Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 20, 1991                   TAG: 9104200165
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: E-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Frances Stebbins
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

UNITARIAN LEADER CALLS FOR CHURCH TO DEVELOP NEW IMAGE

But the denomination's image of promoting individual freedom at nearly any price is no longer appropriate, according to the Rev. Dr. F. Forrester Church.

Church is the senior minister of All Souls Church in New York and one of the denomination's national leaders. He addressed an audience of about 150 at Patrick Henry High School auditorium last week as part of the annual convention of the denomination's Thomas Jefferson District, which covers four mid-South states.

Church, the son of late U.S. Sen. Frank Church, proved himself to be a master of ecclesiastical storytelling. His speech hit hard at the prejudices that are sometimes a part of the denomination, which generally seen as the most liberal in the American mainstream.

Unitarians, unlike most major denominations, do not view the doctrine of the Trinity as an essential part of Christian beliefs. They concentrate instead on the humanity of Jesus and the need for his followers to serve others. Universalists, the other branch of the national denomination's orgin, affirm God's salvation for all.

Especially strong in New England, Church said the denomination is now growing most actively in the Southeast. The Rev. Kirk Ballin said his Roanoke Unitarian Universalist congregation, less than 35 years old, has outgrown several meeting places and is continuing to steadily pick up adherents from newcomers to the valley, both young adults and those of retirement age.

Most of the church's younger members are coming from secularized backgrounds, Church said. They are joining those who joined the denomination in the 1960s, when Unitarians' free-spirited rational theology and practice was more in tune with the popular culture.

But that culture has changed, Church asserted, and the church's image, which it carried from its 19th century beginnings, needs to be updated, if not discarded.

"Our problem today is not bondage [to Calvinistic moralism and conservatism] but bondlessness . . . the free-spirited literature on which we were weaned . . . is a document of rejection."

Church explained that older generations of Unitarians got by explaining what they did not believe in - namely, the unprovable trappings of miracles and idealistic dreams by which other believers sustained their faith.

But Church said along with this rejection of orthodox belief there was all too often an arrogance about intelligence and education that boxed in the believers even as they preached tolerance for all.

Bashing fundamentalists, Church said, never was proper for church-supporting people, and today it is demeaning the church. Instead of concentrating on their individual superiority, Unitarians must join the community to make a better world.

They can do this, Church suggested, by focusing on three areas about which conservative American Christians often speak out - the flag, the family and the Bible.

Instead of a perpetual protest attitude, members need to learn to articulate the positive values of their faith. Church suggested working through the political process and cooperating with other churches to provide better care for children and encourage a balance between ages and needs in a new kind of family.

Above all, Church said, Unitarians must study the Bible. If they take the trouble, they will find that Christ was the ultimate radical and freedom lover in his rejection of what is false and unjust.

But language must change. If Unitarians can't stomach orthodox talk about sin and salvation, there's no reason they can't accept some different terminology.

Church said a feeling of uselessness, alienation from the source of all goodness and strength or contempt for other people is sin.

The church has special appeal for adults who have lost their faith in their own ability to manage their lives and who long for genuine caring and a chance to work for a better world with others, Church said. He also observed that denominational growth comes, not from the endless self-analysis that mature people do well, but from thanking God for the good in life.

If sin is bondlessness, salvation is wholeness, wellness, holiness, haleness and a willingness to pray for enemies. Seeking those qualities is biblical and a positive antidote for the ills of both individuals and society, the minister concluded.