My Journey to Unitarian Universalism

By Reverend Nan White

“We believe in the inherent worth and dignity of every person.” Those were the first words Marge Jarvis spoke to describe the Unitarian Universalist Church. She had approached me after a yoga class at the YMCA to ask if I would be interested in helping to start a Unitarian Universalist fellowship in Beaufort. Having just left the Presbyterian denomination where I had been raised, educated and ordained, I was intrigued.

I immediately went home to explore the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) website. I was drawn to the Seven Principles that begin with belief in the “inherent worth and dignity of every person” and end with “Respect for the interdependent web of existence of which we are a part.”

I had struggled with Presbyterian theology in a number of ways. The Presbyterian Church had moved further to the right and took a stand that if you live a homosexual lifestyle you may not serve in an ordained capacity as a minister or an elder. My understanding of Christianity is that we are all endowed with inherent worth and dignity.

What I have found in the Unitarian Universalist theology is the understanding that it is okay to struggle, in fact, it’s encouraged. You question and search to find what you understand to be truth.

The first year 30 people met at The Shed in Port Royal. We began a journey together to learn more about what it means to create a Unitarian Universalist fellowship. We shared with each other our religious beliefs and created small, brief worship experiences.

Betty Chamlee, a representative of the Unitarian Univeralist Church of Savannah, led courses for new members and worship. When I contacted the national association about transferring my ordination, the Unitarian Church in Statesboro, GA invited me to be their once-a-month minister. The decision to base my first seven sermons on the Seven Principles led me to a deeper understanding of Unitarian Universalism. The more I read and studied, the more it made sense to me and resonated with my theology and who I was as a human being.

In 2001 the Unitarian Fellowship of Hilton Head—founded in 1977, and now the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Lowcountry—called me to be their consultant minister. After 31 years the Hilton Head fellowship opened an office with an administrative assistant. They completed a capital campaign, purchased land in Bluffton, built a church and called their first full time minister. They are realizing their vision and dreams.

In 2002 Beaufort called me as their minister for ten hours a week to provide pastoral care, prepare worship services and sermons. I started working with EvenSong and Journey Toward Wholeness, lay-led discussion groups.
Once I made the commitment to change denominations I immersed myself in study and preparation to meet the requirements of the Association’s committees. The process of becoming a Unitarian Universalist minister is based on competency in 16 areas from theology, church history, church polity, social justice and religious education to professional development. I was asked to demonstrate ability to articulate my spiritual and religious growth in written and oral presentations drawn from seminary and college courses, and life experiences over my half century of church work in the Presbyterian Church.

It’s been a thought-provoking experience to reflect on how important the Presbyterian Church has been to me over the years: how I was raised as a small child, in high school, in summer camp and going to seminary, walking through my ordination and ordaining me. The Presbyterian minister shapes worship services by the lectionaries, passages of scripture that rotate every three years. In contrast Unitarian Universalist ministers have what is known as a free pulpit and are able to draw from many sources, described as the “Living Tradition.”

In October 2004 I began half-time ministry with the Beaufort Fellowship. Bernie Wright, executive director of Penn Center, invited us to have our office at Penn Center, bringing our historic relationship full circle. Laura M. Towne, a founder of Penn School, was a Unitarian. We moved into our office at the Lathers building on the Penn Center campus and are developing an enriching partnership to address human rights, civil rights and social justice issues with this internationally renowned institution.
My goal is to see the Beaufort and Hilton Head fellowships grow both in numbers and in relationship with each other and the broader community. We want to reach out and make our presence known, particularly for those who seek a liberal religious institution. As a society we are entrenched in an individualistic mode that has been good for many things, but that has started to become detrimental to the future of this society.

As Unitarians we affirm and promote the Seventh Principle of being an interdependent web. As part of that web—related to each other and all nature and the whole universe—we have a responsibility to come together as a community and begin to create a beloved community for social justice.

In our affluent society, especially in Beaufort County, it’s easy to forget that many of our neighbors in this county and in this state and in this nation are hungry, living in poverty and under many kinds of oppression. We must step out as a community and speak for those who can’t speak for themselves. For the many who share these beliefs and want to affirm and promote them in their lifestyles as individuals, Unitarian Universalism is a compelling religion.