The Unitarian Religion of King's Chapel | May 17th

On Sunday, May 17, Professor Daniel McKanan will speak on "The Unitarian Religion of King's Chapel." After the American Revolution, King's Chapel became the first Unitarian Church in the New World. This lecture will examine the roots of Unitarianism in Europe and the evolution of religious tolerance and reason in faith and practice. How the Chapel adopted Christian Unitarian theology and its contribution to religious thought and post-colonial independence will also be examined, together with how this identity has been sustained even as American Unitarianism has expanded outside the Christian faith.

Dr. McKanan is the Ralph Waldo Emerson UUA Senior Lecturer at Harvard Divinity School. Widely published author of numerous books and articles, he received the UUA Frederic G. Melcher Book Award in 2011 for Prophetic Encounters: Religion and the American Radical Tradition. He graduated from Harvard College, summa cum laude, and received the Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He previously taught for ten years at the College of Saint Benedict of Saint John's University in Minnesota. Professor McKanan is currently working to compile a new collection of primary sources for Unitarian Universalist history.
 

Three lectures comprise the Sunday Forums on the theme, The Religion of King's Chapel: A Living Legacy. The lectures explore how King's Chapel became an independent, religiously tolerant church with strong Anglican and Christian Unitarian roots and continues these traditions in its fourth century. On April 12, the Reverend Dr. Carl Scovel spoke on The Anglican Religion of King's Chapel. An audio recording of the lecture may be heard on the parish web site. On June 14, the Reverend Joy Fallon will speak on the "Independent Religion of King's Chapel." The lectures begin at 12:30 p.m. following Morning Prayer. 

Anticipating the next Sunday Forum, "The Unitarian Religion of King's Chapel," May 17, several parishioners have written a statement on their personal faith. The following contribution is by Charles Perry.

I was born and raised a Unitarian, and, while I didn't participate in church for a good deal of my young adulthood, I always still said I was, and felt like, a Unitarian, in part because I never saw the need for another religious affiliation as a way to help explain and experience the world.  In my 30s, however, I did feel a growing need for a spiritual community, and, partly for reasons of past experience and proximity (I lived on Beacon Hill), I found myself becoming an active Unitarian and in time a member of KC. 

Theologically, Unitarianism offers what to me is a perfect blend of faith and reason, and it also allows for and actually opens the door to the mystery of religious experience.  In blending faith and reason, it brings together and reconciles the material and spiritual worlds in which we all live, the ying and yang of existence, and it does so in a way that encourages a continuous search for meaning. This is particularly true, I think, in the way Unitarianism has been practiced and has evolved at King's Chapel.  

The faith component of Unitarianism is vital for me, because so many of the major questions of life and belief seem to defy quick and easy answers. They demand a commitment to the journey toward insight over time and a willingness in the meantime (and perhaps forever) to live and feel comfortable with the essential "ambiguity of things."  But of equal importance to me, Unitarianism is an open-minded, non-doctrinaire, inquisitive faith, willing at its best to draw on and learn from the teachings of all the world's great religions, ethical systems, and philosophies of life, together with insights from poetry, literature, art, music, and science, all the better to understand what it means to try and follow the example of Jesus and live a Christian life in the here and now.  For me, this openness to and trust in the "many roads to God" idea, side by side with a belief that the Christian story still holds fundamental truths to live by, has been among the most appealing aspects of the Unitarian way since my earliest days in the church school of the First Parish (Unitarian) in Cohasset, MA.

The reason component of Unitarianism is equally important to me as it calls on us to use our mind and our capacity to think critically to wrestle with the text of the Bible and to draw on and integrate insights from the other sources of inspiration and explanation noted above.  It calls on us, moreover, to think for ourselves, and to know in our hearts that while partners on our spiritual journeys are good and very welcome, we need no intermediaries to get where we're going.  God, the ineffable, and the holy are directly accessible to us and in fact part of us.  There is indeed a unity to it all of which we are an integral part, allowing us to use the power of human thought and imagination to approach and appreciate the sacred.

The appeal for me of how we practice Unitarianism at King's Chapel is that it brings to all of the above a discipline and seriousness of purpose, rooted in a traditional Christian practice, that nonetheless somehow remains open and welcoming to everyone, wherever you are on the path, as our ministers regularly say.  So while some might look at the Prayer Book and hear the liturgy and consider us a rather stodgy and restrictive group, the blend of tradition, critical thought, and open-mindedness that defines KC - via the marriage of faith and reason that I began with - actually makes us, in my view, a "big house" church where almost anyone can find a comfortable place to sit and listen and learn and share. The Unitarianism of KC encourages a community of free thinkers who worship in accordance with a structured service and with a devotion to the "freedom of the pews" as much as the "freedom of the pulpit."

To be sure, the liturgy provides a structure, but not one so rigid that it must be heard, read, and understood in one way alone or the same way always.  For me, it's a flexible tool for prayer and mindfulness that often provides comfort and at its best a path to unexpected insights.  As in the service of communion as practiced at KC (especially in the Transylvanian style) , all are welcomed to the table to share in what is almost always a powerful and gratifying act of community in faith, but one that can also be a deeply and intimate spiritual experience.    

And then, of course, there is that community of parishioners mentioned above, who, with their many different perspectives and varied histories, make up the eclectic living church that we call KC.  Over the years, many of them have helped me more than they can imagine, which is really, in the end, what church, Unitarian or otherwise, is all about.  A community of faith in which each member supports the others and the wider world as best they can.  May it always be so.

Charles M. Perry
May 12, 2015

Theology on Tap | Hymns & Theology | May 20th

Believer. Non-Believer. Confident. Curious. Join us for a lively theological discussion in a relaxed setting. On May 20th at 7pm we will be joined by our own Heinrich Christensen to discuss "Hymns & Spirituality" over hearty appetizers. Submit your favorite hymn ahead of time to Shawn (shawn@kings-chapel.org). We will look at old and new hymns alike. Anyone over 21 is welcome to join and purchase their own beverage. We will meet at Scholars (25 School St, Boston MA).

All-Church Picnic | May 31st

Following a morning worship service celebrating Children's Sunday at 11AM, join the King's Chapel Church School families in celebrating the dawn of summer. This picnic will be held in the beauty of the Parish House Garden, located at 64 Beacon Street. Food items and assistance is still needed, please contact Gregg Sorensen (gds1960@yahoo.com) for more information. 
 

Boston Pride Parade | Save the Date | June 13th

March with King's Chapel in the Boston Pride Parade! Embarking from Copley Square, we will join the parade of thousands, passing by our Parish House and stone Chapel. The parade will end at City Hall Plaza in the heart of the Pride Festival. The 2015 Boston Pride theme is "#WickedProud: The 45th Anniversary."

New Members:  Interested in Joining King's Chapel?  Sunday, June 14

Anyone interested in joining King's Chapel, or getting more information about it, is urged to contact Joy or Shawn.  They look forward to talking with you.  This June, new members will join on the day we celebrate our Birthday:  June 14.

Habitat for Humanity Build | June 20th

Join the King's Chapel team to help build affordable housing in Boston. Contact Peter Sexton, petersexton@alum.mit.edu