[Serious] What would you want in a church

[Mister Agenda]

@Mister Agenda
1. could you please better explain "churchy"? IS the the stuffyness or the stained glass, etc.
2. Like a projection screen with the lyrics and with a bouncing dot?
3. Any particular method of outreach you would like to see?

1. In many ways, the UU service (at least where I live) is a copy of a typical Christian service, which is not in itself an issue, no need to throw out the baby with the bathwater just to create more space between the UU and Christianity; but do there even need to be traditional hymns at all? Maybe we could have a house band instead and pare the communal singing down to once at the end of the service. And a choir that doesn't steals from REM instead of the Episcopalians. I was raised Pentecostal, and even a church with less than two dozen active members would manager to have a three-piece band and a soloist. We sometimes have guest musicians but it's rare for members to showcase their talent; and we've got about 150 active members. 'Churchy' was probably the wrong word, all three of my issues boil down to 'the music sucks'.

2. Yes, that would be a great improvement. And I'm hearing that we're finally going to that soon. These UUs try to find a hymn that ties into the sermon, which means often singing unfamiliar songs, and they don't all read music. The projection thing would be a big help there.

3. I'd like to see a UU chapel on campus at the University of South Carolina and ideally at Benedict as well. Maybe our minister could visit an existing chapel on Mondays or something. Lots of college students are UUs at heart but aren't aware of it. I wouldn't expect many of them to stick to it, but people who are familiar with UU often come back when they have children, since UU doesn't indoctrinate the way other religions do, and their religious curriculum includes studying the other religions of the world. One thing I'll say about my UU: plenty of kids. Which reminds me of a saying: UU is where atheists go to have their children educated to become pagans.