Hi Mendalla, 

Thanks for posting this link.  Your interim minister's sermon was interesting to read.  I followed the link she provided to the network of UU Christians. 

When it comes to understanding Jesus, her views are similar to those of many liberal and progressive Christians.   However, I think that Progressive Christianity in its most radical expression is more akin to the religious humanism found in Unitarianism.

Rev Urbanski's take on God was not clear to me from this particular sermon.  Is she primarily interested in Jesus as a moral teacher?  Or does she also relate to Jesus as a Jewish mystic?

Interested in hearing your thoughts ... P3

Welcome back, paradox3!

Yes, P3, I find the secular humanism of both the CCPC and the UU devoid of mysticism.

Humanism which is just ideological and intellectual is great, and when it is carried out in practice even greater, but spiritual or mystical experience is the living link with Spirirt, which is lacking in ideological humanism and deprives it of its creative and regenerative impulses.

Arminius, I think you've heard this from me before, but just in case:

UU does not equal secular humanist. It's a very strong influence on the modern UU'ism but we are not, by definition, secular humanists. Certainly the Buddhist and Pagan members of my fellowship would disagree with the notion that there is no mysticism in UU'ism (not to mention the members of the very active meditation group at my prevous UU church). Indeed, the first of our six sources is "direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life;" (quoted exactly from the CUC website). If that doesn't allow for mystical experience, I don't know what does. There are certainly atheists and secular humanists in UU'ism who reject mystical experience. There are also UUs who explicitly embrace and seek out mystical experiences. That's part of being a diverse, liberal religion: not everyone is going to be singing from the same songbook. However, I'll concede that the broad strokes needed to allow for this kind of diversity definitely give us the appearance of secular humanism, whether it's really what we are or not

Yes, Mendalla, I was generalizing. Actually, I know better; I know that there are mystics within the UU. I looked up their Vancouver website one day and found out that they have a Sufi group and probably other mystical groups that I don't remember. I apologize.

I deplore the lack of spiritual experience, inside or outside any organisation, and try to spread experiential spirituality. Doing that, I sometimes get carried away by evangelical zeal.