Sermon for Sunday - May 18, 2014: Closed Minded Ministers

"...that is why I'm here - it's not to preach, or to think I'm better then anyone, but to learn and open new paths. I think this is where we have so many problems on here sometimes... you cannot be an interfaith minister and have a closed mind!"  -- Dani 

This statement was made by "Dani" on our Monastery's minister discussion site.  Our rebellious group has been relegated to our own piece created of heaven which we call HOME.  Our "crimes," if you will, dealt with our desire to discuss topics frowned upon by some closed minded hypocrites that have even infiltrated the inner workings of the Universal Life Church (ULC).  The majority of ministers that receive ordination through the ULC do it as a joke or a way they can perform weddings for family and friends.  There are those that do it so they can spread their own personal message of faith.  Our small group found that the serious nature of conversations was frowned upon by the site managers unless we conversed in private and not on the main page for all to see.

This minister, Dani, has stated very concisely what it is our small group feels about being a minister.  It is the very reason I call my own blog "The Path," and invite all faiths and beliefs to visit, read, question, comment, and discuss all topics on which I felt a need to write.  But like most other faiths, in particular those based in the Abrahamic, or Semitic tradition, the ULC has a hierarchy of leadership which seems more interested in squelching interfaith discussion than embracing it.  And, like most organized religious groups, the leadership sees no reason to discuss their decisions or ask for member opinion.  So much for open mindedness.

The "owner" of our site, which she created to enable continuation of our frowned upon discussions, recently informed us of several interesting pieces of information.  The first is that other ministers of the ULC, the ones that gave us the moniker of "rebels," want into our group and have found that to be a difficult task since we guard our group's membership closely.  The second, because we guard the membership so closely, we are one of the smallest groups (12 members) on the minister site and, even though we have only been opened for two full months, we have 67 active discussions ongoing, each with an average 20 comments.  

This is of no great import to anyone that normally visits my blog.  I felt it important, however, to let everyone see that this is not some hobby that we play at for our own entertainment.  This is what we do and this is how we feel we want to minister.  We firmly believe that all peaceful faiths and beliefs should be able to come together for constructive and informative discussion and debate.  This is how we stay abreast of public opinion, and our own.  Dani's last sentence states our belief of ministry in no uncertain terms:

"You cannot be an interfaith minister and have a closed mind!"