JW vs SDA funding? What a nail biter lol.
slimboyfat joins the Unitarians!
by slimboyfat 52 Replies latest members private
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_Morpheus
Lol 101 i was only kidding. Trust and believe slim dosent need encouragement to start more ‘the wt is broke’ threads. They are coming.
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LV101
Morph - LOL - I thought you were the new 'Topic Nazi' kinda like the 'Clipboard Nazi' in my neighborhood if I park crooked in my driveway. Believe me, Slim doesn't go on my requests!
I love your posts - well, most - and you make me LOL! I'd love to be you or Cofty for one day - a lifetime would be preferable! I died laughing at some of Cofty's one liner's with couple words few days ago in a topic.
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shepherdless
shepherdless it would be interesting to see the earlier figures for Unitarians (2006, 2001, 1996. 1991?) to establish the trend. It may be there were too few to count in 2016, or their churches disappeared completely.
It turns out I was looking in the wrong spot for Unitarians in the 2016 Aust census. In 2006 and 2011 they are listed under “other Christian”. In 2016, they were included in a list of secular beliefs.
I can’t access data pre-2006. Figures I have are:
2006: 1011
2011: 1335
2016: 970.
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_Morpheus
You can aspire to much better than me
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darkspilver
Interesting OP, thanks!
I always thought the Unitarians where interesting as they are non-trinitarian
slimboyfat: He also made the comment that Unitarians are not accepted by the word council of churches,
presumably, because they're non-trinitarian
BTW, remember in the UK it was a illegal to be a non-trinitarian before Parliament passed the Trinity Act in 1813 (sponsored by a Whig)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctrine_of_the_Trinity_Act_1813
And it wasn't until Parliament passed the Dissenters' Act in 1844 that the Unitarians could own their own buildings
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Hewley_Trust#Dissenters.27_Chapels_Act_1844
FYI below is the most recent WT reference to the Unitarians
Awake May 8, 2005: Watching the World: Demise of the Unitarians?
“One of [Britain’s] oldest denominations . . . is in terminal decline and will be extinct within decades,” states The Times of London. The Unitarian movement has fewer than 6,000 members in Britain. Half of these are over 65 years of age. Forecast of the movement’s demise was made by Peter Hughes, a senior minister of the denomination. Using their oldest chapel in Liverpool as an example, Hughes said: “They have had no minister since 1976 and the Unitarian cause there is effectively dead.” The designation “Unitarian” has been used in Britain since 1673, says The Times. “Many English Presbyterians became Unitarians in the 18th century, inspired to reject the belief in the Trinity in a theological debate over the divinity of Christ that caused a crisis in the Church of England.” The paper adds: “But now that it is no longer illegal to embrace a non-Trinitarian belief, and many churches turn a blind eye to ‘believers’ who have liberal views on traditional doctrines, there is not the demand for the Unitarian movement that there was.”
There is also this from 2013
British Unitarians rally to save faith from extinction
UUWorld, April 22, 2013
‘Growing Unitarianism’ movement seeks to reverse decline and promote excitement.
The average Unitarian congregation in Great Britain has 21 members. There are only two congregations with more than 100 members. In the whole country there are 3,600 Unitarians in 173 congregations. Compare this to the time around World War I when there were approximately 50,000 Unitarians.
And finally, an interesting list of famous Unitarians....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/unitarianism/people/people.shtml
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dogisgod
Interesting. Thank you. I have been attending a UU "church" for about 6 yrs. I find it mentally stimulating and very inclusive. I am very impressed by their social activism. Their work on the environment. Their programs for children are phenomenal. I have only had experience with this congregation. When I first attended their minister had been there for 16 yrs and had a lot of control ..... of many things. They seem to be VERY democratic and debate is the rule de jour. Coming from the borg this is very refreshing. They love being part of their community and making it better. The Sunday service may vary according to the minister presiding. We have a lot of lay led services which I really enjoy. I find them to be very open to concepts and dedicated to living in covenant to each other.
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slimboyfat
This is very interesting. Are the Unitarians a common home for former JWs? I can see the attraction.
I wonder if American Unitarians are more Christian than British Unitarians.
I do find it slightly odd to hear all the religious language of ministers, services, worship, church and so on, but without the traditional religious content of those terms. But the problem is probably mine, because Unitarians themselves seem entirely comfortable with it.
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Still Totally ADD
Slimboyfat some congregation our Christian others are Christian, pagan, atheists and some Buddhist. 80% of the congregations are liberal and 20% conservative. Our congregation is mostly liberal with small number conservative. Most come from Catholic, Jewish, pagan and fundamentalist religion's. We have several gays and transgender. The biggest problem most UU congregations have is it is mostly white. Right now they are working hard in having more interaction with the black community.
As dogisgod said it is a very refreshing experience going there compared to the Borg. We enjoy it very much. Still Totally ADD
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Bangalore
Great story.Thanks for sharing.