Workshop 3: Rising Tides: Reason as a Religious Source

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Part of Faith like a River: Themes from Unitarian Universalist History

In This Section

Introduction
From Faith Like a River

Where our treasure is, there our heart be also. And where our heart is there will be our reason and our premises. — James Luther Adams Throughout history, humans have proclaimed the sources of their religious knowledge as a means to establish a basis of authority for their religious beliefs. The…
Workshop-at-a-Glance
From Faith Like a River

Activity Minutes Welcoming and Entering 0 Opening 5 Activity 1: For the Love of Stars 25 Activity 2: Time Line of Reason as a Source of Religious Belief 40 Activity 3: Sources of Religious Knowledge 15 Activity 4: The Premises of Reason 20 Faith in Action: Sources of Religious Authority in Our…
Spiritual Preparation
From Faith Like a River

Give some thought to these questions so you will arrive at the workshop centered and ready to engage with the material and the group: What level of importance do I place on reason in my own theology? How do reason and emotion interact in my faith?…
Welcoming and Entering
From Faith Like a River

Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape Sign-in sheet and pen/pencil Name tags and markers Workshop 1, Leader Resource 1, Schedule Template Workshop 1, Handout 2, Time Line of UU History Preparation for Activity Create and post a workshop agenda on newsprint. The Workshop-at-a-Glance…
Opening
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 5 minutes Materials for Activity Chalice, candle, and lighter or LED battery-operated candle Optional: Decorative cloth Preparation for Activity Set up a worship or centering table with the chalice and (optional) decorative cloth. Optional: Invite a participant in advance to act as…
Activity 1: For the Love of Stars
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 25 minutes Materials for Activity A copy of the story “For the Love of Stars” Leader Resource 1, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, Photograph Newsprint, markers, and tape Optional: Computer and digital projector Preparation for Activity Print out the story and prepare to present it to the…
Activity 2: Time Line of Reason as a Source of Religious Belief
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 40 minutes Materials for Activity Leader Resource 2, Time Line of Reason as a Source of Religious Belief Workshop 1, Handout 2, Time Line of UU History Handout 1, Humanism and its Aspirations — Humanist Manifesto I Preparation for Activity Copy Handout 1, Humanism and its Aspiratio…
Activity 3: Sources of Religious Knowledge
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 15 minutes Materials for Activity Leader Resource 3, Sources of Religious Knowledge Handout 2, Sources of the Living Tradition Paper and pens, pencils, and markers Preparation for Activity Print out and review Leader Resource 3, Sources of Religious Knowledge….
Activity 4: The Premises of Reason
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 20 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 3, Scientific Salvation Three small objects for a ritual, perhaps smooth stones, flowers, sea shells, small sculptures or craft pieces, or candles Preparation for Activity Copy Handout 3….
Closing
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 5 minutes Materials for Activity Chalice, candle, and lighter or LED battery-operated candle Taking It Home Optional: Faith in Action from this workshop and/or Spiritual Preparation from Workshop 4 Preparation for Activity Download and customize Taking It Home as a handout. You may…
Leader Reflection and Planning
From Faith Like a River

After the workshop, co-leaders should talk together to evaluate this workshop and plan future workshops. Use these questions to guide your shared reflection and planning: What parts of the workshop worked well and which did not? Why? How was the success, or lack of success, related to the topics?
Faith In Action: Sources of Religious Authority in Our Congregation
From Faith Like a River

Materials for Activity Commissi… on Appraisal, Engaging Our Theological Diversity Description of Activity The 2005 publication by the Commission on Appraisal (COA), Engaging Our Theological Diversity, includes a section entitled “2004 Statement of Agreement and Tensions.” This is the result of a…
Alternate Activity 1: Cone vs. Abbott - Is Scientific Reason an Adequate Guide for Living?
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 30 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 4, Reason and Reverence Worship Resources Copies of Singing the Living Tradition, the Unitarian Universalist hymnbook, for all participants Materials for creating worship, e.g., the chalice, table, and decorative cloth from the workshop…
Alternate Activity 2: Heritage of Heresy - Bisbee and Tuttle on the Universalist Frontier
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 30 minutes Materials for Activity Heritage of Heresy: Bisbee and Tuttle on the Universalist Frontier video Computer with Internet access, projector, and speakers Preparation for Activity Queue the four-part video Heritage of Heresy. Test computer equipment, projector and speakers.
Alternate Activity 3: Common Unitarian Beliefs - 1887 and 1936
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 40 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 5, Things Most Commonly Believed Today Among Us (1887) and Unitarians Face a New Age (1936) Newsprint, markers, and tape Optional: Computer and digital projector Preparation for Activity Copy Handout 5, Things Most Commonly Believed Today…
Alternate Activity 4: The Clockwork Universe of Deism
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 30 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape Paper and markers Drawing and collage supplies including fancy papers, and old magazines and catalogs Scissors, glue, and tape http://adler.minisisinc.com/adler/scripts/mwimain.dll?get&file=[adl… of orrieries from the…
Taking It Home: Rising Tides: Reason as a Religious Source
From Faith Like a River

Where our treasure is, there our heart be also. And where our heart is there will be our reason and our premises. — James Luther Adams Writing in their 2005 publication, Engaging Our Theological Diversity, the UUA’s Commission on Appraisal reported on the response to a statement in their theology…
For the Love of Stars

Gail Forsyth-Vail

From Faith Like a River

From Stories in Faith: Exploring Our Unitarian Universalist Principles and Sources Through Wisdom Tales, a Tapestry of Faith Toolkit Book (Boston: Skinner House, 2007). Once there was a little girl named Cecilia who fell in love with the universe. She felt her heart leap with joy every time she…
Handout 1: Humanism and its Aspirations: Humanist Manifesto I
From Faith Like a River

Copyright 1933 by The New Humanist and 1973 by the American Humanist Association. Used with permission. Please note that this is no longer a current statement of humanist convictions; it has been replaced by http://www.americanhumanist.org/who_we_are/about_humanism/Humanist_Mani… and Its…
Handout 2: Sources of the Living Tradition

Unitarian Universalist Association

From Faith Like a River

From Article II, Section C 2.1. Bylaws of the Unitarian Universalist Association. …
Handout 3: Scientific Salvation

Mark W. Harris

From Faith Like a River

This reading is for multiple voices, a narrator, and several individuals who represent early 20th-century Unitarians and Universalists. Excerpted and adapted from Elite: Uncovering Classism in Unitarian Universalist History by Mark W. Harris (Boston, Skinner House, 2011). Used with permission.
Handout 4: Reason and Reverence Worship Resources
From Faith Like a River

Hymns In Singing the Living Tradition, the Unitarian Universalist hymnbook: Hymn 26, “Holy, Holy, Holy” Hymn 30, “Over My Head” Hymn 145, “As Tranquil Streams that Meet and Merge” Hymn 174, “O Earth, You Are Surpassing Fair” Hymn 287, “Faith of the Larger Liberty” Hymn 288, “All are Architects of…
Handout 5: Things Most Commonly Believed Today Among Us (1887) and Unitarians Face A New Age (1936)
From Faith Like a River

Things Most Commonly Believed Today Among Us A Statement of Faith written by William Channing Gannett for the 1887 meeting of the Western Unitarian Conference in Chicago, adopted by a vote of 59 to 13. We believe that to love the Good and to live the Good is the supreme thing in religion; We hold…
Leader Resource 1: Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, Photograph
From Faith Like a River

Used by permission of the Smithsonian Institution Archives. Image SIA2009-1325.
Leader Resource 2: Time Line of Reason as a Source of Religious Belief
From Faith Like a River

Reason can be described as “the mental capacity or power to use the human mind in reaching and establishing truth.” Reason has played an important role in religion since the Greek philosophers pronounced it a masterful principle of Creation, and human knowledge to be a result of the free exercise…
Leader Resource 3: Sources of Religious Knowledge
From Faith Like a River

Throughout the course of human history, many have attempted to create meaning and search for truths. With this came the need to establish the sources of religious knowledge and authority. The earliest religions were based on oral traditions as history, culture, and worldview was passed from…
Find Out More
From Faith Like a River

Commissi… on Appraisal, Engaging Our Theological Diversity Unitaria… Face A New Age: The Report of the Commission of Appraisal to the American Unitarian Association (Boston: The Commission of Appraisal 1936) Read http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044016903312;view=1up;seq=5……