Differences between British and American Unitarians (priest, reject, tradition, beliefs)

[hartlandcat]

I also posted this on the Beliefnet forum, so some of you might have already seen it, but I thought that it would be an interesting discussion here as well, and I would be able to get some more views.

I'm a Unitarian from Britain. From looking on this forum and elsewhere on the internet, I'm under the impression that there are some differences between Unitarians in America and Britain. Not so much with the underlying principles, but more with the sort of people who are members. I'm not sure though, so I'll ask a few questions here.

Apparently, about 50% of Unitarians in Britain are aged 65 or over. Is this the case in America? Also, the UUA seem to talk a lot about diversity, as do people on this forum. I'd say that most Unitarians in Britain would be happy to refer to themselves as Liberal Christians. Is there really that much diversity with belief in the UUA, or is it more what they'd ideally like to have? We Unitarians in Britain would certainly be tolerant of diversity, and we'd certainly welcome pagans etc. into our congregations, although there isn't that much diversity amongst our members here, except perhaps with our views on the nature of God.

I'll probably have some more questions later. Of course, if anyone has any questions about Unitarians in Britain, I'd be delighted to respond! And if anyone else here is from Britain, I'd be delighted to hear from you as well!

[Halcyon]

Howdy, fellow Englishman here. There are a lot of UU people here so hopfully you'll get the answers you want. Personally i can't help though

[Green Gaia]

I'll get back to you... when I have more time to answer! Great questions though...

[Green Gaia]

Originally Posted by hartlandcat

Apparently, about 50% of Unitarians in Britain are aged 65 or over. Is this the case in America?

I can't find any hard numbers to give you.. but in my experience with the UUA (not the AUC, mind you), people aged 65 and over are the minority. The vast majority of UUs are young to middle-aged folks.

Is there really that much diversity with belief in the UUA, or is it more what they'd ideally like to have?

The actual diversity in thought will vary from church to church. I think the point is that we make a point to let everyone know that all are welcome and will be respected.

[lilithu]

Hi hartlandcat, namaste.

American UUs are congregationalist. We vary a lot from congregation to congregation. The congregation that I was with previously was very humanist. There was no talk of God whatsoever. The Universalist congregation down street from us would define themselves as liberal Christian. The Unitarian congregation that I am with now has a mix of humanists and people of various faith traditions, tho the vast majority I would classify as "post-Christian." That is, they come from a Christian background but have rejected it for some reason or another. In our congregation we have Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Pagans, secular humanists, and people who only identify as "UU", and some who aren't comfortable identifying as anything at all. Interestingly, our older members tend to be more secular humanist and our younger members tend to be more theist of one stripe or another. And to answer your other question, at our church at least, we have as much a mix of ages as we do ethnicities and belief systems. But I think our church is unusual in that respect and it has more to do with where we are located (Washington DC) than anything else.

Oh! and an interesting tidbit: my church, All Souls Unitarian, is modeled after St. Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square. (which is Anglican, I believe) The outside looks just like it, tho the inside is quite different, since we have no religious iconography inside our sanctuary.

Are British Unitarians related to the Transylvanian Unitarians?

-lilith

[hartlandcat]

I'm actually surprised that your church has a mixture ethnic backgrounds as well. I'd be surprised if there's a single non-white person in the whole Unitarian movement in Britain, dispite the fact that Britain is about as racially mixed as America. I don't mean to be racist here, but that is my observation.

I think that we're congregationalist as well, since I once went to a different Unitarian church, where God wasn't mentioned at all. Interestingly, the minister there was actually an American living in Britain, so I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it or not. But the services at my church are certainly very Christian-orientated.

I don't think we're any more related to the Transylvanian Unitarians that you are, although our overall beliefs might be more similar (I don't know).

[lilithu]

Originally Posted by hartlandcat

I'm actually surprised that your church has a mixture ethnic backgrounds as well. I'd be surprised if there's a single non-white person in the whole Unitarian movement in Britain, dispite the fact that Britain is about as racially mixed as America. I don't mean to be racist here, but that is my observation.

It's not racist to recognize race, I don't think. It's only racist to treat people preferentially based on it.

And American UU is very white as well. It is a religion of predominantly middle-to-upper-middle-class white liberals, with all the good and bad qualities that come with that. As I said, my congregation is unusual, and it has mostly to do with the demographics of the neighborhood that we are in, more so than anything that the church inherently does. (Tho we do try to reach out to minorities.)

Originally Posted by hartlandcat

I don't think we're any more related to the Transylvanian Unitarians that you are, although our overall beliefs might be more similar (I don't know).

Well, I just posted a brief history of American UU on another thread but in talking with you I realize that I forgot to work Joseph Priestly into our history as well. The way that it's taught in my church, American Unitarianism developed independantly of the Unitarians in Europe when the liberal Congregationalists split (from the Puritans), led by William Ellery Channing. Yet I also know that Joseph Priestly brought the concept of Unitarianism from England to the colonies before Channing made the big split. I don't know how Channing relates to Priestly, and how Priestly relates to the Transylvanians.

All Christians who reject the trinity could functionally be called "Unitarians", so the label might have developed independantly in several places over the years. I'll have to investigate further.