Here are the outcomes for the Unitarian Universalist Identity thread of the new Tapestry of Faith curriculum series, as presented by the Lifespan Faith Development Staff Group of the UUA at last weekends LREDA Fall Conference in San Antonio, Texas. The Goals and Elements for this strand relate to the second, fifth, and third components of the LFD Vision Statement (I’m not quite sure why they’re out of order, though).

  • Affirm that they are part of a Unitarian Universalist religious heritage and community of faith that has value and provides resources for living,
  • Recognize the need for community, affirming the importance of families, relationships and connections between and among the generations, and
  • Accept that they are responsible for the stewardship and creative transformation of their religious heritage and community of faith.

Here are the Goals;

  • To be grounded in UU history and heritage
  • To understand what Unitarian Universalism is and stands for
  • To confidently articulate what Unitarian Universalism is and stands for
  • To identify Unitarian Universalism as one’s religious home
  • To share a common UU vision, language, and identity.

The Elements include:

  • UU history and heritage
  • UU Worship, rituals, symbols, and traditions
  • Meaning of covenant
  • Principles and Sources: understand, articulate, and live
  • Universalist legacy of love, faith, hope
  • Unitarian legacy of freedom, reason, and tolerance
  • Rites of passage
  • UU identity (personal, communal)
  • UU stories
  • UU language
  • UU polity.

In some ways, this may be the most difficult of all the strands. Unitarian Universalists are, on the whole, just not very good at talking about what it means to be a UU. That’s not too surprising given our relatively brief existence as a merged tradition, which is why I’m glad that there’s some awareness that we need to include understanding our separate Unitarian and Univeralist legacies here. After all, we didn’t arrive out of the blue as a fully formed religion in 1961.

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