• Home
  • rainbow flagA Welcoming Congregation
  • Safe Congregation SealKeeping Safe
  • Capital Campaign
    • Contact: Capital Campaign
  • DONATE/REALM
  • TUCWomen
    • About TUCWomen
    • Join Us
    • Events
    • Contact
  • Contact
  • Instagram

The Unitarian Church in Westport

10 Lyons Plains Rd., Westport, CT 06880 - Ph: (203)227-7205 Sunday Services: 10:00 AM

uua-logo-2
  • Calendar
    • Calendar
    • SOUNDINGS
    • Communications Guidelines
    • ZOOM Instructions
    • Tips For Making Videos
    • Event & Space Reservations
    • TUCWSocial Email List Ground Rules
  • Welcome Visitors
    • UU Orientation
    • Directions & Services
    • Special Ceremonies & Dedications
    • Our Congregational History
    • Our Faith
    • What is a Unitarian Universalist?
    • We are Unitarian Universalists
    • How did you become a Unitarian Universalist?
    • History of the Flaming Chalice
    • UU History in 8 Minutes
  • About Us
    • Our Mission Statement
    • Our Vision Statement
    • About Our Ministers
    • Our Staff
    • Getting Involved
    • Board of Trustees
    • Governance
    • The Naming Committee
    • Healing and Resilience Task Force
    • Congregant Celebration
    • Pastoral Care Chaplains
    • Our Welcoming Congregation
    • Photo & Video Galleries
    • Links – Beyond Our Walls
    • SOUNDINGS
    • Communications Guidelines
    • Events & Space Reservations
    • Pledging
  • FAITH FORMATION
    • Faith Formation for Children and Youth 2022-23
    • Welcome to Family Faith Formation
    • This Week in Family Faith Formation
    • Faith Formation Age Groupings 2022-23
    • What to Expect on Sunday Mornings
    • OWL Information at a Glance
    • Youth Ministry
    • Adult Faith Formation
    • Soul Matters
    • Keeping Safe
    • Faith Formation Registration
  • Social Justice
    • Welcome to Social Justice
    • Advocates for Prevention of Gun Violence
    • Beardsley School Committee
    • Immigration and Refugee Committee
    • KIVA Microfinance Committee
    • Racial Justice Committee
    • Westbridge Coalition
  • Music Program
    • Music Choir Schedules
    • Evensong
    • Our Minister of Music
    • The Music Committee
    • The Bell Choir
    • The Choir (Women and Men)
    • Special Projects Choir
    • Once & Again Singers
    • Children’s Choir
    • Teen Choir
    • The Chamber Choir
    • Sight-singing Classes
    • Cabaret
    • Voice Classes
    • Love Is the Spirit
    • Tune My Heart To Sing
    • Support Our Music Program
  • Sermons & Poetry
    • Minister’s Messages
    • Sermons – Audio
    • Sermons – Video
    • Rev. John T. Morehouse’s sermons
    • From Your Senior Minister: Facing Grace
    • Facing Grace – Rev. John’s blog
    • Rev. Frank Hall, Minister Emeritus – sermons
    • Rev. Frank Hall, Minister Emeritus – Dear Friends
    • Intern Minister’s sermons
    • Guest Minister’s sermons
    • Poetry & Readings
    • Communications from Your Ministers
  • Live Stream

A Minister’s Message – Context is Everything – April 26, 2022

April 26, 2022 by Rev. Dr. John T. Morehouse - Senior Minister

One of the most important considerations in developing a theology is the context in which we search for greater meaning. Where we are — in terms of age, ethnicity, class and location — has everything to do with how we search for and find greater meaning.

For most of us, our context is of privileged, mostly white Americans living in a complex time of shifting political and cultural values. Many of us are older, some younger. We come with a vast range of histories. Some of us have known incredible hardship, others not. What we are comfortable with informs much of what we believe.

I have seen this contrast most vividly in worship. For the most part our congregation is comfortable with a vaguely naturalist understanding of the Divine, rooted in Nature and our care for humanity. Most of us believe humanity to be good but capable of doing terrible deeds. Many of us like classical music and hymnody, we generally eschew clapping unless it is in time with the music, and we don’t like to hear politics mentioned in the service. Contrast that with what others of us consider as worship: wherein clapping is a sign of joy and acceptance, music is always meant to be sung, and bodies move freely as part of worship. One younger person told me that when I asked us not to mention politics at the candle boat she felt left out, since politics — as a struggle for acceptance and equal rights — is very spiritual for her.

As we come to grips with our shared theological identity we would do well to name the contexts we live in; most notably the context of white privilege, which does not see anything wrong with imagining a theological construct that mirrors the status quo. One of the reasons Building Your Own Theology is so successful is that it begins with where you are and where you came from.

My questions for you this week are these: Why do you believe what you do about that which gives you ultimate meaning? Are you rejecting the Gods of your past or rejecting religions that use God for their own political purposes? What about who you are and where you came from informs what you believe in? I am a religious naturalist because I have experienced something much greater than myself or even this known reality, but I choose to anchor that experience in what I see mirrored in the natural world, having grown up in New England and having traveled to places of amazing natural beauty.

How about you? Drop me a reply. And join us this Sunday as Kim Warman and I unpack the Spirit within the beauty of the Earth.

Be amazed, Rev. John

Filed Under: Minister's Message Tagged With: Minister's Message, Rev. John. T. Morehouse

  • Minister’s Messages
  • Sermons – Audio
  • Sermons – Video
  • Rev. John T. Morehouse’s sermons
  • From Your Senior Minister: Facing Grace
  • Facing Grace – Rev. John’s blog
  • Rev. Frank Hall, Minister Emeritus – sermons
  • Rev. Frank Hall, Minister Emeritus – Dear Friends
  • Intern Minister’s sermons
  • Guest Minister’s sermons
  • Readings & Poetry
  • Communications from Your Ministers

     The Unitarian Church in Westport
     is a member congregation of the
     Unitarian Universalist Association

      CLICK HERE if you have any questions      about The Unitarian Church in Westport

Church Hours: Tuesday - Friday
9:30 AM to 4:00 PM

Summer Hours:
July & August until after Labor Day:
Tuesday - Friday 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM

CLICK HERE to contact the web master

CLICK HERE to opt in to receive
the Weekly Congregational Email Blast

Copyright © 2023 · Visit us at The Unitarian Church in Westport - 10 Lyons Plains Rd., Westport, CT 06880 - All rights reserved.