Oh Great Spirit I hear you calling me

Recently on my journey into mystery, I attended the Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church in Costa Mesa. The Universalist church identifies with no specific religion. Their website states: “individual Unitarian Universalists may also identify as Atheist, Agnostic, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Humanist, Jewish, Muslim, Pagan, or with other philosophical or religious traditions.” They encourage seeking truth. Upon entering their facility I was warmly greeted and made to feel welcome. I immediately noticed that the walls were white. There were no religious iconographies or pictures. The only symbol on the wall was a chalice and a flame which is the church symbol.

Songs were a large part of the service.

The opening song was titled “Spirit.” The song was chanted without accompanying music. The words were simple and repeated over and over again:

“Oh Great Spirit I hear you calling me, I will answer you.”

A pull-down screen on the main wall of the church cycled images of nature such as waterfalls and forest during the singing of “Spirit.”

Once the song had ended, the ceremony of lighting the chalice began.

Chalice Lighting:

“We are here to abet creation and to witness to it, to notice each other’s beautiful face and complex nature so that creation need not play to an empty house.” –Annie Dillard

Although the OCUUC does not identify with traditional religions, they still have traditions of their own. Each service contains the lighting and extinguishing of the chalice ritual.

After the chalice was lit the service began. The day I visited was not an ordinary service. There was a guest speaker. Her sermon was a mixture of speaking and singing songs.

These issues seemed to be important to the sermon:

• Community; community seems to be more important than individuality.
• Environment; the focus of the entire service was the environment. And that our environmental issues are rooted in spiritual crisis due to our misinterpretation of our surroundings and the mentalities that science and individuality bring us.
• Love; “Love is the spirit of this church, and service is its law. To dwell together in peace; to seek truth in love; and to help one another this we affirm together.”

-Song entitled Universe’s Love: ‘Divine reflection of the Universes love’

The service ended with the extinguishing of the chalice.

“We extinguish our chalice, but not the light of truth, the warmth of community, or the fire of commitment. These we carry in our heart until we are together again”- Elizabeth Selle Jones

Other commonalities the OCUUC shares with traditional churches are tithing. The OCUUC passed around a tithing plate, but the difference seemed to exist within the service announcement. The daily handout provided information of where the money would be spent each month; usually a chosen charity. Another interesting part of the service was sharing time. A member of the congregation could write down on a piece of paper either a success or struggle they have and the congregation would either share in their delight or sympathies. This re-affirmed the aspects of community which is very important to the OCUUC. The congregation and the community of the church are very pro-active. They hold weekly meetings providing different services for the church members and the surrounding community. Some of these events include the meeting of the Knitwits (knitting club), first-aid classes, flu vaccine clinics, food drives, a women’s circle and tarot card readings.