UUA Demographic Trends and "Tipping Points"

The Unitarian Universalist Association President Rev. Peter Morales just released a "Policy Governance" (tm) monitoring report titled Monitoring Report—Global Ends (dated March 2010). In this report, Rev. Morales writes about some troubling growth trends:

On the other hand, certain trends are profoundly disturbing. Progressive people are becoming more secular. One only need to look to Europe, where liberal religion in general and Unitarian Universalism are tiny. Here at home, our very modest rate of growth, always well below the growth of the population, has ceased. We are no longer growing.

Also in this report, Rev. Morales also discusses the regional differences in growth trends:

The chart above shows that three of our regions (Southland, Western and Mid Atlantic) have grown significantly. Unfortunately, the North Atlantic is in serious decline. In a decade it has gone from our second largest region to our smallest.

Here is the chart showing the North Atlantic regional growth trends over the past decade:



















And here is the chart showing the Western regional growth trends over the past decade:




















The North Atlantic Region and the Western Region are experiencing different growth trends.

Even though the historical roots for both Unitarianism and Universalism run deep in New England, our numbers are shrinking in New England.

This shrinkage in New England may related to the increase in the "None" religious demographic affiliation in this region. And this region may have reached a "tipping point" demographically for Unitarian Universalism (more to follow on this speculation).

First, you may be asking what exactly are "Nones." Here's a description from the American Religious Identification Survey 2008 report on this demographic group (American Nones: The Profile of the No Religion Population):

One of the most widely noted findings from the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS 2008), which was released in March 2009, was the substantial increase in the No Religion segment of the U.S. population, whom we designate as "Nones." The Nones increased from 8.1% of the U.S. adult population in 1990 to 15% in 2008 and from 14 to 34 million adults. Their numbers far exceed the combined total of all the non-Christian religious groups in the U.S. Who exactly are the Nones? "None" is not a movement, but a label for a diverse group of people who do not identify with any of the myriad of religious options in the American religious marketplace – the irreligious, the unreligious, the anti-religious, and the anti-clerical. Some believe in God; some do not. Some may participate occasionally in religious rituals; others never will. Nones are easily misunderstood. On the one hand, only a small minority are atheists. On the other hand, it is also not correct to describe them as "unchurched" or "unaffiliated" on the assumption that they are mainly theists and religious searchers who are temporarily between congregations. Yet another incorrect assumption is that large proportions of Nones are anti-rationalist proponents of New Age and supernatural ideas. As we will show, they are more likely to be rational skeptics.

Here's a list of the North Atlantic Region Districts provided by the UUA web site so we know what states are in which district:

• Ballou Channing (Massachusetts, Rhode Island)
• Clara Barton (Connecticut, Massachusetts)
• Massachusetts Bay (Massachusetts)
• Northern New England (New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont)

The Western Region is experiencing growth but this region also has a high percentage of "Nones" compared to the national average of 15% of the total U.S. adult population. Here's a list of the Western Region Districts provided by the UUA web site so we will know what states are in which district:

• Mountain Desert (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, Wyoming)
• Pacific Central (California, Hawaii, Nevada)
• Pacific Northwest (Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington)
• Pacific Southwest (Arizona, California, Nevada)

Here's a listing of the North Atlantic Region states listed in rank-order by percentage of "Nones" in the adult population:

• #1 - Vermont (34% "None")
• #2 - New Hampshire (29% "None")
• #4 - Maine (25% "None")
• #10 - Massachusetts (22% "None")
• #13 - Rhode Island (19% "None")
• #28 - Connecticut (14% "None")

And here's a listing of the Western Region states listed in rank-order by percentage of "Nones" in the adult population (please note that the ARIS report did not have data on Alaska or Hawaii so they're not listed below for that reason):

• #3 - Wyoming (28% "None")
• #4 - Washington (25% "None")
• #6 - Nevada (24% "None")
• #6 - Oregon (24% "None")
• #8 - Idaho (23% "None")
• #11 - Colorado (21% "None")
• #11 - Montana (21% "None")
• #14 - California (18% "None")
• #16 - Arizona (17% "None")
• #19 - New Mexico (16% "None")
• #28 - Utah (14% "None")
• #36 - Texas (12% "None" - Western Texas near El Paso is part of the Mountain Desert District while the majority of the state is part of the Southwest District)

Both the North Atlantic Region and Western Region have higher percentages of "Nones" when compared to the US average. However, the most-recent ARIS report shows that New England has taken the lead on this trend.

I'm wondering if we've reached a "tipping point" in New England with respect to this increasing percentage of "Nones" (a "tipping point" describes " ... any process in which, beyond a certain point, the rate at which the process proceeds increases dramatically").

As the "None" demographic increases in other regions to 25-30% and beyond, will we see shrinkage of Unitarian Universalist congregational membership numbers? Are the growth trends in New England a warning for the rest of the UUA? How do we best market ourselves in a culture that is becoming increasingly secular?

The ARIS report suggests that adult "Nones" could account for around one-quarter of the American population in two decades.

This could be an important demographic trend for our future.

Although "Nones" are presently 15% of the total US adult population, 22% of Americans aged 18-29 years self-identify as Nones. As this growing "None" adult population become parents, they may not see a need to join Unitarian Universalist congregations or enroll their children in Unitarian Universalist religious education programs.

What do you think?

smallchurchmusic.com -- A Useful Music Resource for Small Unitarian Universalist Congregations and Fellowships

Yesterday, I was helping a friend who attends a nearby smaller lay-led Unitarian Universalist fellowship find prerecorded instrumental music to accompany congregational singing.

Many of the familiar Unitarian Universalist hymns are also available on audio CD for use in congregational singing, and she has used these resources before (a useful listing of what is available can be found online on the Church of the Larger Fellowship web site).

However, she couldn't find any music to accompany "Here We Have Gathered" (#360 in Singing the Living Tradition). The melody for this hymn is called "Old 124th" in the hymnal. That indicates that it's a traditional hymn melody and probably in the public domain ("Turn back, O man, forswear thy foolish ways" as I discovered later).

We did a quick Google search for "hymn mp3" and found "smallchurchmusic.com" -- an online archive of music Resources for congregational and small group singing (mp3 files, midi files, PDF scores, and lyrics available. The public domain music on their web site can be downloaded freely. The copyright-protected music requires a small fee for use. According to this web site, there are 2560 public domain mp3 files available for download on it.

So ... a quick download of the "Old 124th" mp3 audio file and then burning it to audio CD will now mean that a small lay-led congregation that has lost its pianist will be able to sing "Here We Have Gathered" with organ accompaniment.

More on Ministerial Formation and Education

Rev. Tony Lorenzen (minister of Pathways Unitarian Universalist Church) posted a link to this article published by The Christian Century on his Facebook page.

The article seems relevant to the recent Unitarian Universalist blog discussions on "ministerial formation" and "ministerial credentialing."

Here's a short quote from the article:

Some senior pastors of large and influential congregations do not have a seminary degree, including Brian McLaren, who has served as pastor for a vibrant and growing congregation and been one of the main inspirations of the emergent church movement. Increasingly bishops and other judicatory leaders are less interested in whether someone went to seminary than in whether the person is an effective leader.

The genie is not likely to be put back in the bottle. The M.Div. will probably not have the same authority in the future as it's had in the past. It will be similar to the M.B.A.—a valuable degree if it has formed people well and is obtained from a strong program, but not a necessary credential.

The article is titled "Pastors by degree" by L. Gregory Jones (Dean of Duke University Divinity School).

I wonder if this ministerial formation change in the emergent church movement and megachurch movement will find its way into Unitarian Universalism.

January 2010 Youth Leadership Report to UUA Board

The January 2010 report to the UUA Board on Youth Leadership and Ministry has been released on the UUA-updates email list ("News of the UUA, its board, staff, and committees, with links to information on UUA.org")

The report ("Report to the UUA Board of Trustees on Youth Leadership") covers the following topics:

• Chronology of Major Youth Ministry Initiatives 2004 - Present
• UUA Administration’s Vision for Youth Ministry
• Where Are We Now on National and District Youth Leadership?
• Trainings and Opportunities
• Resources
• What Are Models of Youth Leadership in Other Denominations?
• United Church of Christ
• Union for Reform Judaism
• Presbyterian Church USA
• Appendix A: Links to Relevant Documents

You can download a PDF copy of this report using this link. Thanks to Carol Agate for providing this report to the UUA-updates list subscribers.

Ministerial Formation - why do we have a "one size fits all" approach?

There have been some recent blog coversations about Unitarian Universalist ministerial formation on PolityWonk ("How UU Ministry Got to Be So Expensive"), iMinister ("The Cost of Ministerial Formation," "The cost of Ministerial Formation II"), and Rev. Cyn ("Ministerial Formation").

I wonder if our current "one size fits all" ministerial formation process is part of the problem.

Currently, Unitarian Universalists who wish to become ministers must complete the following milestones:

• bachelor's degree
• graduate degree at seminary
• clinical pastoral education
• career assessment
• internship
• Regional Subcommittee approval
• Ministerial Fellowship Committee approval

However, the "one size fits all" model isn't used with Unitarian Universalist religious educators in their professional development.

The "Religious Education Credentialing" program has three levels of religious educator credentialing with varying amounts of education and study.

Having multiple levels of credentialing would allow for Unitarian Universalist ministers to enter a ministry career with less student loan debt.

A ministerial formation path without the excessive student loan debt would allow for more entrepreneurial risk-taking with less economic risk. Greater entrepreneurial risk-taking would allow us to experiment more in how we plant congregations and how we grow congregations. Perhaps even "emergent" Unitarian Universalist congregations?

This multi-tier credentialing system is OK for the religious professionals who work with our children and youth.

What do you think?

"Deepity" and Modern Theology

Does anyone think that a "Sokal Affair" experiment with modern theological scholarship is overdue?

I suggested a theological "Sokal Affair" experiment on my blog back in 2007 .

The section where Daniel Dennett talks about "deepity" in theological thought happens at 30:25 in his talk.

One cannot say with 100% certainty that reindeer cannot fly ...

Theodicy Explained ...

Thanks to "Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal" for this concise explanation.

Dogs, Altruism, and Morality

Francis Collins has argued that altruism isn't proof for God in the world but it is a strong indication for God in an essay contributed to the Templeton Foundation:

Do not get me wrong. I am not arguing that the existence of the moral law somehow proves God’s existence. Such proofs cannot be provided by the study of nature. And there is an inherent danger in arguing that the moral law points to some sort of supernatural intervention in the early days of human history; this has the flavor of a "God of the gaps" argument. After all, much still remains to be understood about evolution's influence on human nature. But even if radically altruistic human acts can ultimately be explained on the basis of evolutionary mechanisms, this would do nothing to exclude God’s hand. For if God chose the process of evolution in the beginning to create humans in imago Dei, it would also be perfectly reasonable for God to have used this same process to instill knowledge of the moral law.

However, it appears that altruism isn't uniquely human. Not only have we seen altruism and morality in our primate relatives.

We see morality in canines too.

Unitarian Universalist History and Blasphemy Day

With the recent posts on MoxieLife and Chaliceblog about "Blasphemy Day" (30 September - remember to mark your calendars for next year's celebration), I thought it would be fun to point out a Unitarian Universalist historical connection with this celebration of blasphemy.

The last person to serve time in prison for blasphemy in the United States was Abner Kneeland.

He was found guilty of blasphemy by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1838 for saying the following blasphemous statements in violation of state law:

1. Universalists believe in a god which I do not; but believe that their god, with all his moral attributes (aside from nature itself) is nothing more than a mere chimera of their own imagination.

2. Universalists believe in Christ, which I do not; but believe that the whole story concerning him is as much a fable and a fiction as that of the god Prometheus, the tragedy of whose death is said to have been acted on the stage in the theatre at Athens, five hundred years before the Christian era.

3. Universalists believe in miracles, which I do not; but believe that every pretension to them can be accounted for on natural principles, or else is to be attributed to mere trick and imposture.

4. Universalists believe in the resurrection of the dead, in immortality and eternal life, which I do not; but believe that all life is mortal, that death is an eternal extinction of life to the individual who possesses it, and that no individual life is, ever was, or ever will be eternal.

Abner Kneeland was an ordained Universalist minister whose religious doubts and evolving theology challenged his ministerial colleagues.

And his pursuit of a free and responsible search for truth places his ideas firmly within the Unitarian Universalism as we know it today.

Anti-Atheism Ad in UU World That Criticizes Bishop Spong

Goodwolve on her Moxielife blog mentioned the recent Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) ad complaints directed at the UU World staff for their decision to run their ad (you can see a PDF copy of the ad here).

In her blog article, she briefly mentioned an ad on page 13 for John Gibson's book In Defense of Religion. According to the ad copy, Gibson's book:

... makes a new case for religion at its best. It attacks head-on and in detail recent anti-religion books by Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Daniel Dennett, as well as the anti-faith theology of Bishop John Shelby Spong.

I'm pretty sure from reading two of the three "anti-religion" authors described above that they do have objections with religion as it is practiced by most persons. They may disagree with the Gibson's words but they wouldn't be too upset with the "anti-religion" label being applied to them by Gibson.

However, I'm surprised to see Bishop Spong labeled as an "anti-faith" theologian.

He's a very provocative theologian and many who are more traditional in their theology don't agree with his works. And I'm pretty sure that Dawkins, Hitchens, Dennett, et al would find his theology a pointless exercise.

However, I have personally found the liberal theological writings of Spong and others such as Crossan, Funk, Pagels, and Borg to give me better understanding of the faith tradition I was raised in, allow me to make peace with it, and to keep those parts of it that I find useful as a Unitarian Universalist who is a humanist and atheist today. Part of my journey can be found in a sermon I presented in 1997. And surprisingly enough, I tested as a "Bishop Spong Christian" in Beliefnet's "What Kind of Christian Are You?" quiz.

Spong's "12 Theses" or a "Call for a New Reformation" would make for an interesting starting point for a deeper Unitarian Universalist theological conversation grounded in our history from the Protestant Reformation:

1. Theism, as a way of defining God, is dead. So most theological God-talk is today meaningless. A new way to speak of God must be found.

2. Since God can no longer be conceived in theistic terms, it becomes nonsensical to seek to understand Jesus as the incarnation of the theistic deity. So the Christology of the ages is bankrupt.

3. The biblical story of the perfect and finished creation from which human beings fell into sin is pre-Darwinian mythology and post-Darwinian nonsense.

4. The virgin birth, understood as literal biology, makes Christ's divinity, as traditionally understood, impossible.

5. The miracle stories of the New Testament can no longer be interpreted in a post-Newtonian world as supernatural events performed by an incarnate deity.

6. The view of the cross as the sacrifice for the sins of the world is a barbarian idea based on primitive concepts of God and must be dismissed.

7. Resurrection is an action of God. Jesus was raised into the meaning of God. It therefore cannot be a physical resuscitation occurring inside human history.

8. The story of the Ascension assumed a three-tiered universe and is therefore not capable of being translated into the concepts of a post-Copernican space age.

9. There is no external, objective, revealed standard writ in scripture or on tablets of stone that will govern our ethical behavior for all time.

10. Prayer cannot be a request made to a theistic deity to act in human history in a particular way.

11. The hope for life after death must be separated forever from the behavior control mentality of reward and punishment. The Church must abandon, therefore, its reliance on guilt as a motivator of behavior.

12. All human beings bear God's image and must be respected for what each person is. Therefore, no external description of one's being, whether based on race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation, can properly be used as the basis for either rejection or discrimination.

None of these statements are "we all agree, let's sit around the campfire and sing 'Kum-bah-yah' statements." It looks like Spong framed his statements to be intentionally provocative and to provoke discussion within Christianity.

I'm thinking it would be very interesting to use Spong's theses for a values-voting continuum activity in an adult religious education setting. With the theological diversity in found in Unitarian Universalist congregations, it would be an interesting discussion to have.

Of course, it's interesting that an ad perceived as "attacking religion" generates multiple complaints to the UU World staff while an ad promoting a book that attacks the ideas of non-theist philosophers and a leading liberal Christian theologian's work goes unnoticed by our readership (see here and here for links to criticisms of the FFRF ad).

Although we Unitarian Universalists are officially non-creedal and covenental (although the idea of what "covenant" actually means isn't the same for all of us), does the acceptance of the ad for Gibson's book in UU World imply that some non-theist theological and philosophical ideas are being pushed out the door in current-day Unitarian Universalism?

An alternative to the idea that a parent cannot use body part names when discussing sexuality with their children ...

This link provided below is for a YouTube excerpt of Boston-area health/medical report Jeanne Blake's video Raising Healthy Kids: Families Talk About Sexual Health (I'm providing the link because the video cannot be embedded on this blog by request of the video owner):

Raising Healthy Kids: Families Talk About Sexual Health (YouTube)

If we as parents are teaching body part names like eye, nose, mouth, and ear, then we should also include penis, vulva, scrotum, and vagina.

In case you were wondering why Unitarian Universalists and the United Church of Christ provide sexuality education resources to help parents ...

The Unitarian Universalist Association and the United Church of Christ jointly publish The Parent Guide to Our Whole Lives as part of their lifespan sexuality education series to assist parents with their role as the primary sexuality educator in their child's life. This book in many ways is the "Parent as Resident Sexuality Educator" book that accompanies "The Parent Trilogy" series (Being a UU Parent, Parents as Resident Theologians, Parents as Social Justice Educators)

The commercial from the US Government's Department of Health and Human Services shows just how much The Parent Guide to Our Whole Lives is needed. Apparently we are living in a country where many adults cannot use the scientific or medical names for body parts when talking with their children without embarrassment.

In Shreveport, we don't need Mr. Wolf ...

JK Wedding Video Now Helping to Prevent Domestic Violence

I'm sure many of you have seen the "JK Wedding Entrance Dance" viral video that is on YouTube (and recently discussed on Chalicechick's blog).

The song used in the video is by Chris Brown who is awaiting sentencing for domestic violence.

Jill Peterson and Kevin Heinz (the wedding couple) have created a web site with their wedding dance video that is asking for donations to support the Sheila Wellstone Institute, an organization dedicated to ending domestic violence in our communities.

This seems like a very generous and responsible way for this couple to use their "accidental fame."

Ministers and Professional Ethics

I'm writing this as a layperson in response to the recent blog criticisms from some Unitarian Universalist ministers who have been critical of the new UUA President Rev. Peter Morales and/or recent ceremonies at General Assembly.

I'm not providing links to these critical blogs.

But I will highlight the following guidelines from the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association's "Code of Professional Practice":

I will stand in a supportive relation to my colleagues and keep for them an open mind and heart.

***

I will not speak scornfully or in derogation of any colleague in public. In any private conversation critical of a colleague, I will speak responsibly and temperately.

So ... even if you think that Peter Morales was the worst possible choice for UUA President and you're still grieving over the the loss of Laurel Hallman, should you be expressing your concerns in a public blog setting for all of us to read?

Is expressing the very deep hurt that some of you are feeling the best way to embody the values in your ministerial code of ethics?

And if you think that a recent ritual at General Assembly was totally wrong for polity or other reasons, is a public blog the best setting for expressing these thoughts?

Again, does this embody the values in the ministerial ethics that all of you affirm?

I'm not telling anyone what to say, think, or feel. I'm simply asking if a public blog conversation about these issues is appropriate.

Apparently the answer to "WWJD" is writing "The God Delusion"

Here's a quote from British philosopher AC Grayling from an interview in the Guardian news web site:

I would imagine Jesus was a kind of Jewish reformer. If you were looking for an equivalent to the figure you dimly perceive through the gospels it would probably be a Richard Dawkins.

Why pareidolia doesn't mean a goddamned thing

Good Samaritan

One gets the feeling this is the response that Jesus would have received if he told the famous parable to a Unitarian Universalist crowd.

Richard Feynman on doubt, uncertainty, and religion

As a religious tradition, Unitarian Universalism has been very comfortable embracing doubt and uncertainty (and they share this with other liberal religious traditions).

And this may be one reason that we seem to have growth issues -- it's not easy to market uncertainty (at least that's what I've read on the UU-Leaders email list from UU church consultant Mike Durall).