Wednesday, April 30, 2008
The UU Cubs
Spring is here, which for many of us means thoughts of baseball and our favorite teams. For a number of years our church had a softball team called the UU Cubs. (Or was it the Cuubs?) Now the team lives on only in legend, so I'm depending on some of you sports fans to step up to the plate and tell us all about it. Play ball!
Monday, April 28, 2008
More 1950s Memories: Interfaith Interaction
In an earlier post, Dick Macdonald shared memories of the Peoria UU church youth group in the 1950s. Here are some additional stories from Dick about those days, this time focusing on the interaction between youth of different faiths.
The late 1940s and up to the middle of the 1950s, when I left Peoria for college, were interesting times for a UU living in Peoria. Separation of church and state was overlooked, with religious education classes being given in public grade schools. If one was in high school, a “religious” day off from school was offered to attend the downtown churches, where forums were given on religious topics. Students could choose which subjects to attend in the different churches. Even our minister, Rev. Richard Knost, led one of the discussion groups.
I remember Rev. Knost leading a discussion at the United Methodist Church on Hamilton. He started the discussion by asking the question, “As God took Adam’s rib to make Eve, do men still have one less rib than women?” I sat in the front row and immediately raised my hand and was given a hidden swift kick by Rev. Knost, forcing me to shut up. This simple question led to a deep discussion by the rest of the group as to whether the boys in the church’s forum really did have one less rib than the high school girls who were present.
Religious education was considered common in Peoria public schools, similar to my experiences in Boston, where verses of the Bible were read at the opening of each school day in the public school system. During these Peoria religious education classes, being the only Unitarian in my grade, I joined all my Jewish classmates out in the hall. We sat on the cold marble floor having to act like we were in a study hall. The advantage of these “study halls” is that I was invited to several Bar Mitzvahs.
As a UU, it was a challenge to explain one’s religion to fellow students. Fortunately, being born into the faith and having religion discussed openly many times in the Macdonald household, it was easy to quote sources outside of the Bible. I consider these discussions among fellow students at school more open than in these modern times. As Rev. Knost would say at the start of each Sunday service’s readings, a UU could always quote from “humanity’s ever growing Bible.”
Dating was very interesting, especially if one’s “steady” was Catholic. The first problem was one’s parents, who frowned very much on their son’s relationship with a Catholic girl. All Catholics were prevented from going to a Protestant church, but Catholics worked hard to have me attend Midnight Mass and other important services given, especially at St Mary’s Cathedral.
The funniest separation of the faiths was at Agatucci’s, which was the first pizza place in town. Everyone went there, especially after ball games in high school during winter. Since Catholics couldn’t eat meat on Friday, everyone would order their first pizza with only cheese. Next we would order a sausage pizza, which would fly out of Agi’s kitchen at the stroke of midnight, as all Catholics could then eat meat again.
Dr. Richard G. Macdonald (Dick)
How does this description of interfaith activities compare to your own experiences as a youth or adult? Post a comment to let us know.
The late 1940s and up to the middle of the 1950s, when I left Peoria for college, were interesting times for a UU living in Peoria. Separation of church and state was overlooked, with religious education classes being given in public grade schools. If one was in high school, a “religious” day off from school was offered to attend the downtown churches, where forums were given on religious topics. Students could choose which subjects to attend in the different churches. Even our minister, Rev. Richard Knost, led one of the discussion groups.
I remember Rev. Knost leading a discussion at the United Methodist Church on Hamilton. He started the discussion by asking the question, “As God took Adam’s rib to make Eve, do men still have one less rib than women?” I sat in the front row and immediately raised my hand and was given a hidden swift kick by Rev. Knost, forcing me to shut up. This simple question led to a deep discussion by the rest of the group as to whether the boys in the church’s forum really did have one less rib than the high school girls who were present.
Religious education was considered common in Peoria public schools, similar to my experiences in Boston, where verses of the Bible were read at the opening of each school day in the public school system. During these Peoria religious education classes, being the only Unitarian in my grade, I joined all my Jewish classmates out in the hall. We sat on the cold marble floor having to act like we were in a study hall. The advantage of these “study halls” is that I was invited to several Bar Mitzvahs.
As a UU, it was a challenge to explain one’s religion to fellow students. Fortunately, being born into the faith and having religion discussed openly many times in the Macdonald household, it was easy to quote sources outside of the Bible. I consider these discussions among fellow students at school more open than in these modern times. As Rev. Knost would say at the start of each Sunday service’s readings, a UU could always quote from “humanity’s ever growing Bible.”
Dating was very interesting, especially if one’s “steady” was Catholic. The first problem was one’s parents, who frowned very much on their son’s relationship with a Catholic girl. All Catholics were prevented from going to a Protestant church, but Catholics worked hard to have me attend Midnight Mass and other important services given, especially at St Mary’s Cathedral.
The funniest separation of the faiths was at Agatucci’s, which was the first pizza place in town. Everyone went there, especially after ball games in high school during winter. Since Catholics couldn’t eat meat on Friday, everyone would order their first pizza with only cheese. Next we would order a sausage pizza, which would fly out of Agi’s kitchen at the stroke of midnight, as all Catholics could then eat meat again.
Dr. Richard G. Macdonald (Dick)
How does this description of interfaith activities compare to your own experiences as a youth or adult? Post a comment to let us know.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Memorable Sunday Services
I'm willing to bet that for a lot of people reading this, the very first service you attended at the UU Church of Peoria will always stand out in your mind—maybe because it touched you deeply, or maybe because you thought "These people must be crazy," or both! And if you've been coming awhile, there are probably other services that you remember because they were especially moving, creative, funny, or unusual in some other way.
I invite you to tell us about your first service or other services that were especially memorable to you, and what you thought of them. I'll start us out with the first story—just look for the comment link below and add your own.
I invite you to tell us about your first service or other services that were especially memorable to you, and what you thought of them. I'll start us out with the first story—just look for the comment link below and add your own.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)