The Almost Church: Redefining Unitarian Universalism for a New Era [Paperback]

Michael Durall (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2004

Redefining Unitarian Universalism

Product Details

• Paperback: 88 pages
• Publisher: Jenkin Lloyd Jones Press, Tulsa (2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 097553890X
• ISBN-13: 978-0975538906
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,249,796 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST-READ for all UUs!!!, August 10, 2006

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My two-cents worth... (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Almost Church: Redefining Unitarian Universalism for a New Era (Paperback)

Never a truer word written! The message of this author is simple, yet bold and courageous.

As a 4th-generation Unitarian (Universalist) myself, I never had the luxury of having a starry-eyed vision of the denomination. Many people who first encounter the faith as adults are victim to just that. Their almost palpable joy and relief at finding religious liberalism and embodied within a faith so different than the one in which they may have been raised -- one with which they may have strongly disagreed, one they may have felt completely disillusioned with, one they may callously have been abused by -- seems to blind them to reality.

There is no perfect faith, there is no perfect religion, and there is no perfect denomination - not even Unitarian Universalism.

Any institution created by and/or entrusted to human beings will be subject to the laws of human nature. That includes Unitarian Universalism. The denomination would have been (and still will be) well served to keep its feet firmly planted on the ground, remaining ever vigilant about its institutional introspection and mindfulness.

This book, written by an outsider (a non-UU), has had the courage to tell difficult truths simply and with clarity. Had Unitarian Universalism been the beneficiary of its wisdom much earlier (and had chosen to actively embraced it), there very likely would have been a 5th generation of UUs in my family. Sadly for the denomination, they did not ...and so there is not.

While it's too late for my family, it's not too late for those who are currently proud to call themselves UU and find the faith and it's fellowshipping deeply enriching to their lives and their spiritual journeys. But, heeding the wake-up call of this book and choosing to ardently foment substantial major change within the faith is needed to ensure that the future of the faith -- those children raised in the bosom of UU religious liberalism - will remain committed to the denomination.

I was once one of those children, yet that chance was squandered. Now an adult, Unitarian Universalism is a denomination with which I have strong disagreements, feel completely disillusioned with, and was callously abused by. Durall's book has touched upon some aspects of the discontent felt by other former UU children like me who now consider ourselves "recovering UUs."