What is
Sarah Stewart’s theology?
[MSC’s
note: In a UUA document called the “Ministerial Record,” all UU ministers who
seek settled ministries are asked: “What
is your dominant theology, and how do you deal with other Unitarian
Universalist theologies with which you may not be in sympathy?” In her own
words, here is how the Rev. Sarah Stewart responded.]
My theology begins with human
experience. Each of us comes to know ultimate reality through our own
experiences. The ethics of those convictions are borne out in community, where
we come together with diverse people from diverse cultures, backgrounds and
walks of life. If we carry historically privileged identities, it is especially
important that we seek out understanding of the experiences of those from historically
marginalized communities. What I want to know about a theology different from
my own is what sort of action it encourages toward the wellbeing and
flourishing of humans and other life in this world which we all share.
In my theology, congregational life is
one of the most important forms of human experience. The first principle which
our congregations covenant to affirm and promote is the inherent worth and
dignity of every person. I believe that individual inherent worth is developed
to its greatest potential in the context of a religious community. Our lives
are made up of private and communal moments. Yet it is through our
participation in an intentional congregational community … that we reflect on
the value [of] our lives and the contribution those lives are making to the
larger world.
My own life has been nurtured and
sustained by my experience of a loving Spirit. This faith is not a matter of
quantifiable knowledge. In those hardest times in my life: during a time when I
could not find work, and when my husband and I lost a pregnancy; in those
times, there has come a point where I felt held and buoyed up by a loving
force. Sometimes I know it simply as the feeling of companionship. My
experience of God teaches me that all human beings are fundamentally equal and
are deserving of compassion and love. To me, a loving Spirit is not a reality
to be proven or disproven through metaphysics or science. Rather, it is the
name I give to that experience which breaks through my everyday egotism and
directs my life toward loving kindness.
I grew up in a liberal Christian
household, a tradition that filled our home both when my family was
Episcopalian, and when we became Unitarian Universalists when I was eleven
years old. From then on, my religious experience included humanism, exploration
of goddess traditions, and celebration of world religions. My husband and I
still share a progressive and liberating understanding of Jesus's life and
ministry. We celebrate the seasons of the natural year and the Christian year
with our children, while also educating them about the world’s religious
traditions. I turn to the teachings of Jesus, of the Hebrew Bible, of the
Buddha, and of other spiritual masters in my personal life and my public
ministry.
My theology provides grounding for my
spiritual leadership and informs my understanding of my place in Unitarian
Universalism’s diversity. My job as a minister is not to convince people of my
own theological outlook, but rather to encourage each person in their spiritual
growth. My spiritual journey has developed out of my own particular
experiences; as a minister, I help others understand their experiences in light
of their own spiritual journeys, not my own.
Finally, I believe that it is this
world, and the people and natural wonders within it, that are due our
theological attention, and whose welfare should be the right end of religious
and theological work. Humans create religious communities; we interpret our
religious experience and allow it to frame how we act in the world. The
problems and ethics of this world, and the suffering and joy of real people,
demand our attention as people of faith.
For more
of Sarah’s words, click her website (ignore the “login” button) at
or click
her blog at
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