I was out in Naperville, Illinois, for three days last week, co-leading a workshop of worship for religious educators. Most of the dozen people in the workshop were from the Midwest. I was reminded of a few regional differences between Midwestern religious liberals, and New England religious liberals.
- Midwestern Unitarian Universalists are nice. They are friendly, courteous, and pleasant in a way that New Englanders just aren’t. (On the other hand, I do like the edginess of New Englanders.)
- Midwestern Unitarian Universalists do not take their religion for granted, the way many New England Unitarian Universalists seem to do.
- A related point: Midwestern Unitarian Universalists have a visceral understanding that they are a tiny minority of the population. Because of this, they don’t seem to have the sense of entitlement that New England Unitarian Universalists often suffer from (as if we’re God’s gift to New England, not that we believe in God).
- Maybe I didn’t see a representative sample of Midwestern Unitarian Universalists, but most of the people in this workshop came from growing congregations, and they were all committed to growth in a way that I just don’t see among most New England Unitarian Universalists.
As much as I like our little church in New Bedford, and as much as I love New England and New England Unitarian Universalists, I did have a moment of nostalgia at this workshop, thinking about the year I spent serving in a Midwestern Unitarian Universalist church. New England Unitarian Universalists do have this tendency to make excuses about why New England Unitarian Universalist churches aren’t growing; we could learn from the Midwesterners who are just rolling up their sleeves and making growth happen.
Something I thought you might find entertaining: Unitarian Jihad.
What a nice plug of us in the midwest. Move UUA to Cincinnati, Indianapolis, or even Chicago (too expensive Chicago) maybe?
In Chicago we have the legacy of Preston Bradley and his Peoples Church. Bradely a widely popular Unitarian radio preacher… I remember my Dad talking about him. I doubt many UU’s in Chicago remember him but I think some of our ministers study his ministry and practice. He may have a left an influence on our midwest Churches today.
Bill @ 2 — Preston Bradley was supposed to have been an amazing preacher — ask Harry in your church, who went to People’s Church more than once, and heard Bradley preach.
And yes, I think moving the UUA to Chicago would be A Good Thing. Chicago also has the legacy of Jenkin Lloyd Jones and the Western Unitarian Conference. There are all those wonderful Universalist churches out in the countryside in Illinois (many quite old). Nor should we forget the legacy of the many women ministers in the midwest in the 19th C., the so-called “Prophetic Sisterhood,” at a time when the New England churches were quite resistant to women ministers.
Yes, I’ve talked with Harry about Bradley.
I’ve thought of asking Harry, along with some other long time members, to do some interviews and recollections of the Church’s history that could be published as YouTube videos. Kind of a Ken Burn’s style thing. I’ve wanted to do the same with Charles Lyttle’s son about his Dad’s pacifism and how his Dad managed the WWII years. Chicago has a rich History here and I always feel best when I can plug myself into it.
I still don’t understand the choice of Time. I don’t know what democgraphic that gives you.
“we could learn from the Midwesterners who are just rolling up their sleeves and making growth happen.”
Ayuh.
They are doing this in some parts of Texas and the Southeast too.
I’m fixin’ to stay where the UU growth is.