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St. Cloud State University
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Universalist faith attracts following
By Tia VanVeldhuizen
Published:
Thursday, April 7, 2005
Media Credit: Tim Gruber
Universal Unitarians Bev Webb, Troy Foede and Cal Gower stand in front of their fellowship, which was a part of their first church and dates back to 1890.
Ask a member of the Unitarian Universalist church who god is, and each will offer a different explanation.
Some might not even believe in a divine power.
The Unitarian Universalist (UU) faith believes each person creates their own idea of who god is.
Some of its early followers include the "father of American education" Horace Mann, speaker Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer Henry David Thoreau, former presidents John Adams and William Howard Taft, women's rights reformer Susan B. Anthony and actor Christopher Reeve.
There are about 100 members of two UU churches near St. Cloud.
The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (UUF) church on Maine Prairie Road was established in 1961 and Spirit of Life Church meets in Sauk Rapids.
Cal Gower, one of the founders of the UUF, said the church is now growing. UUF has 75 members and Spirit of Life has 25 members.
Members of the UU faith are generally open to all beliefs except for those considered racist or violent. They agree on issues of social justice but differ on views of who god is.
"We're very much a diverse faith," said Troy Foede, president-elect of the UUF.
Doctrines of salvation and an afterlife are not part of the UU faith, said Roger Grugel, president of Spirit of Life.
"If there's an afterlife, that's great, but we can't count on that and we should not be waiting for the next world," Grugel said. "We should make this world better."
Grugel said most members believe Jesus Christ is an example, not a savior. He said spiritual growth comes through our power to reason, think and love.
"Developing those faculties of the soul brings us closer to the creator," Grugel said. "We grow closer to that ideal of actualizing ourselves, of becoming more like our creator."
He said evil comes from oppression in the form of an untreated mental illness or financial struggles that lead someone to steal. The biggest evil is from institutions like apartheid and segregation.
"Evil happens when we can't be fully human," he said.
Grugel, Gower and Foede shared their UU beliefs at a Unite forum, an interfaith group, Tuesday.
"You probably won't get the same answer from all of us," Grugel said.
Gower had not attended church before he became a member of the UU faith. Gower said the UU church did not stress a personal god, and that attracted him to the faith.
He said the idea of a "harsh god," from what he heard of Christian churches, didn't fit in with his optimistic outlook on life.
He said he found freedom in the UU to accept teachings from different religions. He also valued its teachings on social justice and science.
The UUF has participated in social programs with the homeless, Habitat for Humanity, roadside cleanup, the Salvation Army and peace vigils.
Grugel was raised Catholic and became angry with a god who he believed allowed evil to happen.
"I didn't know religion could be like this," Grugel said.
He appreciated its openness to science.
"Science and reason did not defeat faith, but enhanced it," he said.
Grugel said he does not believe in a universal truth for everyone.
"One creed, one answer just doesn't work," he said.
He said the UU has allowed him to re-interpret his Christian upbringing.
"My god is not all powerful anymore," he said. "My god is love and compassion, but does not dictate how the world operates. This is how I resolve it."
Grugel said sometimes the different beliefs in god create tension in the group.
Foede said he likes that the UU faith includes more than just one book or guide. He was raised Catholic and said he could not believe in the dogma of the Catholic church.
There are more than 1,000 UU churches in the United States. Recent changes in the church have been re-wording of their hymns to eliminate gender references and affirmation of same sex marriages.
UUF's Sunday services are similar to a Protestant service with hymns, readings and sharing time, according to Grugel.
Judy Foster, an English professor, said a UU group may start up on campus this fall.
"We have been trying for the last several years to get a student group going," she said, but there weren't enough interested students.
More information about the UU faith is at www.auu.org.
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