Building the City

Sunday, September 27

Led by Rev. F. Vernon Wright V

Location: Sanctuary

Square at the foundation of the Unitarian tradition lies John Winthrop, the English Congregational Calvinist who founded Boston to be the beacon on a hill, a light to the nations. He, no doubt, borrowed quite a few notions from John Calvin’s Geneva experiment. He dreamed of a city that would put biblical knowledge tempered with a respect for reason in the heart of all citizens and the liberality of Christ’s message at the core of the tradition. Equality would be centered on a common commitment to humility and service.

There are many problems associated with trying to create a utopia, however. Within the first decade, Roger Williams and Ann Hutchinson had been exiled. Relatively minor infractions could cause a person to be pilloried. Witches were burned, and native Americans had to be converted. If you weren’t a man or a part of the Congregational church, you couldn’t vote. And of course there was the prudishness of the blue laws, and the prim and proper classism that has plagued our region for centuries.

But there were some good things that came with the tradition too. The nation’s first public schools were founded. Harvard was created. According to scholars and writers like Marylin Robinson, the Bay Colony placed more emphasis on human rights than any other colony and nation on the European continent. 

Thought leaders like William Ellery Channing, who began as a Congregational minister but became the principal spokesperson for Unitarianism, began to place greater emphasis on love over law. He was devoted to women’s rights and abolition. Though he was dubious about government’s ability to make moral progress, he remained committed to the prospect that church, separated from the powers of the state, should certainly be involved in providing the moral compass to society.

In the spirit of all who dreamed of “The Beautiful City,” we continue to dare to imagine what the beautiful city would look like. We want our love-centered values of justice, equity, transformation, pluralism, interconnectedness, and generosity to be mirrored in our neighborhoods, school committees, police departments, zoning laws, and public works projects. Not that we would force anyone to do these things, but we might in our UU way, passionately suggest them!

Join us as we explore this theme in Worship

Service begins at 10 a.m. This is a hybrid service. Join us in the sanctuary or log on to Zoom from the comfort and safety of your own home to participate in our worship experience. Service ends at 11 a.m., followed by coffee and fellowship.

We are a certified Welcoming Congregation and Green Sanctuary