NUF MINISTRY
by
Revd. Kenneth Ridgway
I was, for many years, the Minister of the National Unitarian Fellowship, and one of the most rewarding aspects of it was that I was able to learn what Unitarians all round the country and, sometimes abroad, were thinking about the denomination, as well as their religious views, aspirations and anxieties.
In a way it reminded me of the Faith and Action Commission that was set up in the 1960s to take the pulse of the denomination, to ascertain where we stood as a denomination on religious and social matters.
Perhaps that is something that we do not consider enough. We have our personal beliefs, and we know the general views of our own congregation, but where do we stand as a DENOMINATION, a denomination very much of individuals.
Certainly some of the views I heard were a surprise. Some seemed to reflect the traditional Unitarian Liberal Christianity of James Martineau, others seemed extremely anti-Christian, which I understand in those who have rebelled against orthodox Christianity and are still into demolition before reconstruction can commence.
It was significant that many members of the NUF were already active in a congregation, so that I heard quite a lot about what was happening at those grass roots, some of which concerned me, some of which I found very gratifying.
Yet one thing was very evident - we are a many faceted denomination, with a wide divergence of opinion and of belief. More than that, many people seem to be holding mutually exclusive beliefs at the same time! I think I have told you here before the story of a strange religious group in the east end of London that approached one of our ministers some years ago, asking if they could have his help. They explained that it had been revealed to them that the world was coming to an end that weekend, and that they all wanted to be together when it happened, but they didn't have enough chairs, so could they borrow some? Our Minister, acting with admirable restraint and charity, said that they should see the caretaker, but just as they were going, he called out "When will we get them back?" To which, believe it or not, he received the reply, "Oh, we'll bring them back on Monday!"
In their naiveté, they totally failed to realise that they were holding two mutually exclusive beliefs at the same time, and I found myself helping one or two NUF members to realise that they were sometimes doing the same thing. Most people seem to have a woolly, hotch potch of beliefs that they have never really thought through, and I hope that I was of some help in enabling them to sort out a vague collection of beliefs and half-beliefs into some sort of order. If I was successful, then that was ample reward for my efforts.
The point is that, many of those people were already active members of congregations, but felt hesitant about raising these issues with their own minister, and appreciated the semi-anonymity of the NUF Minister to unburden their thoughts and anxieties to.
In a sense, it was rather like the Roman Catholic confessional, and, while we may find the Roman Catholic idea of confession to a priest abhorrent, it makes good psychological sense.
Many people are really Unitarian without knowing it, as the old saying goes, and the NUF provides a good way for people to test the water without actually getting involved with a normal congregation and all the pressures that that would put on them. Some, of course, don't want anything to do with a normal congregation and all the personal involvement, but still wish to develop their spiritual life, and hopefully, the NUF can provide for such people. I had some quite profound theological correspondence with some members who had been completely put off conventional congregational life.
So what this is saying is that there are many ways to lead a religious life, and we must recognise that. Most people in this country have no religious life whatsoever, and many of them are aware of a certain spiritual hunger which conventional religious life seems not to satisfy. For such people, the NUF can be a lifeline, or SHOULD be.
Perhaps all this is saying that we need to recognise that different people have religious needs, and, in this secular age, the conventional forms are not always right for them, but few people can develop their religious life in a vacuum, or we would not need congregations in their present form.
One of the important features of the NUF is that it stands as a sort of halfway house between the isolated person trying to sort out his religious beliefs in a vacuum, and some one else who is totally involved in a conventional congregation, with all that goes with it, for better of for worse.
An Address given by Rev Kenneth Ridgway at the NUF Invitation Day held at the Westgate Chapel Wakefield on Sunday 17th April 2005