Welcome to the UUCF website

Welcome to the website of the Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship! The Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship is a movement and organization of women and men-members of a UU church or of other churches or who are unchurched-who are interested in exploring liberal Christianity as they walk freely in the spirit of Jesus, growing their souls and the soul of the world.

This site enables you to connect with other UUCF groups, find books, sermons & podcasts about UU Christianity, and purchase materials through our book store, create family and small group worship opportunities, or engage in a "virtual monastery."

We hope that regardless if you are a long-time member of the UUCF, or a self-defined "seeker" that you'll be able to find an abundance of resources to deepen your relationship with God, with Jesus, with Scripture and/or with your own spiritual practice.

Kathleen Rolenz, UUCF President

" Religious experience is dynamic, fluid, effervescent, yeasty . . .as long as the experience is vital, the only way it can spread is by con-tagion..."--Howard Thurman

Ever since I got it in my head that I could bake, I have been haunted by the effects (or lack thereof) of yeast and its aftermath. For Thanksgiving I made one perfect loaf of Lithuanian Honey Bread. It rose perfectly and smelled heavenly. For Christmas I tried making Hungarian Rye, and it failed to rise. Undaunted by previous failures, I've tried mak-ing rolls, white bread, pumpernickel and Icelandic Brown Bread, always starting with great enthusiasm and usually yielding to discouragement, because about 50% of the time, for whatever reason, my bread dough stares flatly back at me. Thinking that if I just tried hotter or cooler water, a warmer house, different flour, newer than new yeast, or said ritualistic prayers over the dough, maybe, just maybe, my dough would rise.

It's been frustrating to admit failure (even though I've had 50% success rate.) It's been hard to realize that despite all of my best efforts, including prayer and magical thinking, sometimes my bread does not grow. What's missing, I wonder as I keep buying flour and brand-new yeast. What am I doing wrong? The essential question I am missing, however, is what am I doing right?

Howard Thurman's quote was taken from one of two brief interviews posted on You Tube. "Religious experience is....yeasty...." he said and as soon as he said it, I immediately understood it. The reason I am so persistent about bread baking is because I have come to understand how much of it involves sheer mystery. The combination of water, salt, sugar and yeast alone cannot make something rise--it has to be the right com-bination of those ingredients, in the right order and in the correct tem-perature, in order for that magic to happen--for the flat, elastic dough to begin it's bloom. Some days, when I'm rushed or distracted or in a grim "let's just get this done" mode, I notice that no matter how much I meas-ure or how often I check the temperature, it won't work. The magic won't happen.

So it is with our spiritual life and the Unitarian Universalist Christian Fel-lowship. Your board is in the process of preparing for an every member outreach campaign because we not only want to hear from you, we want to find out what makes your mind, heart and spirit rise. Is it the UUCF Journal? Is it Revivals? Is it the annual communion service at General Assembly? Is it a phone call, a small group, online resources? Is it knowing that you're not alone--that there are over six hundred Unitarian Universalists (and some who don't affiliate with Unitarian Universalism) who feel drawn to and inspired by the life and teachings of Jesus?

Part of our reason for wanting to do this is because, to quote Thurman, "a (vital) religious experience can only be spread by contagion..." For me, that means that my excitement about the UUCF is not something that should be a private affair. I want to be the leaven that helps other groups in the UUCF to rise; to spark a renewed interest in liberal religion in general, and in Unitarian Universalist Christianity in particular. I want to help this particular faith of ours to bloom.

I hope you do too. I hope you'll welcome a call from a member of the Board of Trustees as we not only reach out to you Spirit, but in conversation and will ask for your renewed commitment to the Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go see if this week's bread has risen--but either way; risen or not--I will bow to the mystery, and give thanks for the leaven.

Blessings,
Kathleen Rolenz
UUCF President (June 2010)