Workshop 2: Against the Flow: Orthodoxy and Heresy

Beautiful orange sunset over a deep blue ocean. — Tapestry is Sunsetting

The UUA is no longer updating Tapestry of Faith programs.

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

In This Section

Introduction
From Faith Like a River

He drew a circle that shut me out — Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle that took him in. — Edwin Markham, American poet (1852-1940) This workshop introduces the terms “orthodoxy” and “heresy” and explores how, throughout history, many of our…
Workshop-at-a-Glance
From Faith Like a River

Activity Minutes Welcoming and Entering 0 Opening 5 Activity 1: Heresy Word Association 25 Activity 2: Arius the Heretic 35 Activity 3: How Open Is Open? 35 Faith in Action: Orthodoxies and Heresies Closing 10 Alternate Activity 1: An Heretical History 25 Alternate Activity 2: Who’s In, and Who’s…
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: When in your life have you felt excluded or marginalized? On what basis were you made to feel an outsider? You may wish to ask participants to engage in this same…
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: Heresy Word Association
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 25 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape Handout 1, Definition of Terms Leader Resource 1, Background — Heresy Preparation for Activity Copy Handout 1, Definition of Terms, for all participants. Print out Leader Resource 1, Background — Heresy. Familiarize…
Activity 2: Arius the Heretic
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 35 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape A copy of the story “Arius the Heretic” Preparation for Activity Read the story. Decide how to convey the introductory information and how to tell the story….
Activity 3: How Open is Open?
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 35 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape Handout 2, Would You Harbor Me?…
Closing
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Chalice, candle, and lighter or LED battery-operated candle Copies of Singing the Living Tradition, the Unitarian Universalist hymnbook Taking It Home Optional: Faith in Action from this workshop and/or Spiritual Preparation from Workshop 3…
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: Orthodoxies and Heresies
From Faith Like a River

Description of Activity Unitarian Universalists share this with all faiths: We hold high ideals and principles, and yet struggle to match our actions with our vision. Even as we honor our birthright as a community of heretics and celebrate our spiritual ancestors who followed their hearts and…
Alternate Activity 1: An Heretical History
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 25 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape Leader Resource 2, An Heretical History Preparation for Activity Read the transcript in Leader Resource 2. Write these questions on newsprint, and post: What was at stake? Why was the orthodoxy of belief so important to…
Alternate Activity 2: Who's In, and Who's Out
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 25 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint and markers Preparation for Activity Write on newsprint, and post: He drew a circle that shut me out — Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But love and I had the wit to win:— We drew a circle that took him in. — Charles Edwin Anson Markham…
Alternate Activity 3: What Makes a Creed?
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 30 minutes Materials for Activity A copy of the story “What Makes a Creed?” Five to seven name tags on strings Preparation for Activity Print out and read the story. Prepare to present the story’s Introduction and Part I, then the role play activity described below, and finally…
Alternate Activity 4: The Racovian Catechism
From Faith Like a River

Activity time: 45 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape Leader Resource 3, The Racovian Catechism Handout 3, The Racovian Catechism Preparation for Activity Copy Handout 3, The Racovian Catechism for all participants. Print out Leader Resource 3….
Taking It Home: Against the Flow: Orthodoxy and Heresy
From Faith Like a River

He drew a circle that shut me out — Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle that took him in. — Edwin Markham, American poet (1852-1940) Reflect on these questions for your journal: Whom do I include or exclude from my community? Why? Could that…
Arius the Heretic

Gail Forsyth-Vail

From Faith Like a River

From Stories in Faith: Exploring Our Unitarian Universalist Principles and Sources Through Wisdom Tales (Boston: UUA, 2007). Arius, a Libyan priest, lived in the 4th century, a time when the leaders of the Christian church, freed from persecution by the Edict of Milan in 312, were engaging in…
What Makes a Creed

Jessica York

From Faith Like a River

Adapted from the Tapestry of Faith story “James Luther Adams,” by Jessica York. Present the story Introduction and Part I, reading aloud up to the point marked “STOP.” Then, lead a role play and discussion as instructed in Alternate Activity 3, Description of Activity….
Handout 1: Definition of Terms
From Faith Like a River

Orthodoxy — from Greek, orthodoxos, from orthos, “right,” and doxa, “belief” Ideas held to be the standard of right belief. A standard of orthodoxy may be established by authority (the judgment of others), tradition (the test of time), testimony (written documentation), or reason (personal…
Handout 2: Would You Harbor Me Lyrics

Ysaye M. Barnwell

From Faith Like a River

Would you harbor me? Would I harbor you? Would you harbor me? Would I harbor you? Would you harbor a Christian, a Muslim, a Jew a heretic, convict or spy? Would you harbor a run away woman, or child, a poet, a prophet, a king? Would you harbor an exile, or a refugee, a person living with AIDS?…
Handout 3: The Racovian Catechism
From Faith Like a River

Excerpts from an 1818 imprint which can be viewed in its entirety online: Rees, Thomas, The Racovian Catechism, with notes and illustrations; translated from the Latin. To which is prefixed a sketch of the history of Unitarianism in Poland and the adjacent countries (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees,…
Leader Resource 1: Background - Heresy
From Faith Like a River

Author Leonard Levy, in his book Blasphemy, notes that “heresy” is not a Hebrew term. In fact, there is no equivalent for it in the Pre-Christian era. Heresy, a view not consistent with the church, depends entirely on the existence of an orthodox religion. Both orthodoxy and heresy were foreign…
Leader Resource 2: An Heretical History
From Faith Like a River

From the video Unitarian Universalism: An Heretical History, produced by the Unitarian Universalist Church of Rockford, IL, 1995. Used with permission. Transcript: The roots of Unitarian Universalism begin at the time of Jesus of Nazareth. We sometimes forget that the earliest followers of Jesus…
Leader Resource 3: The Racovian Catechism
From Faith Like a River

The Racovian Catechism was first published in 1605 in Rakow, Poland, the center of 16th-century Polish Unitarianism, the only town in the world where Unitarians were in the religious majority. From the mid-sixteenth century, inhabitants of this area had enjoyed nearly unprecedented freedom of…
Find Out More
From Faith Like a River

Two Unitarian Universalist Association Commission on Appraisal reports address issues raised in this workshop: http://www.uua.org/sites/live-new.uua.org/files/documents/coa/belonging… The Meaning of Membership (Boston: UUA, 2001) Engaging Our Theological Diversity (Boston, UUA, 2005) Here are…

Download all of Faith Like a River (Word) to edit or print.

The UUA is no longer updating Tapestry of Faith programs.

Workshop 2: Against the Flow: Orthodoxy and Heresy

Tapestry is Sunsetting

Shop Books & Gifts

American Precariat Parables of Exclusion - An Anthology

Get Inspired for Worship

Canticle of Earth

Find Faith Development Tools

Authentic Selves