In honor of the 456th anniversary of Michael Servetus’ martyrdom, we’re reposting this sermon which the late Rev. Frank Schulman deliverd at UUFF on Sept. 7, 2003:

Unitarian history is difficult to trace because we don’t begin with any one person. It can be traced back to Judaism and early Christianity. Modern Unitarianism, though, goes back to the early Reformation. It is an exciting story and it will unfold in two sermons. First, though, some background. Read More »

Something came over me in my junior year of high school in eastern Pennsylvania.  I began sleeping outside.  Every night.

I would strap my sleeping bag on my bicycle and bike in a direction for a half hour to an open field next to a forest, to a lake with a view of the hills, or beside a gurgling stream.

I kept my glasses on so I could sort the stars into their constellations before I fell asleep.  And often I woke up with glasses on.

As winter came, I layered on a second army surplus sleeping bag, and worked on getting my face hole small and on the side, so falling snow wouldn’t wake me.  It was a fine line between success and the middle-of-the-night, claustrophobic panic attacks, a definite downside of mummy bags. Read More »

What is a parable? The word parable comes from a Greek word for “comparison”. So a parable is a comparison, or a little story containing a comparison, used for a religious or ethical purpose. The story line of the parable you have just heard is simple, even though it is the longest parable in the four gospels. This is a Bible story for everyone, not just for Christians. But let’s update the story, bring it out of the country into the city, and for good measure, change the gender of the characters. Read More »

Unitarian history differs from that of most denominations. If you want to know the history of Methodism you begin with John Wesley. George Fox founded the Quakers, John Calvin the Presbyterians, Joseph Smith the Mormons. The Unitarians, though, do not begin with any one person. The movement goes back to the earliest days of Christianity. Unitarian ideas can be traced back to Jesus or Socrates, Arius and Pelagius. In Europe all through the middle ages we find groups struggling toward Unitarianism. The movement became organized in the middle 1500’s and such names as Michael Servetus, Sebastian Castellio, Faustus and Laelius Socinus, Francis David, and King John Sigismund are prominent. Read More »