Covenant Group Session 8 - Evangelism

Chalice:  Evangelism is just one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.

D.T. Niles

Check-in:

Reading:  All this talk of saving souls.  Souls weren't meant to save, like Sunday clothes that give out at the seams.  They're made for wear;   they don't come with lifetime guarantees.  Don't save your soul.  Pour it out like rain on cracked, parched earth.  Give your soul away, or pass it on like a candle flame.  Sing it out, or laugh it up the wind.  Souls are meant for hearing broken hearts, for puzzling dreams, remembering August flowers, forgetting hurts.  These men who talk of saving souls!  They have the look of bullies who blow out candles before you sing happy birthday, and want the world to be in alphabetical order.  I will spend my soul, playing it out like sticky string into the world, so I can catch every last thing I touch.

Linda M. Underwood

Quotes from the Common Bowl:  see attached

Life Questions:

1.       Why should we seek to promote our way of religion?

2.      Is the word 'evangelism' a hot button for us?  Why or why not?

3.      What do you think accounts for the recent movement in Unitarian Universalism to evangelize or spread the word about our religious beliefs?

4.      What are your experiences sharing Unitarian Universalism with the wider community?  Do you meet judgment, curiosity, antagonism, open minds?

5.      Are you comfortable sharing your religious beliefs?  With whom, and in what settings/context?  What prevents us from sharing with others?

6.      How would you define the "good news" of Unitarian Universalism?

Closing ritual:

We extinguish this flame but not the light of truth,

The warmth of community,

Or the fire of commitment.

These we carry in our hearts until we are together again.

Check-out