2nd visit – Yet Another UU Curriculum Site

Neighboring Faith Communities, part 2
A curriculum for grades 6-8
By Dan Harper, v. 0.9
Copyright (c) 2019 Dan Harper
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SECOND VISIT: A progressive faith community

Logistics and advance planning:
— arrange visit to Palo Alto Friends Meetings on Oct. ___
(Wwhen you make the arrangements, say that some of your class will probably not be able to make it through the entire service and could those teens join the First Day School [Quaker equivalent of Sunday school], and perhaps attend part of silent meeting for worship.)

Session 5: Representing UUism in other faith communities
Session 6: What makes a religious progressive?
Session 7: Visiting a liberal Quaker meeting [unprogrammed meeting affiliated with Friends General Conference] (alternate years: liberal Congregational church (United Church of Christ])
Session 8: Talking about the field trip

Session 5: Representing UUism in other faith communities

A. Take attendance, light the chalice — 5 min.

Each week a different young person can light the chalice. Then say the standard chalice lighting words for our congregation.

B. Check in — 10 min.

For check-in, there are three jars of water on the table: one labeled with a happy face, one labeled with a sad face, and one labeled with a question mark. Everyone gets three marbles to drop in the jars. Before you drop your marbles in the jars, say your name. When you drop a marble in the jar with a happy face, you can say something good that happened to you in the past week: “I’m happy because….” When you drop a marble in the jar with the sad face, you can say something bad that happened in the past week: “I’m sad because….” And when you drop a marble in the jar with the question mark you can say something that you wonder about: “I wonder….”

C. Representing Unitarian Universalism in other faith communities

On a flip chart, come up with some answers to this question:
“What’s a common misconception about Unitarian Universalism?”

Now, on a new sheet of flip chart paper, come up with some answers to this question:
“What’s something you wish other people knew about Unitarian Universalism?”

After you have the young people answer these questions, write the following on the flip chart (or if it’s already listed, circle it):
“Unitarian Universalists want to make the world a better place.”
For most Unitarian Universalists, the is the most important thing that they want other people to know about us — especially other faith communities. We Unitarian Universalists have different beliefs about God, about what happens after death, etc., but ALL of us believe it is important to make the world a better place.

Now write the following on the flip chart (or if it’s already listed, circle it):
“Unitarian Universalists value a sense of community.”
One thing that almost every Unitarian Universalist agrees on is that our congregations should be places where we feel welcome and at home. (Even if you think your congregation is not very welcoming to you, or you don’t feel at home there, most UUs would say that their congregation SHOULD welcome them, they SHOULD feel at home there.) So this is another thing we feel is super important, an essential part of Unitarian Universalism.

Invite any conversation on this general topic.

OK, now it’s time to sum things up. When we go on visits to other faith communities, we are mostly going to learn about that faith community. But when we visit, people in that other faith community might be curious about UUs as well. Remember that the Neighboring Faith Communities class can serve as good will ambassadors to other faith communities — and that UUs are always looking for allies as we try to make the world a better place. With that in mind, when someone asks you about Unitarian Universalism, maybe the first thing you can say is, “We work to make the world a better place.”

D. Bonding games and fun

We have found that it’s good to break up this course with occasional sessions where we play games or do group-building initiatives. So this session, do some games and activities to help improve group cohesion. You can find suggestions for games here. (Other sources include Project Adventure books.)

E. Closing circle

Stand in a circle. Hold hands. Go around the circle, and everyone says one thing they learned today. Then everyone says the unison benediction together:

Go out into the world in peace
Be of good courage
Hold fast to what is good
Return no one evil for evil
Strengthen the fainthearted
Support the weak
Help the suffering
Rejoice in beauty
Speak love with word and deed
Honor all beings.

(The classroom has this posted in 4 of the languages used in our congregation: English, Spanish, German, and Hindi. Participants may say the unison benediction in any of the four languages.)

Session 6: Differences between religious progressives

A. Take attendance, light the chalice — 5 min.

Each week a different young person can light the chalice. Then say the standard chalice lighting words for our congregation.

B. Check in — 10 min.

C. Videos about liberal Quakers

Liberal Quakers and Unitarian Universalists share many of the same views on social issues, although there are important differences (more about that in a moment). Note that we’re defining liberal Quakers as those Quaker meetings affiliated with the Friends General Conference (FGC); most (but not all) of these meetings are so-called silent meetings, or unprogrammed meetings.

But Liberal Quakers and Unitarian Universalists have very different worship services. Unitarian Universalists have almost no silence in their worship services, whereas the worship services of liberal Quakers consist mostly of silence. Watch this video for an introduction to unprogrammed, or silent, Quaker services:

Now talk about the following question: Do you think you will be able to sit still for an hour in silence? The alternative would be to go to First Day School with other Quaker middle schoolers, and join the last 20 minutes of silent meeting. As teachers, we want to encourage the teens to attend the entire hour-long silent meeting, but we also recognize that will be beyond the ability of some middle schoolers.

Everyone who goes on the field trip will spend some time sitting for an extended period of silence, so it would be wise to talk about strategies for sitting in silence for so long. One obvious point: don’t do things that will be distracting to others (talking to yourself, making noise, jumping up and down, etc.). Another obvious point: playing a video game or reading a book will be considered odd at best (or rude at worst). So what will you do to sit in silence comfortably?

D. Religious progressive faith communities — 5 min.

On a flip chart, write:
“Some values that progressive faith communities share:
“Helping those who are poor
“Ending gun violence
“Protecting the environment
“BGLTQ rights
“Ending war
“Black Lives Matter…”
Ask the young people if they can think of other things religious progressives might agree on. Some of the things they may think of include: immigration reform, ending homelessness, preventing war, ending gun violence, equal pay for women, help for low-wage workers, etc. HOWEVER, while Unitarian Universalists and liberal Quakers support abortion rights and transgender rights, not all religious progressives do.

Now write:
“Some things progressive faith communities disagree about:
“Belief in God
“Importance of Jesus
“Whether to have paid clergy (ministers, rabbis)…”
(The last item represents an important difference between liberal Quakers and Unitarian Universalists: liberal Quakers do not have paid clergy, while about two-thirds of Unitarian Universalist congregations do.) Ask the young people if they can think of other things religious progressives disagree about. There are religious progressives who are Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, and Baha’i, so there are going to be LOTS of points of disagreement.

Now write:
“Religious progressive faith communities make good social justice partners for us UUs.”
In other words, we may disagree about many things, but we can find issues where we can work together to make the world a better place.

E. Preparing for the visit to a Quaker meeting:

To prepare for a visit, the teachers should read over the relevant section in How To Be a Perfect Stranger. In particular, they should identify things that the young people will need to know.

Dress code:
Where and how we will be expected to sit/stand/etc.
What we will be expected to do

We have already talked about how to sit in silence. And we talk about how they should behave during the social hour afterwards (e.g., don’t grab too much food, wait until others have eaten, etc.). Sometimes, it can be useful to look at a faith community’s Web site, to see if they have video snippets of services to see how people are behaving, photos showing what people are wearing, etc.

F. Closing circle

Stand in a circle. Hold hands. Go around the circle, and everyone says one thing they learned today. Then everyone says the unison benediction together:

Leader resource: Religious progressives

In terms of religion, religious progressives are more likely to question tradition (they may also embrace tradition, but use it creatively). In terms of social commitments, religious progressives tend to value human diversity, care for the poor and oppressed, and environmental stewardship. Some religious progressives do not separate certain religious stances from the associated political stance. For example, Quakers are pacifists by religious conviction, and carry out their pacifism as political action and social justice work. Thus, for religious progressives it is often not possible to separate out the religious from social justice work.

Faith communities where you are likely to find an overwhelming proportion of religious progressives include:
— most Unitarian Universalists
— most United Church of Christ congregations
— most Quakers affiliated with Friends General Conference (usually silent meetings)
— most Reform and Reconstructionist Jewish congregations

Religious progressives may also be found in significant numbers within many other denominations and faith communities, such as:
— Progressives within many Protestant denominations, including Methodists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Baptists (American Baptist Church, or ABC), Disciples of Christ, Lutherans, etc.
— many Baha’is
— some Buddhist groups, including so-called “engaged Buddhists”
— etc.

For Protestant Christian congregations, there are certain markers you can look for to identify more progressive congregations. Wording like “open and affirming” or flying a rainbow flag typically means a congregation that supports of BGLTQ rights, and perhaps transgender rights. Phrases like “Green Christianity” and “environmental stewardship” typically indicate congregations supportive of environmental protections; etc.

Then there are religious groups where progressives do exist, though they may be a distinct minority, including the following:
— Progressive Catholics, while a minority in the United States, include individuals who are more progressive on social issues than many Unitarian Universalists, including supporting radical equality for women, support for same sex marriage, and radical economic reform to help the poor and oppressed.
— Some evangelical Christians, particularly younger people, support women’s rights, BGLTQ rights, and environmental stewardship (which they may call “Creation care”). Some of these evangelicals may prefer not to use the term “social justice.”
— Some Muslims are progressive on a variety of religious and political points.
— Some Orthodox Jews, particularly younger people, support women’s rights, BGLTQ rights, and environmental stewardship.
— Some Mormons, particularly younger people, support women’s rights, BGLTQ rights, and environmental stewardship.

Therefore, we can’t assume that just because someone belongs to a certain faith community that they will or will not be progressives. At the same time, we can’t assume that just because someone belongs to a progressive religion that they will share the same social justice commitments you and I do — and this includes Unitarian Universalists (not all of whom are religious progressives!).

All this is a powerful argument for avoiding stereotypes of any kind when it comes to religion. And this is also a powerful argument that religion is far more diverse than we generally like to think!

Session 7: Visiting Palo Alto Friends Meeting

As families arrive on the morning of the visit, one teacher checks in each young person, and makes sure they have a signed permission form (unless their parent is going on the trip). The other teacher engages the class in conversation about what they might expect, and what to look for when they arrive at the place they’re going to visit. All this may happen in the parking lot, depending on your schedule. However, if there’s time, go in to the classroom and light a flaming chalice and do check-in. This helps center everyone.

Then split up into cars, and drive to the place you’re visiting. Plan to arrive so that you have time to park, and so that you will have at least ten minutes from the time you set foot on the doorstep to the beginning of the service. Ideally, you will have made a contact at the site you’re visiting, and they will welcome you; if so, you should arrive at the time they ask.

After the service is over, attend the social hour (if there is one) for 10-20 minutes. Then back into the cars, and head back to the parking lot for parent pick-up.

Session 8: Talking about the field trip

A. Take attendance, light the chalice — 5 min.

Each week a different young person can light the chalice. Then say the standard chalice lighting words for our congregation.

B. Check in — 10 min.

C. Processing the field trip experience: “What, so what, now what”:

i. “What happened?”: 5-10 minutes

Teachers prompt the young people to collectively give a narrative account of what happened on the trip: What happened when we arrived, what did you see and hear? What happened next? And next? What people did you meet? Etc. (If there are young people or teachers who did not attend the field trip last session, this is a chance to tell them what happened on the trip, in some detail.)

ii. “What was important?”: 5-10 minutes

This is based on the classroom poster.

— Feelings:
Stand up if this is how you felt at any time during the service:
Peaceful
Excited
Hopeful
Worried
Cheerful
Sad
Comfortable
Uncomfortable
…any other feelings?

— Music and arts:
Values voting: think about the music used in the service (and describe the music to anyone who did not go on the field trip). “If you really liked the music, go to this side of the room [point], if you really didn’t like it go to the other side, or you can stand somewhere in the middle.” Then ask people at the extremes and/or in the middle to what the music made them feel like.

— Social norms:
Free-for-all discussion: Who was the most important person (or people) in this service? Could you tell who was in charge of the faith community? Who was friends with whom — were there cliques, could you see an in-group and an out-group, or did everyone seem to get along with everyone?

— Polite & impolite:
Brainstorming: On a flip chart, make 2 horizontal headings: Clothing; Behavior. Starting with clothing, brainstorm a list of what people were wearing — what was the most common thing to wear (for males, for females, any other genders)? Next go to behavior, and brainstorm a list of things you could and couldn’t do in the service, and at social hour. Finally, see if you can think of anything else that was considered polite or impolite.

iii. “Now what?”: 2-3 minutes

Imagine our congregation wanted to work on a social justice project with the field trip site. List at least 5 social justice projects you think we might possibly cooperate on. Then, how would we reach out to them (whom would we contact, how formal would we have to be, etc.)?

D. Quakers as peacemakers

When you look at social justice issues, one of the big differences between Quakers and Unitarian Universalists is that Quakers are deeply committed to peace and nonviolence. Individual Unitarian Universalists are often committed to peace and nonviolence, too, but peace and nonviolence has never been a major issue for Unitarian Universalism as a whole — yet peace and nonviolence has always been a major issue for all Quakers at all times, ever since their founding.

The first video, “War is Not the Answer,” gives an explanation of why today’s Quakers oppose war. The video is a little dry, so END IT AT 1:25 (at the title “Challenging the Military Industrial Complex”).

The next video, “Holding the Peace: Quaker Nonviolence in the Time of Black Lives Matter,” expresses a more personal point of view about Quakers as committed to peace:

Peacemaking is a very specific issue that all Quakers are committed to, and something which is part of the core of what it means to be a Quaker. If you, as a Unitarian Universalist, are eve working on anything to do with peacemaking, you can be sure that you can find strong allies in that work among the Quakers.

Now here’s something for the class to debate:

The “seven principles,” which you can find on the first page of the hymnal Singing the Living Tradition, represent the core of what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist, but these seven principles are not nearly as specific as the Quaker commitment to peacemaking. (In fact, some Unitarian Universalists get frustrated with how quickly Unitarian Universalism moves on to the next new cause.)

So should Unitarian Universalists have one or two core issues that we all agree on, and that we’re always working on? Or is it better to stick with the seven principles, which are not specific but are more general, and take on new social justice issues as needed?

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the two approaches? If Unitarian Universalists were to choose one or two big issues, what should they be?

Background for leaders: This debate has been going on in Unitarian Universalism for a long time. The Unitarian Universalists who argue for finding a couple of issues and sticking to them note that Unitarian Universalism can become the “social-justice-cause-of-the-month” club, changing issues every year or two and never getting anything done. The Unitarian Universalists who argue for remaining flexible note that society changes rapidly and it’s more important to be able to respond to the changing situation than to be inflexibly consistent. In general, the latter group has won the debate, and Unitarian Universalism has retained a very general statement of our religious tradition (the seven principles) while flexibly responding to new issues as they arise. However, the critics of this position point out, with some truth, the result is that Unitarian Universalism doesn’t accomplish all that much in its social justice work.

A middle ground between these two extremes might be as follows: individual Unitarian Universalists and individual congregations devote themselves to the social justice causes that most concern them and devote themselves to those cause over the long term; Unitarian Universalism as a whole continues to remain flexible and open to new causes. In this scenario, individual Unitarian Universalists and individual congregations do not expect much support from the denomination as a whole; and they partner with other individuals and other congregations — both Unitarian Universalist and non-Unitarian Universalist — to do their chosen social justice work. This is, in fact, that path that most Unitarian Universalist congregations pursue, e.g., the UU Church of Palo Alto has been supporting homeless people for decades in cooperation with other faith communities in Palo Alto; they do not expect either the Unitarian Universalist Association or the state-wide California Unitarian Universalist legislative organization (UU Justice Ministry of California), to provide resources or support.

E. Writing a thank you note

Write a thank you note to the field trip site and/or the host who greeted you, have everyone sign it.

F. Closing circle

Stand in a circle. Hold hands. Go around the circle, and everyone says one thing they learned today. Then everyone says the unison benediction together: