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Thursday, August 13, 1987

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Unitarians organize on Upper Delaware

MILANVILLE - A new Uniterian Universalist group held its first meeting in the Upper Delaware valley July 26, at the home of minister Raymond J. Pontier, near Narrowsburg. With more than 25 people who have expressed interest in organizing more formally, the fledgling organization has already outgrown its initial meeting quarters.

Hoping to draw from both sides of the Delaware River, the new group tentatively plans to alternate meetings at the Delaware Valley Arts Alliance gallery on Narrowsburg's Main Street and at the Innisfree Youth Hostel, River Road, Milanville.

Pontier, a part-time Narrowsburg resident, is minister of a fellowship in Wayne, NJ but has pledged to meet with the Upper Delaware group once monthly. Sunday services are slated to be conducted by lay members, with speakers from the congregation and general community. Coopertive childcare during meetings is planned.

An avowedly liberal denomination, Unitarianism is outside the mainstream of modern religion, according to Pontier, as it does not subscribe to any formal creed or statement of beliefs. Members claim the freedom to believe the worship as they please, so meeting formats vary widely.

Members present at an Aug. 2 meeting in Narrowsburg stressed their commitment to principles of diversity, tolerance, and dialogue in structure and meeting content. A national organization, the Unitarian Universalist Association is comprised of people of all faiths, including Jews, Christians, agnostis and others.

Unitarian Universalism traces its organizational roots to the 1960 merger of two older bodies. The Universalists, in the 1740s, denounced the idea that a loving God would damn certain children to hell while affording eternal bliss to a few chosen "elect." America's first Unitarian churches were founded by the discoverer of oxygen, Dr. Joseph Priestley, who immigrated from Great Britain fleeing religious intolerance.

Modern Universalism is described by some of its adherents as "a refuge for rebels, a haven for heretics, and a shelter for skeptics," according to a pamphlet published in Boston. It is an alternative to the authoritarian, paternalistic structure of organized religion.

Interested residents or visitors in the Upper Delaware region are invited to join the new local group Sundays at 11 a.m. for fellowship and discussion.