as it gets. …Like many other Unitarian Universalists, I mine the Bible for that which inspires me to be a better person, more loving, more neighborly. It is rich in such material. But the Bible is not a single, sacrosanct book; it is a whole library of books representing the history, legends, laws, wisdom, and poetry of a people. And even these have been edited and re-edited over the centuries; some are of lesser intrinsic interest, more dated by historical context and theological circumstance, than others; some are dramatically uneven in spiritual quality, the most sublime sentiments coupled with theological and ethical barbarisms in the same text. Thus, in drawing inspiration from scriptural teachings as one of the sources of our faith, most Unitarian Universalists approach them more critically than do some orthodox Christians and Jews. Biblical literalists claim that the Bible is the transcript of God’s word; biblical humanists are more likely to look beyond the letter to the spirit- the spirit of neighborliness, of kinship, of love.
…Some Unitarian Universalists, who still suffer from a religious education based on teachings from the Bible that inspired fear rather than love in their hearts, have little desire to return to the Bible and reclaim its essential teachings as part of their own faith. Others, Unitarian Universalist Christians, center their faith and their devotions on the scriptures. But however we gauge the nature of the Bible’s authority, nearly all of us can embrace the principle of neighborliness at the heart of the Judeo-Christian tradition. From A Chosen Faith by Buehrens and Church, p. 131.
How are UU churches different from other churches?
Goal:
To learn how Unitarianism and Universalism evolved from Protestantism and to visit area churches to see differences today.
Background:
Read “Our Christian Heritage”
Activities:
Find area churches in the your local Yellow Pages and plan visits.
You might like to borrow How To Be a Perfect Stranger from your local library. This excellent resource tells you all about protocol and what to expect in different places of worship.
