Newport RI's Channing Memorial ain't your grandmother's Sunday church

Got gods? Channing Memorial does, more than you can count

NEWPORT, RI - This ain't your grandmother's Sunday church. They don't talk about sinning and suffering. They don't talk about the right way or wrong way, good way or bad way. No gender, no sexuality. And surprisingly, no guilt. It's a little bit Christian, a little bit Pagan. You'll find some Episcopalian and some Greek Orthodox in there. A dash of Judaism and a hint of Buddhism. It's not afraid of Islam or feminism or politics.

Unitarian Universalism (UU) is a smorgasbord of religious beliefs. In fact, it began as two distinct religions that merged into one, seemingly all-encompassing religion. And though it's certainly not new — the Unitarian side dates back to 16th-century Transylvania and the Universalist side dates back to 18th-century America — its general concept is gaining popularity with each passing year. More and more people, it seems, are opting for an open and welcoming a la carte approach to religion, rather than a strict and exclusionary conformity to the institution.

"It's about promoting and affirming moral and ethical issues, but not under the guise of it being dictated by a particular God or gods," explained Christopher Yalanis, 36, from Newport. Chris and his wife, Mohini, are both members of Channing Memorial Church, the Unitarian Universalist church on Pelham Street. "This church is not for someone who is used to feeling guilty for not doing something they think they ought to be doing. You're not going to get that top-down force."

"Originally, I was looking for that 'here's what you need to believe' talk about where we think right and wrong comes from, but that didn't happen," Chris continued. "But that's just the beauty of this type of church and that's what I've come to realize. There is no taking a stance. That's the key."

A personalized religion plan

In the most general terms, UU expects its participants to "develop their own theology or philosophy of life," according to Channing's website, www.channingchurch.org.

"What brings us together is not that we all believe in the exact same thing. There's no creed. We don't have to say, 'Oh, I believe this and this.' Instead, what we have is a set of principles," explained Rev. Amy Freedman, minister of Channing. "We draw from many different sources — eastern society, science, learning, history, literature."

So if you're used to having one way as the only way, you might be a little intimidated of Channing and UU in general — at first. With all that religious freedom, you may not be sure of what to do with it.

"It's not a sloppy, unintentional thing," Rev. Freedman said, hesitating to equate UU with religion a la carte. "It came from a belief way back that revelation didn't end when the Bible was put together. The truth is not found in just one source, it comes to us all the time through our living and experiences and conversations with each other."

So how, exactly, does something like that work?

At Channing, or really at any UU church, there may be members who were raised Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Episcopalian, Unitarian, etc. Some members may believe in God, others may believe in Allah. Some may believe in Jesus Christ, while others may not and still others just don't know. But what is important is not what they believe in, exactly, but the simple fact that they believe in something. Anything. Faith.

Something to believe in

"Here's what I believe to be the case," Chris explained. "I believe that this world is not just completely random. It's not just a bunch of atoms colliding with each other. I believe that there's something to it, if you want to call that thing God or Gaya or what. I believe that God exists. I believe that there is something moral and ethical about this world. I have faith that this exists. I believe that there is some type of moral order to the universe. I believe that love is true and that we should be good."

"What I don't know is this," Chris continued. "I don't know if Jesus was the son of God or if someone was up on the mountain top or if any of it was correctly depicted by the Bible or the Koran. I do believe that there are lots of people whose cultures also recognize that this moral force exists that they have found a way to recognize it and they choose to live it. That's what I'm certain of. The rest of it, I just don't think is worth getting into wars over."

Religion is not just a separate aspect of Chris's life. It is instead a culmination of his background, his upbringing, his education and his own personal choices. He was raised in a household that was half Greek Orthodox and half Unitarian, though he said he did not attend church very often, and when he did, his family attended both churches.

In college, Chris majored in philosophy, eventually getting a master's degree in the subject and becoming a philosophy professor. He ended up receiving an MBA in accounting and pursuing a career in that, but the philosophy interest remained with him. When he married Mohini, who was raised in a family that followed a Hindu guru, and decided to raise a family, they went "church shopping."

"We knew we wanted to belong to a social church," Chris said. "We looked at the Greek Orthodox, which my wife thought was too strict. We looked at the Unitarian. We felt like this was the kind of church that allowed a person to define what they believed to be the case about spirituality, without forcing anything. We found a church that had everything we were looking for."

"It's not that other churches didn't have any of that," Chris went on to explain. "I think that Channing is the right fit for anybody, really. We have a lot of members in our church who are Catholic or Jewish. A lot of the foundation of the church comes from the history of spirituality."

Welcoming, with open arms

When you first walk into a service at Channing on a Sunday morning, you might not notice anything significantly different from any other church you've been to. The exterior of the stately, stone building has a high steeple, like your stereotypical church. Inside, the stained glass windows, cathedral ceilings and rows of pews don't really set Channing apart from any Catholic or Baptist or Episcopal church in any old city or town. But like in the teachings of the faith itself, it's not what something looks like that defines what it is. It's all about the people inside.

Channing is a "Welcoming Congregation," which means that it is all-inclusive — particularly of all races, genders and sexual orientations. This wasn't always the case. Since Channing also happens to be a "democratic congregation," the major decisions are often made by a vote. And back in the spring of 2003, Channing's congregation voted unanimously to become a welcoming congregation.

With such liberal views on sexual orientation and religion as a whole, one might stereotypically think that the congregation must be made up of young hippies preaching free love. But the key to Channing is that it breaks all stereotypes.

Members of the church vary in age from just a few months to their late nineties. And in the past three years, according to both Chris and Rev. Freedman, the church has grown tremendously.

"We're seeing growth across the area," Chris said. "I think there are more people my age between 25 and 40 joining, and they all join for a lot of reasons. Some are just looking for meaning and others are new to town and looking for a social church. Many of the members over 55 who have joined did so because they had friends who were members. It's growing."

It's personal

While everyone may have their own personal reasons for joining, their reason for staying is the same: They have faith in something, and want to celebrate that faith with others.

"Historically, I think church and religion in general has been so harmful in oppressing people at many times. We have to be really intentional to say how open we are," said Rev. Freedman, who at 36 is in her sixth year at Channing, her first "settled" ministry. After growing up in a family where her mother is Catholic and her father is Jewish, Rev. Freedman celebrated both Christian and Jewish holidays, and her parents were married in a Unitarian Universalist church. It was actually during college at the University of Michigan, at a church that had a very active gay and lesbian community, that Rev. Freedman first realized she could be actively involved in a religion that accepted, well... everyone.

"I went back to my home church and realized that there was no one who was openly gay at that time. I'm straight, and after being in that environment, I spoke to my minister about making our church a Welcoming Congregation. That was a turning point for me because that was a real change in the congregation," Rev. Freedman said.

After that, she went off to Berkeley to study at the Unitarian Universalist Star King School for the Ministry, and later served as an interim minister at a congregation on Martha's Vineyard for a year before settling at Channing. Her work, she said, is more fulfilling than she had ever imagined.

"I believe that together we can make the world a better place. We support each other in our own individual journeys. Being in a community where we don't all think alike is sometimes a challenge, but it's always a blessing."

Because Channing is a democratic church, Rev. Freedman explained, it does not take a stand on political issues, though all members have their own individual views. The UU association has statements of religious witness and conscience, and all churches gather yearly to meet in general assembly and vote on stances. In general, the church as a whole is very liberal, especially in terms of gay rights, women's rights and reproductive freedom.

Locally, Channing has what are called "small group ministries," for which smaller groups of eight to 10 people meet in each other's homes to discuss issues and topics, from forgiveness to God to ... just about anything. They don't always agree, and that's the point. Each person, Rev. Freedman said, speaks from his or her own experiences and the others listen to how everyone experiences life.

Gaining popularity?

Rev. Freedman said she definitely sees a trend with more adults joining the church.

"I think people are very busy and feel very pressured by the overall pace of society. People are longing for a chance to slow down and reflect on what the purpose of their lives are," she said.

Halcyon Westall is one of those people. A Newport resident who now lives in North Kingstown with her husband and children, Halcyon, 34, started attending Channing about three years ago, after meeting Rev. Freedman at a funeral service.

"I was just really impressed with the way she spoke and her outlook on things," Halcyon said. "I hadn't had much experience with Unitarian Universalism, so I decided to check it out. More than anything, it was the people that convinced me. Everyone was just terrific, very welcoming."

Halcyon had been raised in an Episcopal family, though she says they weren't overly strict with religion and that she hadn't gone to church for many years by the time she got involved at Channing. She started off slowly, and began to get more involved in things. Now she hosts a small group ministry at her home, this year began teaching some of the religious education classes for the preschool-age children, and participated in a few "building your own theology" courses.

"It was really all about trying to figure out your own philosophy about what your own religion is," she explained of her class. "We spent time taking topics that are kind of too big to break down on your own and we thought about them with other people, coming up with ideas. It was really an opportunity to discuss things with others that you don't get to talk about often."

It's that general sense of having some place to go where others understand you that really appeals to Halcyon.

"I think I like that everybody has the freedom to have their own beliefs, yet it seems like everyone holds dear the important things, like treating people fairly, justice, and doing things for the earth. There are these basic principles that are solid, yet it doesn't matter if one person believes something just a little bit different."

By Beth Bottis