The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will be honored on Monday for his leadership in the United States on behalf of civil rights, racial equality and his promotion of non-violent civil disobedience. I am sure that you are all well aware that the Reverend Doctor was a Baptist pastor and a Nobel Prize winner. What you may not be aware of is that during his lifetime, Martin Luther King Jr. was no stranger to Unitarian Universalism.

While he was a student at Boston University in the 1950's, he visited the Arlington Street Church on the Common where he heard Dana McLean Greeley preach. Dr. Greeley became the first President of the consolidated Unitarian Universalist Association.

Unitarian Universalists were active in the demonstrations in Alabama during 1965. Over a hundred UU ministers marched at Selma. Our religious movement suffered a great loss on March 9th, 1965. The Rev. James Reeb and two other Unitarian Universalist ministers had dinner in a "Negro" café in Selma. As they left the establishment, a group of whites attacked them with clubs and pieces of pipe. Two days later, James Reeb died from the blows that he had suffered. A Memorial Service was held in the Brown Chapel AME Church in Selma and Dr. King was a participant. Although three men were later brought to trial, they were found not guilty despite considerable evidence. If you are interested in learning more, Duncan Howlett has written a biography titled "No Greater Love- The James Reeb Story" which is available through the UUA Publisher, Skinner House.

On May 18th, 1966, King delivered the Ware Lecture at the General Assembly of our Association, which that year was held in Hollywood, Florida. During his presentation he acknowledged the support that he had received from Unitarian Universalist ministers during the bus boycott in Montgomery and our "massive participation in the events in Alabama".

The topic of Dr. King's address was "the church remaining awake during a great revolution". One of his major points was that both individuals and institutions often remain asleep during periods of great change. He was speaking specifically about the Civil Rights movement and the role of the church in society. He deeply believed that religion has a key role to play in the struggle against racial segregation and discrimination- the social revolution of the time. Here is an excerpt from the Ware Lecture, the words of Martin Luther King Jr. addressing the delegates of the General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association:

"The great question is, what do we do when we find ourselves in such a period? Certainly the church has a great responsibility because when it is true to its nature, it stands as a moral guardian of the community and of society. It has always been the role of the church to broaden horizons, to challenge the status quo, and to question and break mores if necessary."

He outlined several actions that would continually help the church to remain awake during the revolution:

First to continually challenge ourselves to hold a world perspective. The advances in technology have made the world a neighborhood but through our religious communities, we learn to make the world a brotherhood through a moral and ethical commitment. In his words, "We must live together as brothers or we will perish together as fools. This is a fact of life. No individual can live alone, no nation can live alone."

He continued that the second way for churches to remain awake is for congregations to continually declare that racial segregation is immoral. Now, certainly there have been great strides in racial equality since the days of Martin Luther King, Jr. However, until there is true integration in housing, schools, employment, and in the church itself, our work is not complete. It is a well known fact that Sunday morning is one of the most segregated times in America! We need to actively challenge the myths of inferior and superior races as well as arguments based on more subtle cultural grounds.

One of Dr. King's most powerful points was that in order to stay awake during the social revolution, the church needs a "divine discontent". This means things that we refuse to adjust ourselves to- like discrimination, religious bigotry, unjust economic conditions, and violence. Here is his proposal: "Yes, I must confess that the world is in dire need of a new organization - the International Association for the Advancement of Creative Maladjustment. Men and women as maladjusted as the prophet Amos, who in the midst of the injustices of his day, cried out in words that echo across the centuries - 'Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.'"

Unfortunately, the Ware Lecture delivered by Martin Luther King, is as needed today as ever. After great advancements in desegregation and civil rights laws, have we fallen asleep? The social revolution is surely not behind us!

When I was in theological school, I took a course called: "Creating the Multicultural, Anti-Racist, Anti-Oppression Church for the Twenty-first Century". As lofty and ambitious as that title sounds, it was one of the most transformative classes that I took. Starr King School for the Ministry, a Unitarian Universalist seminary in Berkeley, CA, is part of the Graduate Theological Union, a consortium of nine seminaries. This means that graduate students can take classes at any of the other schools. So, although most of my coursework was at Starr King, to give you some idea, I studied the Gospels with the Dominicans, Church History with the Episcopalians, and Pastoral Counseling with the Presbyterians. This course happened to be offered at Starr King, but in my three years of studies this was by far the most diverse group. The Fireside Room was filled with about thirty people of a variety of ages, sexual orientations, races, ethnicities, and religious affiliations.

Chester McCall, a very charismatic man, who was serving as a community minister with the Unitarian Universalist Church in neighboring Oakland, CA at the time, taught the course. Rev. McCall is now an Extension minister serving an intentionally diverse Unitarian Universalist congregation in Durham, North Carolina. In most classes, during the first session students are asked to introduce themselves and share their expectations for the course. Instead, we were asked to give the story behind our family name and share something about our heritage. The way that we introduced ourselves set the tone for the course. It was moving to acknowledge the diverse cultural heritage that informs each individual and therefore enriched the group. In smaller groups, we considered the following questions: Who are you? In what way are you and your group oppressed? By who? Who do you and your group oppress?

Each week we were to touch in about oppression experienced through out the week. When had we been subject to oppression? When had we been an oppressor either intentionally or unintentionally? For the first few classes, no one had anything to say. We were all educated, relatively economically comfortable, tolerant religious leaders living in one of the most liberal parts of the country. Chester said, "Notice the silence around this subject. We have difficulty talking about it, naming oppression, and remembering pain. It is not until we move beyond shame and guilt that transformation occurs. We need to tell the truth about our complicity. From this oppressive state, we maintain the privilege. You do not need to accept- you can resist. That's power! That is the appropriate response to oppression. When we accept existing power structures or accept being 'victims' we are complicit in oppression."

Even though as religious leaders we discussed oppression in the abstract fairly regularly, there was still a taboo about speaking of personal experiences. I realized that I had not even recognized my role of privilege or when I was being oppressed unless it was an extreme situation. Once we were able to voice these personal stories, the pain was felt. Many times the realities that other people were living with were something that I had not realized. At that time, I did not know or maybe just failed to recognize that African Americans are stopped by the police solely because of the color of their skin, that the Presbyterian church was so hostile to gays and lesbians, and that the system of oppression serves me as a straight European American.

Once we began to share our experiences more openly, Chester would ask, "What do you want from us?" His simple question was met with silence. It was a revelation to see how difficult it is to accept love and support because we are so accustomed to suffering in solitude. What made this a profoundly spiritual class was that it allowed us to voice our pain and fears but did not leave us feeling isolated in the struggle. When the stories were voiced, the empathy and compassion was made tangible through touch or letter writing or prayers the individual was no longer alone.

As Unitarian Universalists we claim to be committed to a search for truth, equality, and the balance of life. However, these cannot be passive beliefs. Our society is built upon oppressive structures. Imbalance of power exists at every level of modern civilization. This effects where we live, work, go to school, our opportunities, and even our outlooks on life and other people. From a very early age we are conditioned to believe that these oppressive structures represent "the way things are" and are taught that in order to be successful in life we must strive to gain "power over" other people. This way of living is destructive. For one individual or group to gain privilege, other individuals and groups experience systematic mistreatment. In order to break the ingrained patterns of oppression, there must be a deeply committed struggle for liberation for the oppressed and the oppressor alike.

The first step in this process is self-examination. In order to stop oppression we must first be aware that it exists within our institutions and ourselves. The proliferation of misinformation, stereotypes, and lies is so great that it is accepted as truth. The only way that we can break the cycle of ignorance is by examining and confronting these perceptions. Our organizations are built upon specific structures. We need to examine whether these structures empower all people or whether the power lies with only a few individuals or a privileged group.

After we have worked through the challenging task of institutional and individual assessment of oppression, we are ready for the next step, transformation! By confronting our own prejudice or privilege, we have begun to change already. The following work is to take action to change the oppressive structures to non-oppressive ones. In this way we are moving from a Power Over model to a model of Power With. A truly equitable community is relational. Through the sharing of power we bridge the divisions that exist in society and form alliances. This is social justice in action.

What is most important in social justice work is the realization that it is an ongoing process. When any structure is institutionalized there is the danger of stagnation. There must be a continual review, evaluation, and dialogue to insure that civil and human rights are honored. Through this life-affirming evolution change is possible.

There are many ways to stay awake during the revolution! The Unitarian Universalist Association has developed a program called "Jubilee World". In our very own Ballou Channing District there are opportunities to attend Anti-Racism Training. In our local community there are Civil Rights Roundtables and other programs sponsored by NCCJ and the ACLU to promote dialogue. Since 1971, Channing Memorial Church has given an award to a student of color at Rogers High School. This year's Assembly will be held in the morning of February 14th and you are invited to attend and support our collaboration with Community Baptist Church.

As it says in your insert, Martin Luther King Day is not a day-off but a day on! Consider how you might develop a "divine discontent" and together may we advance Dr. King's vision of Creative Maladjustment to make lasting change in this world.