The First Unitarian Universalist Church of the
Internet
is literally the first congregation of its kind on the Internet. (But here
are a few other organizations with some similarities: https://s3.amazonaws.com/aws-website-jamesleonardpark---freelibrary-3puxk/Y-SIMLAR.html)
After about 10 years of waiting on the Internet for
something to happen,
FUUCI established a presence on Facebook,
which gave FUUCI a jump-start.
Because there were already thousands of UUs on Facebook,
this was a good way for them to discover FUUCI.
Unitarian Universalism has historically not been an
evangelical movement.
We do not have people devoting themselves to recruiting new members.
But Unitarian Universalism stands
ready when people are looking for
something new.
This might be one of the roles of FUUCI on Facebook.
When FUUCI moved to Facebook in November 2008,
there were 150 million people using
Facebook.
If we estimate that one adult in 1,000 is a UU,
this means that there are probably about 150,000 UUs on Facebook.
These are the primary people who might be interested in FUUCI.
As of July 2009, 250 million people are on Facebook.
This is almost the total population of the United States.
But, of course, many people in other countries have profiles on
Facebook.
So this makes it even more important for FUUCI
to think of itself as a means by which UUism can reach out to the world.
For many people on Facebook,
FUUCI might be a first contact with Unitarian Universalism.
This would be especially true for people on Facebook
who live outside
the
USA and Canada.
In their home countries, there is very little UU presence.
The United Kingdom has a few Unitarian congregations.
And there are groups of American UUs living in other countries,
who sometimes create small UU groups.
But Facebook is probably the easiest way
to be ready
for open-minded persons anywhere
who will eventually discover Unitarian Universalism.
At least at first, the primary manifestation of FUUCI
will be our cyber-sermons-of-the-month.
Cyber-sermons are short written discourses on limitless themes.
Because Unitarian Universalism is a creed-free religious movement,
almost anything can become the subject of a UU sermon. (And in
FUUCI the members
decide what is selected to be a cyber-sermon.)
The diversity of our sermons might be a shock to people raised in other
religions.
But it might be very refreshing for them,
especially if they are departing from narrow-minded orthodoxy of some
sort.
We will never be able to say that FUUCI
cyber-sermons represent
UUism.
But they might be random
samples of UU thinking.
And if we achieve our goal of discovering and distributing the very best of UU thinking,
our cyber-sermons will be well worth exploring.
Random people on Facebook
(who would never stumble
upon UUism any other way)
might discover that UUism speaks to them in some meaningful ways.
Let us keep this possibility in mind when we create cyber-sermons:
Some of the readers will be people who have never heard or read a UU
sermon
before.
We might even develop a special service intended for
people on Facebook
who have never before encountered anything like UUism.
If we publish cyber-sermons about discovering UUism,
then others who are new to our ways of thinking
might find something in the experience recounted
that reminds them of their own spiritual quest.
Such cyber-sermons would presuppose no previous knowledge
of Unitarian Universalist thinking or traditions.
They would address subjects already alive in the minds
of people who are intellectually and spiritually ready to become UUs.
Even more specifically, we might address the
skeptical questions
raised by people who are departing from their childhood religions.
For example, there could be a series of cyber-sermons
designed for former
Christians,
people who want to articulate more clearly
just what they find unsatisfactory about Christianity.
Perhaps they find some validity in the questions raised within
Christianity,
but they find the traditional Christian answers no longer viable
for them.
These cyber-sermons could be written by UUs who were raised in
Christianity.
Likewise, any other religious background, such as
Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, etc.
could have their own set of cyber-sermons,
devoted to the process of leaving behind childhood beliefs
when we become more spiritually mature.
There are literally millions of people on Facebook
who are somewhere in their own processes of spiritual exploration.
Perhaps FUUCI can become one place where they can find support and
resources
for the quest they will continue for several years.
In short, FUUCI might become an important means of outreach
for the whole UU
movement.
If you members of FUUCI know others on Facebook who might be interested,
do not hesitate to invite them to explore.
FUUCI can be found on Facebook by searching for our name:
"First Unitarian Universalist Church of the Internet".
And here is the basic 'table-of-contents' for everything about FUUCI: https://s3.amazonaws.com/aws-website-jamesleonardpark---freelibrary-3puxk/Y-INDEX.html
Created
by James Park, January 24, 2009; Revised 7-19-2009; 7-20-2009