In the words of UU Reverend Steven Kendrick "The world around us is deeply influenced, for good or ill, by the spirit of Jesus. We need to be familiar with this insistent and determined character if we are to live and do our work in this world. We will benefit by wrestling with him, not ignoring or bypassing him. There is no doubt that Jesus is troubling, provocative, even annoying at times, but we Unitarian Universalists are known as troublemakers as well. We should understand this kind of personality!
I became a Unitarian Universalist as a Southern convert to a classic humanistic church that was originally a lay-led fellowship, as was the first congregation I served as minister. I understand and appreciate the value members of our congregations place on reason and rationality. Yet when I served a year as a minister to ten struggling English Unitarian chapels, I was touched by the power of their ease with Christian words and concepts. Later, I served for over a decade a church with Universalist roots, and there I learned to appreciate that congregation’s spiritual yearning and ability to connect to the best of our Christian past.