So yeah, I now live in the greater Birmingham, Alabama area and there are big churches all over the place. Religion is very big here, so I felt a nudging social pressure to at least go to some kind of service.
I decided to checkout the UU Easter service. The Unitarian Universalists are the one church I find the most agreeable. All beliefs or even non-beliefs are welcome. I even saw a fellow skeptic at the service from my Meetup group.
The service had a lot of the things about church that I just find very blah. A speaker reads while the congregations reads a response and also the Hymns and music. To their credit, the music part and choir wasn't that bad. For me it was just to early to get into it and I really didn't have my coffee yet.
Aside from all of what I consider "Filler", I did enjoy their Homily and their Reverend is a very pleasant German woman. Her Homily on Easter was wide open on what the heck is this holiday anyway? She included a range of comments on Easter mentioning Jesus but also the Goddess Eostra who's symbol of fertility was the bunny rabbit. She also put it into a context as a Spring Time celebration. That in a way, nature sort of renews or 'Resurrects' in the Spring after the long dormant Winter.
I will share one more detail that really sets this church apart. The minister stated that in her own personal thoughts she did not believe in the literal bodily resurrection of Jesus. I want to be clear that she is not 'Preaching' this to everyone at all. Just sharing her own conclusion. Otherwise, she did view the life of Jesus as a teacher and a good person and something to celebrate.
From my own point of view as a Skeptic attending, I wish I could fast forward and just sit in on the Homily. I don't get much out of the Ritual of church services. I do like this Minister's Homilies and stories though. Also, the part of this church that I do appreciate the most is anyone can openly step forward as a Skeptic or Atheist and the community will not give you $#@! about it. There is even a downstairs meetup if people want to just have a Secular discussion group and coffee. I have been to one of those as well and really enjoyed it.
Anyway, just wanted to share the experience.
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