Welcome to UUism!: The Living Tradition

About a hundred years ago, Rev. Dr. Lewis Fisher, dean of Ryder Divinity
School in Chicago, a one time Universalist seminary, wrote, “Universalists
are often asked to tell where they stand. The only true answer to give to
this question is that we do not stand at all, we move.”
Unitarians, Universalists, and now Unitarian Universalists have long been
something of a restless people. As individuals and as communities,
whether congregations or our institutions, we are a seeking people. Despite
our faults and limitations, we do, at least in our minds, want to become
better people and groups. We are people who ask hard questions and do
not settle for easy answers. Our penchant for wordsmithing and talking
things through (sometimes too far) reflects a desire to capture us at our
best.
This may be, at least in part, because our theology, like the practice of our
faith, is constantly in motion. The 20th century Unitarian-then-Unitarian
Universalist theologian Rev. Dr. James Luther Adams wrote that “revelation
is continuous” – framed today as “revelation is not sealed.” Not only do we
want to be at our best, but we strive to keep moving “onward and upward
forever” (a 19th century Unitarian slogan). There’s both humility and hubris
caught in this phrase – a humility recognizing we don’t have it quite right
yet, and a hubris that we might yet be able to achieve it.
Our theologians have then witnessed and articulated that we are in motion.
For all these reasons, we have referred to our faith as a Living Tradition.
Like individuals and our congregations, our religion grows and changes
with time, as we seek to answer the questions of our time, both within and
without our spaces. We are in active tense: becoming, evolving, living.
Every year at our annual General Assembly, the national gathering of
Unitarian Universalist delegates from UU member congregations to do the
business of the UU Association, we debate on issues and changes to the
UUA bylaws, Business Resolutions, Actions of Immediate Witness, and
more.

In recognition of how our movement changes over time, most years at
General Assembly also include the “Service of the Living Tradition,” where
milestones for ministers, religious educators, and musicians are honored –
at various points on the credentialing processes, retirement, and death.
Like our congregations, our faith itself changes as people enter and others
leave.
As always, if there’s something about our faith that you’d like to learn more
about, let me know and I’d be glad to consider it for a column!