Restaurant? Library? Other? (Bonus points if its toxic people resistant)

  • cymbal_king@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Hear me out, I go to a Unitarian Universalist church for the music and sense of community. There is no shared theology among UUs, only a set of shared values. UU services vary a lot by the specific congregation. Ours has had services on celebrating gender identities, promoting social justice, mourning global conflicts, and fighting climate change. Sometimes relevant theology from a variety of world religions is incorporated into services, but there is no expectation to be a believer and there are many atheist members in my church. The rest of the time we have potlucks, play board games, do community service projects, etc.

    • ArtieShaw@kbin.social
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      5 months ago

      I have casually considered attending a UU church near us. They seem very chill based on their website.

      I would have to overcome my dislike of meeting new people and being awake and fully clothed before 11:00am on a Sunday. Those are the main challenges for me, personally.

      I’m hoping to attend some public events at the a local nature preserve as a way of easing into social events with strangers. They have programs on bird watching, mushroom cultivation, etc… A year’s membership cost $40 and it comes with free parking and free access to their programs. They’re also part of a larger network of nature parks, so benefits include free admission to any of those.

      • cymbal_king@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        ~50% of the time I attend virtually, because yeah it’s nice to sleep in on Sunday and make breakfast with the service on Zoom and camera off

    • BonesOfTheMoon@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      I go to a similar church and I’ve honestly made such close friends there, we just call ourselves spiritual mutts and have a wide spectrum of beliefs. We are VERY loudly welcoming to LGBT folks, and even have one trans lady in our congregation. A local church of a similar demographic recently announced they were not LGBT affirming, and two thirds of the congregation up and left and came to us, absolutely shocked that this has happened, because they are not people who would tolerate that and has no idea the leaders occupied that position (the pastor of that church also resigned because of this stance). Honestly it’s one of the best things in my life, we do lots for the community and a ton of creative projects as well, including having summer artists in residence. It really can be so different from the shitty churches.