Unitariansm still seems like Bizarro World here.

[bladespark]

Today's sermon was on the importance of speaking up for yourself and maintaining good personal boundaries in friendships and other relationships.

I find something new to boggle at every week.

Realistic life lessons, and not just "how to more Jesus" at church? GASP! I am shocked!

Also I do quite like the coffee.

I have my membership form all filled out, and a preschool form for the goober, I just have to figure out how exactly to "tithe" when I get started. They don't ask for a specific amount (unlike Mormons) but they do want something, and I can spare a little. But my only personal bank account is paypal. Can't write checks, can't withdraw cash without a good bit of a hit on ATM fees, and they don't seem to be setup to take paypal. I'm trying to figure out this give++ app thing, which might work.

I actually said "Well, I'm a Unitarian" to somebody at the wine festival the other day. Only so I could make a joke, but still... Think it might be true.

Comments

[dreamerinsilico]

Holy crap, my early adulthood would have been so much less traumatic if that had been the kind of thing I learned in church. O_o Sounds like you found a good place!

[alexseanchai]

talk to the treasurer?

[dreamwriteremmy]

ask the membership coordinator about how to tithe or alternatives, and let them know your situation. :) They'll probably have some insight onto that aspect of it or give you options. (Generally Unitarians and Universalists don't give a "set number" (usually only specifying "significant" without a number) I suspect because they understand the plight of low-income folks a little better, though the annual giving/campaign form they do each winter/spring WILL often have a listing of "suggested" tithe levels for higher-income folks -- sometimes a copy of this form can be found on the community board because annual giving can be done weekly through the offering). (We were a member of our UU church for a little bit when we lived closer to boston.) - Emmy

[bladespark]

Yep, I'm poking at the app right now, but if that doesn't sort it out, I'll be talking to somebody next week.

[adafrog]

That's great!

[kara_mckay]

I'm so glad you've found a faith community that's right for you!

[silveradept]

Good coffee is a good reason to keep a church.

As is a message that does better at virtuous values than the supposedly virtuous denominations.

[thewayne]

We were married by a UU minister: we're both varying levels of athiest, her parents were Catholic and mine are Christian. My wife arranged for a UU minister to marry us, a woman, which surprisingly didn't raise any hackles with our parents. When my wife's mom was dying, she asked her to attend a church service for her as a dying request, so we went to the UU church in Las Cruces, and quite liked it.

We were interested in going to it regularly, but they have a membership committee where they want to discuss your finances and make a contribution arrangement - no thanks! We'll make our decision as to how much we care to contribute.

But the vibe was quite nice that it wasn't just Jeebuz.

[bladespark]

Ours doesn't have any such committee, the individual congregations seem to vary quite a lot! They just have a page in their membership form that's mildly pushy about please they can't operate if people don't give, so give as much as you can.

[thewayne]

That I wouldn't have a problem with.

[liz_mo]

There‘s coffee at church?! The mind boggles! (Drink and food in a catholic church is unthinkable.)

[bladespark]

Mormons are very fond of food and drink, so you'll find them at church events, even at the actual proper Sacrament meeting sometimes, but coffee is a deadly sin for Mormons, so that would be unthinkable. Juice and cookies, mostly.

[liz_mo]

Even juice and cookies!
Food! At mass!
Sacrilege! We‘re at the house of God! We can not soil it with out human needs! (Or somesuch. That celebration at the House of the Lord should include food and drink because that is what welcoming guests to your house and celebrating with them is all about has not yet quite reached the minds there...)