Imagining a Unitarian Universalist Worship Service

The modern Unitarian Universalist worship service is a form, which has evolved slowly
and only moderately from the protestant services conducted in New England circa 1750.
The present form may not be fulfilling the potential for either impact or meaning. This
essay questions the goals we are attempting to achieve in a worship service and the
way we go about it. It is important to remember that natural selection does not
necessarily produce the best form, only a form that has, thenceforth, survived. Given
that Unitarian Universalist membership is not keeping pace with population our survival,
at least as an influential movement may, in fact, be at stake.

In preparation for the exercise of examining the worship service form with a Beginner’s
Mind I invite the reader to let go of the reality of our customary practices around
worship. As a kind of thought experiment, forget what we do on Sunday morning.
Picture emptiness in your congregation’s calendar on Sunday. Let us pretend that no
activities are generally scheduled for that day. Imagine you are approached by some
leaders who suggest that it would good for congregational life, if some kind of plenary
gathering were scheduled for each Sunday morning. Having done the difficult policy
part of this, the leaders leave the implementation up to you. You have been asked to
imagine the best possible form for this weekly gathering. What do you design?

An initial question in the design phase of a Sunday morning congregational meeting

might be, “For what purpose would we gather?” Let me provide some available
responses to that question.

Seven Possible Purposes

Intellectual Stimulation
Spiritual Grounding
A Sense of Community
Ritual
Devotion
Leadership in Justice Making
Entertainment

I am mindful of claims that “worship” invites us into “worth-ship” and that a

worship service is properly a celebration of our highest aspirations and meanings.
Worship, it is said, is the opportunity to name the worthiest aspects in our lives. But,
this claim fails to shed much light on the appropriate object of worship and fails to
answer the question of “how” we worship. Of course I do acknowledge that there is a
fuzzy relationship between the “What” and “How” of worship. For instance, if ritual is the
reason for worship, then the form of worship will naturally be ritualistic.
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 During a recent assessment in my congregation, members were asked to name
their motivation for attending. The two primary answers that emerged were: (1)
Intellectual / Spiritual Stimulation, and (2) a sense of Community. I suspect that the
answers coming out of other congregations are similar. The first three of my Seven
Possible Purposes come out of this assessment.
Returning to the hypothetical task of imagining the Sunday morning experience, I
would suggest that for each of my possible purposes we look at models and effective
strategies. In the following chart, I try to list some of the effective ways the particular
purpose has been achieved. I do not hold that my Seven Possible Purposes constitute
an exclusive list of reasons to gather and this same analysis may be used with other
possible purposes.

Seven Possible Purposes Models

Intellectual Stimulation College Courses / Seminars
Journalism
Briefing or Reports
Documentaries
Debates
Spiritual Stimulation or Meditation Retreat
Grounding Spiritual Direction
Sun Ceremony
A Sense of Community Barn Raising
Weddings
Ritual Catholic Mass
Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the
Unknown Soldier
Chalice lighting
Funeral
Devotion Pilgrimage
Cloistered Life
Leadership in Justice Habitat for Humanity (work parties)
Making Political Rally
Sit-Ins and Teach-Ins
Entertainment Theater
Dance
Song
Starting with this, albeit arbitrary, list of purposes it is reasonable to strategize the
most effective way to achieve the purpose. The following chart lists some of the
methods that have been used to achieve the stated purposes. Some, but not all of the
methods are suggested by traditional models above.
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Seven Possible Purposes Strategies
Intellectual Stimulation Reading lists
Power Point Presentations
Handouts
Discussion Groups
Spiritual Stimulation or Meditation
Grounding Spiritual Lessons
Journaling
Yoga
A Sense of Community Sharing Joys and Sorrows
Communal Meals
Small Group Encounters
Ritual Celebration of Transitions
Acknowledging Seasonal or Cyclical Events
Chalice Lighting
Devotion Prayer
Chant
Silence
Leadership in Justice Justice Networking
Making Testimonies from the Disenfranchised
Political Announcements
Entertainment Pulpit Plays
Interpretive Readings
Music
Movement

There are barriers or obstacles that commonly prevent the development of the
strategies designed to accomplish the stated purposes. Looking at these obstacles
helps to define the perceived limits of effectiveness.

Seven Possible Purposes Obstacles

Intellectual Stimulation Information is endless. The focus may be
wide or narrow. It is one thing to listen to an
overview or short perspective on a subject; but
it is more demanding to work in a scholarly
way, drilling down into a subject with the
purpose of thoroughly understanding a given
process. Intellectual progress is limited by the
willingness and perhaps the ability of the
parishioners to participate in the struggle for
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 understanding.
Spiritual Stimulation or Many, perhaps most, Unitarian Universalists
Grounding have an authentic spiritual practice, but our
practices are diverse. Unless a specific
spiritual practice develops out of a particular
ministry, it is difficult to explore a practice to a
depth that is fulfilling. A spiritual practice is
also limited by the willingness and perhaps the
ability of the parishioners to participate in the
rigor of an authentic practice.
A Sense of Community A sense of community is secular in nature and
creating a great community does not
necessarily create a religious community. A
religious organization should avoid organizing
around a primarily secular objective.
Ritual Rituals develop, but are difficult to invent. We
light the chalice and conduct a flower
communion, but do we have a ritual which
would justify a weekly plenary gathering?
Devotion The problem of diversity is apparent when it
comes to devotion. To who’s God should we
devote our attention? Using generic language,
which allows the parishioner to translate into
his or her own theology, tends to weaken the
message.
Leadership in Justice Some people are willing to contribute their
Making efforts and some are willing to contribute their
wealth towards social justice efforts. A hearty
few contribute both effort and wealth. It is,
however, risky to prioritize a theme which
presupposes congregational resources.
Entertainment Entertainment, like a sense of community is
secular in nature. Turning a worship service
into “entertainment” sounds like a cheapening
of the program. We are creating something
important!

The obstacles mentioned above are often obstacles to our imagination rather
than our programming, although, in either case, they are worth treating seriously, if only
so that we may not prematurely turn away from success. I am advocating that our goal
should be to create the most memorable and meaningful experience ever created in the
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history of humankind. This has never been easier, as we have never had more needed
resources and information at our fingertips.
Membership in the Unitarian Universalist denomination has been steadily
shrinking in relation to population. As many of us drive or bicycle to a worship service
on Sunday morning we pass huge independent evangelical congregations drawing
attendees by the thousands each week. We become incredulous when pressed to
explain the comparative popularity of the experience in more mainstream churches.
Membership levels are not exclusively dependent upon the Sunday morning
experience; however it is an important time for visitors and members alike. And, if it is a
time to celebrate our highest aspirations, then it deserves our utmost thoughtfulness. If
we truly believe that the message delivered on Sunday morning is the most important
message a person might hear, then we would likewise expect parishioners to be taking
notes, there should be handouts and outlines further explaining the subject, reading lists
supplied for follow-up and study groups formed to process the material.
Like many others I try to visit UU congregations when I am travelling. While I
have met some who are comforted by the uniformity in worship services among
congregations, who feel “at home” when they encounter a service so similar to their
home congregation when on the road, it seems to me that uniformity may not be our
friend. I would rather walk into a distant congregation and find a new and magical
expression of our faith, an utterly unpredictable unfolding of our liberal religious
perspective.
I am not rebuking ministers for want of quality in their sermons. I am suggesting
that the traditional worship service format is limited: three hymns, two readings and one
sermon. The sermons, a personal essay of about 2400 words templated around three
points, two stories and one joke, are the right size and shape for some purposes, but
not for others. A twenty-minute sermon is an effective vehicle for presenting an
overview or introduction to some topic. This approach is consistent with our
identification as a pluralistic community where privileging a particular belief system or
spiritual practice would be viewed as exclusionary. The overview or theological sampler
approach is also consistent with our identification as “seekers” or persons on a “spiritual
journey”.
Identification as a “seeker” is problematic in that the identity is lost once some
anchoring truth is found. Aphorisms such as, “It’s not the destination, but the journey,”
act as a normative injunction against the commitment to deep insight. Unfortunately,
the traditional worship service is well suited to perpetuate the debilitating myth that we
lack the capacity to recognize truth or that it would be presumptuous of us to answer the
most important questions we face.
One of the attractions of evangelical mega-churches is the unabashed claim that
they have found something important and are willing to share it. Despite our self-
identification as “seekers”, we are in fact “finders” as well, and one of the points I wish to

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make is that our Sunday morning experience should be designed around being finders,
rather than seekers of significant truths of the human experience. I do not wish to
dismiss J. L. Adams’ notion of a “Free Faith”, but the wisdom of an underlying tentativity
of beliefs need not prohibit the commitment and public proclamation of what, here and
now, calls to us as true.
The second point I wish to make is that we should be willing to include
“entertainment” as a purpose in the Sunday morning experience. Entertainment is not a
religious function. Then again, while community building is a secular function, it is vitally
important for a religious community. I believe that Entertainment should be seen as
important for religious as well as secular presentations.
The term “entertainment” is often viewed as cheap or superficial. These are the
adjectives that apply when the term generates images of sit-coms, variety shows or run-
of-the-mill prime time television programming. However, if asked to name your favorite
film or play, the answer, I suspect, will include a work of artistic merit, which produced
insights into the human condition in a way, which was engaging, dramatic and
memorable. “Entertainment” is not an antonym for “Authentic.”
In addition to the claim that they have found an important truth, evangelical
mega-churches are serious about entertainment. I hesitate to point this out, because I
am certainly not suggesting that entertainment in a UU congregation look like the
entertainment that happens in an evangelical mega-church. Nevertheless, I am
claiming that the presentation of the Sunday morning experience in UU congregations
should be entertaining.
Entertainment can be serious or lighthearted, tragic or comic, emotional or
conceptual. Entertainment is a way of planning a presentation by focusing on the
quality of recipient’s experience. Entertainment may not make a message more
important, but it can make the recipient more engaged and the message more
memorable. An entertaining message can inspire people to commit their time and
energy into social justice, allow people to understand the inner reality of someone very
different or lead a person into a moment of ecstatic presence.
Words I would like to hear in the preparation of a Sunday service include: script,
choreography, lighting, improve, variety, multi-media, directed, cue, soundtrack,
costume, prop, character, entrance and perhaps on occasion, even “fireworks” or “fog.”
I anticipate and empathize with the ministerial response, “My time commitments
and congregational duties allow for the preparation of some thirty-four sermons per
year, but will not accommodate the resources required to produce such a spectacle
each week.” A sermon, by its nature, is a personal essay. The kind service I am
envisioning is universal, rather than individualized. Most congregations would not be
able to create a “theatrical production” each week. However, the Unitarian Universalist
Association might be able to arrange for the creation and dissemination of service
programs. There is an economy of scale available to the UUA, if it were to undertake

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the role of preparing scripts or writing programs for the Sunday morning experience.
Certainly, UUA productions could utilize audio and video files to be incorporated as
modular pieces in a service production, although this would require most congregations
to update their communication technology. Furthermore, from a production standpoint,
there is an economic and practical advantage for adjoining congregations to host a
combined weekly event.
Similarly, skeptics may suggest that even if there are scripts or other program
materials available for local congregations, those congregations will not have the kind of
talent demanded by my proposal. I will admit to a limited interaction with congregations
other than my own, but I have yet to meet a congregation without a wealth of talent.
Furthermore, whether there is any movement along the lines I have proposed, given the
lay participation in the Sunday morning experience, the UUA and District services
should now include training for all lay participants in public speaking, projection, timing,
blocking, the use of microphones and oral interpretation of written material. If there is a
weak link in my vision, it is not congregational talent but filling the role of “director.”
Ultimately, I believe that the directorial function will be filled by people who grow into the
role.
The sermon format is more serviceable for Christian ministers whose ministry is
more tightly tied to the Bible. The sermon in a literalist congregation is an annotation to
an acknowledged authoritative writing. Such a sermon need not establish a context,
common language or even a justification. The Unitarian Universalist sermon must take
on all of these burdens before the first point is made. Our plurality requires an
anchoring of every sermon to a perspective(s) and that process will take up most of the
time allotted for the presentation. In the literalist church, the congregation is already
grounded in a perspective and the first half of the sermon can be used to establish the
problem to be solved by the concluding half.
The kind of “entertainment” I am advocating is ideally suited to the presentation
of the perspectival grounding, which acts as a platform for religious problem solving. Of
my proposed purposes for gathering, Intellectual Stimulation, Spiritual Inspiration,
Community Building and Justice Making may all be approached in a two-step analysis:
“What does my (or our collective) experience mean?” and “How should I (or we)
respond to the experience?” And, it just so happens that despite the drivel,
superficiality and hyperbole in much of their product, the Entertainment Industry has an
expertise in portraying the human experience.
The people already in the pews or chairs of Unitarian Universalist congregations
and the people we hope to attract have several media devices in their home each with
hundreds of channels of programming and more on demand. A little navigation with a
remote control or computer mouse and they are able, at any time, to watch a
documentary, sit through an opera, listen to a symphony, view a film, or attend a lecture
on YouTube or TED. Many can do all this on their mobile phone. We are asking these

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people, who live in the middle of an entertainment laced information stream, to give up
two to three hours of their Sunday morning for a more important experience at their
local UU congregation. To our advantage, the Sunday morning experience has the
added value of human contact with other members of the beloved community, but there
are many other opportunities available for human interaction, so it is important to
remember that a UU congregation is always competing with the other pressing priorities
in the life of each congregant for her attention.
I believe there is a sentiment that religion in general and Unitarian Universalism
in particular should rise above the profane of entertainment and that a UU minister who
stands and delivers a sermon, plainly and unplugged, is a living testament to honesty,
genuineness and authenticity. I believe this sentiment springs from a naïve mythology
and conveniently excuses the hard work of reimagining the Sunday morning
experience. A plain and simple expression can evoke a sense of authenticity, but this
technique is best used in contrast to more fully produced elements of the event. When
a plain spoken personal essay is presented every week, there is no contrast and the
evocation of authenticity is weakened.
The Unitarian Universalist faith has a culture-changing message. The influence
of Unitarian Universalist message depends on the efficacy of the delivery. While our
message does not depend entirely on the Sunday morning experience, that time is
traditionally important as an entry point for visitors and a gathering event for members.
As the current stewards of our faith, we have an obligation to present our wisdom
and insights in a manner most likely to engage, inspire and transform those we
encounter. Increasing the entertainment value of the experience can assist in the
achievement of this goal.

Mike Mallory
© 2010