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Excerpt from a sermon by Adam Robersmith,
given at UUs of Petaluma, January 4, 2004

Dick Gilbert defines the term “prophetic imperative” for the Unitarian
Universalist church this way: “a religious mandate for the corporate
address of the church to the systemic problems of society.” Unitarianism,
from its beginnings in the United States, was a dissenting tradition,
daring to tell the Trinitarian Christian majority that they saw no scriptural
basis for a Trinity and that the true value of Christ is in the socially
progressive life that he led. Universalism refused to divide the world into
a spiritually damning Us and Them, but instead saw the effect of the
Divine in human spirituality and religion as a whole.

And here we are today, where you, the Unitarian Universalists of
Petaluma, sit as an emerging congregation within our movement. This
matters a great deal. You have renewed your commitment to the
prophetic tradition and acted on your imperative. You have taken on a
responsibility to speak against the wind when you could have sat quietly
indoors, without a single hair ruffled by a stray breeze. You have heard
Cassandra. I have no doubt that you have argued with her voice. In the
end, you have believed her.

You come together from established congregations and other traditions to
join in worship and learning, to grow in faith and understanding. You are
expanding the liberal religious tradition in a world where
fundamentalism seems to dominate the religious landscape.

In the latest issue of the UU World, the Rev. Dr. Davidson Loehr writes of
fundamentalism and liberalism, saying that fundamentalism is a natural
impulse toward stability, but that liberalism makes us human. I believe
that liberalism is a natural impulse as well—it is the impulse that causes
people to help others even when they place themselves at risk. It is the
impulse that makes dolphins save drowning sailors, and the impulse that
makes Greenpeace save dolphins. It is the impulse that makes us unable
to sit quietly when harm is done, when injustice is present. It is the
impulse that makes us open ourselves to actions that offer great gifts to
the world.

You have chosen to offer yourselves as a spiritual home for people who
see few other places to turn because of doctrine, dogma, theology, or
simple prejudice. Your founders chose to leave a longstanding
congregation to create something new, to speak the Unitarian Universalist
message in a community that did not have a Unitarian Universalist
congregation. Your existence is a challenge, both to you and to your
community. Your challenge is, as E. E. Cummings says, to “work with
heart, soul, and a willing might”—to exist with love and gentleness as
well as truth and clarity. The community’s challenge is to accept you, to
create space for you in its religious life, to acknowlege that you are people
of faith and goodwill, that you bring something important and valuable to
Petaluma and the world.

What is it that you bring? You bring our principles. I want each of you to
open the hymnal to the page before the first hymn, and read them. These
are at the core of what you bring.

What else? You bring a liberal religious voice that offers hope—one that
says that people are welcome here in a spirit of faith, diversity, and
thoughtful exploration. You bring a joyous presence that is willing to
march in a town parade and value your children’s role in your religious
lives. You offer a place for people to come to when they find no comfort
or inspiration in the traditions upon which they once relied. Your
commitment to this new congregation demonstrates the value that you
place on your religious lives and beliefs. Your presence shows that there
are ways in which religion can exist without creed or dogma, supporting
each person in their search for truth.

You bring a tradition of forthtelling and prophecy, a tradition that asks
people to both think and believe. You are a voice for faith and reason, for
personal growth and community responsibility, for the simple presence of
Unitarian Universalism in the world.

You have become Cassandra.

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