Time for a Renaissance!

Just found something very encouraging:

"Our Audience.....

The fastest growing, religiously identifiable group in the United States is not the pentecostals or fundamentalists. Rather, it is those who identify themselves as “non-affiliated” (one person called this group the church’s alumni association). In the past half-century, their numbers have grown from 2 percent of the population to 15 percent today. They are people who have spiritual interests and longings, but who cannot accept the dogma and literalism they associate with Christianity.

People who value openness to truth, wherever it may be found
People who give priority to the search over certainty in the life of faith
People who resent Christianity’s claims of superiority over other religious traditions
People who want to be engaged in the struggle for justice and peace"

Lest you think this is so self-serving ... guess what? It wasn't from a Unitarian Universalist website. It came off of the site for the Foundation for Contemporary Theology, a Christian group.

I absolutely believe, with every fiber of my being, that our country is ripe for a Unitarian Universalist renaissance. We have become a church that welcomes humanists, deists, spiritualists, etc. This is the church that so many people want, need ... but don't know it exists.

Why can't we run one ad during the Super Bowl?

No need to hire an ad agency, we wouldn't want anything flashy or wildly creative. Something very simple.

Like a 30-something man, sitting in front of a white background. Just talking.

"I knew I wanted ... something. Spiritually, there was something missing in my life. I wanted a community where I could lead my own spiritual journey, supported by other people doing the same thing. A place where they didn't try and tell me what to believe. A place that valued ethics but didn't say there was only 'one true way.' Because I believe there is wisdom in all the world's religions and I know that the more I learn, the richer my own search for truth and meaning will be. A place that believed in the inherent worth and dignity of all people, welcoming people of all colors, beliefs, ages, orientations ...

Guess what? This religion already exists. It's called Unitarian Universalism and it's one of the oldest religions in our country. How cool is that? Thomas Jefferson was a Unitarian. And Susan B. Anthony. Benjamin Franklin and e.e. cummings. And Paul Newman. Christopher Reeve. And me.

Unitarian Universalism. Your religion, that you never knew existed. Find a congregation near you. UUA.ORG."

Yeah. That's the ad.