Northwoods Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

Long Strange Trip

Sunday, Nov. 20, 10:00 AM the Membership Committee and Adult Religious Education starts a new six-part video series entitled “Long Strange Trip” -- “A Journey through Two Thousand Years of Unitarian Universalist History” produced by the Unitarian Universalist Association. If you are new to the Fellowship or a Charter Member you will find this series educational and interesting

Part I - In the Beginning…   Nov. 20

Part I examines the roots of liberal religious thought prior to the Reformation, including heretics such as Jan Hus. It concludes with the life of Michael Servetus.

Part II - The Birth of Unitarianism   Dec. 4

Part II chronicles how Servetus’ message influenced David Ferenc in Transylvania and led to the formation of the first coherent Unitarian theology. It traces that theology as in spreads to Poland and then west Europe towards the Netherlands and England. It discusses the work of Theophilus Lindsey and Joseph Priestley in forming an organized English Unitarianism.

Part III - American Unitarianism   Jan. 1

Part III talks about the development of Unitarianism in America from 1620 through the death of Theodore Parker in 1860. It details the three separate Unitarian faiths – the Socinianism of Joseph Priestley, The Arianism of William Ellery Channing and the Transcendentalism of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Theodore Parker.

Part IV – Universalism   Jan. 15

Part IV documents the development of Universalism from the early German and English pietists, to John Murry, Elhanan Winchester, and Hosea Ballou. It details the unprecedented explosion of Universalist churches across America during the first half of the 19^th century and discusses why the movement began its precipitous decline after the death of Hosea Ballou in 1850.

Part V – Evolution   Jan. 29

Part V follows both Unitarianism and Universalist through the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries as they evolve from Christian bible-oriented religious to our present-day non-creedal movement. It discusses influences as diverse as the Civil War, Feminism and Suffrage, Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, and the Social Gospel.

Part VI - The Hundred Year Waltz   Feb. 5

Part VI documents the century-long courtship between Unitarianism and Universalism that culminated in the merger in 1961. It follows Unitarian Universalism through its first half century and discusses where it may go from here.