I had all but given up on church.  I always felt out of place when my knowledge or beliefs didn’t fully align with the church I was in.  I felt like a fraud, so I strayed away from church and religion.  Then I found UUCC.  My beliefs weren’t exactly the same as everyone else’s, but that was OK and even encouraged.  It was OK that certain pieces of the religious narrative I had experienced so far were things that I just couldn’t bring myself to believe.  What spoke to me was our common desire to come together and do good things for our community and our world, and to respect and honor other individuals.

I grew up with a Lutheran identity but didn't buy into all the heaven and hell talk. i really thought i was defective. As I got older, I refused to go to church. It stayed that way until I was married and my wife asked me to go with her to a Unity church service in Washington DC. Although it was a Christian church, it seemed more relaxed and less judgemental. In 2007, after my wife joined the Unitarian Universalist  church, she asked me to go with her to services. She must have caught me in a good mood and I went with her. I really liked what I heard there. No talk of heaven and hell. No talk of being saved or confessing my sins. I didn't feel judged for how I felt about religion. I've been going to services there ever since, and I have served on the Board of Trustees. I am currently the webmaster of this web site and I'm very happy here.