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Fluent in Faith: A Unitarian Universalist Embrace of Religious Language
Discussion about a "Language of Reverence" in the Unitarian Universalist community was propelled into energy and creativity in 2002, following a sermon by Rev. William Sinkford, then president of the Unitarian Universalist Association. The conversation since then has been both wide and deep. Fluent in Faith continues that conversation, calling us to embrace our religious language in all its diversity and wide range of meaning. Jeanne Harrison Nieuwejaar sets forth a vision for Unitarian Universalism where, as an articulate people, we can confidently and gracefully express our faith Jeanne Harrison Nieuwejaar was raised in a small Universalist church in rural New England and has remained active in liberal religion throughout her life--as a lay worker, religious educator and minister. She has served congregations in Cambridge, England; Manhasset, New York; Arlington, Massachusetts and Springfield, Vermont. She was the co-minister in Milford, New Hampshire, for twelve years.
- GenresReligionSpirituality
184 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 2, 2013
At my church, we're in the process of developing a congregational covenant. It's taken me a long time to figure out what exactly a congregational covenant is, but after reading Fluent in Faith, the meaning of "covenant" in this context became clear.
The book (and, I think, the concept) is geared specifically towards Unitarian Universalists, but I think a lot of the themes apply to other liberal religious traditions, too.
Today at church I gave a short (five-minute) talk about covenant based in large part on the new understanding I got from Nieuwejaar's book. (Today's service was also our annual Flower Communion, which is one of my favorite services.)
In writing this short sharing, it occurred to me that the mutual promises that are covenants don't just exist in religious traditions. We make mutual promises all the time in our daily life. In a marriage or a parent-child relationship, in our workplaces, even driving down the highway, we make promises to one another to establish trust. We promise to respect one another, to treat one another fairly, to act in at least a somewhat considerate manner. These are voluntary promises; they're not enforced (except for traffic laws), and we don't have to follow them. Often, despite our best intentions, we don't follow these promises. But the relationships we're in depend not on keeping the promises but on the sincere intention to keep those promises.
That's how I see a covenant since I read Nieuwejaar's book. It's a set of voluntary mutual promises meant to establish trust and foster connection.
I'd considered posting my five-minute sharing here, but it seemed well outside the scope of a book review. Instead, I'll share the quote from the book that most struck me about covenant, and if you would like to read the whole talk, please visit my blog, where I've posted the complete text as part of the book review there.
I loved the rest of the book, too, particularly the sections on sanctuary and sin---and I love that Nieuwejaar mentioned Process Theology in the section about god, which really resonates with me and which has informed my understanding of spiritual matters since I first read Alfred North Whitehead in college. But it was the section on covenant that was epiphanic for me.
A quote from that section: “The genius of our faith, the lifeblood of our faith, is that we honor the bonds of community more than the bonds of intellectual assent. We hold our relationships as more sacred than any system of belief. We make promises to one another about the ways we will be in relationship and the ways in which we will pursue our religious journey together. This is covenant.”
The book (and, I think, the concept) is geared specifically towards Unitarian Universalists, but I think a lot of the themes apply to other liberal religious traditions, too.
Today at church I gave a short (five-minute) talk about covenant based in large part on the new understanding I got from Nieuwejaar's book. (Today's service was also our annual Flower Communion, which is one of my favorite services.)
In writing this short sharing, it occurred to me that the mutual promises that are covenants don't just exist in religious traditions. We make mutual promises all the time in our daily life. In a marriage or a parent-child relationship, in our workplaces, even driving down the highway, we make promises to one another to establish trust. We promise to respect one another, to treat one another fairly, to act in at least a somewhat considerate manner. These are voluntary promises; they're not enforced (except for traffic laws), and we don't have to follow them. Often, despite our best intentions, we don't follow these promises. But the relationships we're in depend not on keeping the promises but on the sincere intention to keep those promises.
That's how I see a covenant since I read Nieuwejaar's book. It's a set of voluntary mutual promises meant to establish trust and foster connection.
I'd considered posting my five-minute sharing here, but it seemed well outside the scope of a book review. Instead, I'll share the quote from the book that most struck me about covenant, and if you would like to read the whole talk, please visit my blog, where I've posted the complete text as part of the book review there.
I loved the rest of the book, too, particularly the sections on sanctuary and sin---and I love that Nieuwejaar mentioned Process Theology in the section about god, which really resonates with me and which has informed my understanding of spiritual matters since I first read Alfred North Whitehead in college. But it was the section on covenant that was epiphanic for me.
A quote from that section: “The genius of our faith, the lifeblood of our faith, is that we honor the bonds of community more than the bonds of intellectual assent. We hold our relationships as more sacred than any system of belief. We make promises to one another about the ways we will be in relationship and the ways in which we will pursue our religious journey together. This is covenant.”
September 7, 2012
Unitarian Universalists need to learn to talk. No, strike that—Unitarian Universalists need to learn to listen. This, it seems to me, is the real point of Fluent in Faith.
Nieuwejaar offers much wisdom and insight on the importance of broadening our theological vocabulary—of working through our discomfort with "baggage-laden" language, reclaiming words like God, prayer, and even atonement as not merely acceptable but necessary words in the development of our “creedless faith.” Her passion for the religious education of children shines through, but adults need to hear what she has to say on their own behalf as well. For these chapters alone, I would recommend this book to any thoughtful person of faith.
Unfortunately, while Nieuwejaar’s discussion of the “problem” is inspiring, encouraging, and convicting, the “Vocabulary of Reverence” she provides as a “solution”—a few paragraphs on each of 15 commonly problematic “religious words”—is somewhat anemic. Yes, it is true that many of these words earn their bad reputations in UU circles largely due to misuse by adherents to more xenophobic religious systems. But if our best reaction against acidic misuse of a term is to neutralize the term completely, we’re doing something wrong.
Nieuwejaar concludes her apologia for the word sin by redefining it to mean (I'm paraphrasing here) “not doing what you know to be right.” Salvation, she says, boils down to “learning to love oneself.” We love, it seems, so that we can “dwell in a sweet and holy place.” All of these are comforting reinterpretations of words that often carry baggage that disturbs contemporary liberal religious folk. But I worry for the future of a religion that cannot explore deep theological concepts without making them “all about me.”
When will we UU’s outgrow our need for bland theological baby food? When will we learn that talking—and listening—about life’s biggest questions is—needs to be—difficult, challenging, and yes, a little scary?
Nieuwejaar offers much wisdom and insight on the importance of broadening our theological vocabulary—of working through our discomfort with "baggage-laden" language, reclaiming words like God, prayer, and even atonement as not merely acceptable but necessary words in the development of our “creedless faith.” Her passion for the religious education of children shines through, but adults need to hear what she has to say on their own behalf as well. For these chapters alone, I would recommend this book to any thoughtful person of faith.
Unfortunately, while Nieuwejaar’s discussion of the “problem” is inspiring, encouraging, and convicting, the “Vocabulary of Reverence” she provides as a “solution”—a few paragraphs on each of 15 commonly problematic “religious words”—is somewhat anemic. Yes, it is true that many of these words earn their bad reputations in UU circles largely due to misuse by adherents to more xenophobic religious systems. But if our best reaction against acidic misuse of a term is to neutralize the term completely, we’re doing something wrong.
Nieuwejaar concludes her apologia for the word sin by redefining it to mean (I'm paraphrasing here) “not doing what you know to be right.” Salvation, she says, boils down to “learning to love oneself.” We love, it seems, so that we can “dwell in a sweet and holy place.” All of these are comforting reinterpretations of words that often carry baggage that disturbs contemporary liberal religious folk. But I worry for the future of a religion that cannot explore deep theological concepts without making them “all about me.”
When will we UU’s outgrow our need for bland theological baby food? When will we learn that talking—and listening—about life’s biggest questions is—needs to be—difficult, challenging, and yes, a little scary?
August 12, 2014
This small book is packed with ideas that stimulated my thinking. The chapter entitled "God" was the most thought provoking for me. I am now in the process of revising my thinking about what the word "god" means to me. Of course, what it means to others when I use that word may be entirely different than my own meaning. Thus the confusion in communication. Nieuwejaar discusses many such words that have different meanings to different folks: love, prayer, sanctuary, sin, atonement, and more. Unitarian/Universalists often have different meanings for such words, thus leading to a difficulty in communication. This disparity of meaning is a cause for great miscommunications, be it religious talk or any kind of talk. My philosophy of living has been put into a state of disequilibrium while I integrate the ideas presented in this book and construct a new philosophy...at least for now. I have been on the philosophy of life journey since my late teens, and am now in my mid-seventies. And the journey goes on, nudged by this book.
August 12, 2014
Just finished this book, which I have been reading, highlighting, annotating, and scribbling questions on for over two months. Highly recommended for all practicing Unitarian Universalists, who love teasing out meaning from language that is heard so often it's meaningless.
But it's also an excellent read for anyone who wants to delve, deeply, into issues of religious faith. What do we mean when we say "salvation," for example? There are rote answers to the question, but unless they're things we've wrestled with, our faith is just habit (or worse, social custom). Nieuwejaar draws us into words and concepts that are old and familiar and makes us re-think what they might mean--now, urgently--in our lives.
But it's also an excellent read for anyone who wants to delve, deeply, into issues of religious faith. What do we mean when we say "salvation," for example? There are rote answers to the question, but unless they're things we've wrestled with, our faith is just habit (or worse, social custom). Nieuwejaar draws us into words and concepts that are old and familiar and makes us re-think what they might mean--now, urgently--in our lives.
December 11, 2012
A lovely and needed text, especially for Unitarian Universalists, Nieuwejaar presents brief meditations on some important religious words. Appropriate to either independent or small group study, the reflections are best taken one at a time, with space to stop and find one's own relationship with the words named.
February 18, 2013
This was a great, quick read for a Sunday afternoon that made me think about my spiritual journey.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews