I am excited, and a bit nervous, about March in our congregation. Our worship theme is Christianity, which over the past half century seems to have become the most challenging world religion for us to discuss and experience as Unitarian Universalists. It’s definitely the most challenging world religion for me. Some of what Jesus taught, about loving ALL our neighbors and praying for those who persecute us, is central to my religious faith, but I have not been able to will myself to believe some of the tenets of Christian doctrine, and I find some of the ideas – about Jesus being sacrificed to atone for the sins of others, or that accepting Jesus as one’s personal savior is the only way to salvation – to be very problematic.

It is one of life’s funny and joyful mysteries that I find myself leading our lifespan faith development program, and I am looking forward to hearing from as many of you as are willing to share with me about what Christianity means to you. How do we make good on the greeting we offer each Sunday, that we support each other on our own, and our shared spiritual journeys? What should we be teaching our children about Jesus, about Christians, and about God?

What DO we teach them by our example; by what we say and do, and by what we don’t say and don’t do? It is a bold and exciting experiment to be a Unitarian Universalist today, as we attempt to build a beloved community that embraces theological diversity. Let’s talk about how we’re doing at embracing the Christians among us, and healing the wounds that others of us have felt in our interactions with Christian churches and Christian institutions.

Peace be with us – see you in church.