Meet A Unitarian

Welcome to part 2 of our 'Meet A Unitarian' series! If you missed part 1, in which we met Buddhism-inspired Lis, you can find it here.

This month we're meeting community minister Stephen Lingwood. You can read more about Stephen, who's sponsored by Cardiff Unitarians, in our 'Outreach' section here.

Q. Do you consider yourself a Unitarian, or do you use other terms?

A. I’m a Unitarian Christian because I’m a Christian who doesn’t believe in the Trinity. I believe in one God and following a human Jesus and I want to follow the teaching of Jesus, not other people’s teaching about Jesus. I’m a Universalist Christian because I believe that God loves everyone universally and unconditionally. I’m a progressive Christian because I try to be open to new ideas and modern knowledge. And I’m a radical Christian because I believe faith is about liberating the world from racism, violence, and economic systems that are destroying the planet. Plus I’m an ecumenical Christian who gets a lot from contact from other Christian traditions, as well as other religious traditions as well.

Q. How long have you been a Unitarian, or interested in Unitarianism?

A. I read the word “Unitarian” in a history book when I was at university in Birmingham over twenty years ago. Soon after I went along to the Unitarian church in the city. Then I went to Boston in the US and got much more involved in a Unitarian Universalist church there, and with young adult networks. When I came back to the UK I applied to start ministry training, which I started at the young age of 24. I served as a church minister for fifteen years in Bolton and Cardiff.  

Q. What does being a Unitarian mean to you?

A. At the heart of my faith is the experience of a loving God. I believe God loves everyone universally and unconditionally regardless of belief, religion, race, gender identity, class, or sexual orientation. I believe each one of us is a child of God as much as Jesus was a son of God, and that we all can have an intimate relationship with God. I believe Jesus asked us to follow him rather than worship him. I believe in loving God and loving my neighbour, and that that means working for justice as “justice is what love looks like in public.”

Q. How does being a Unitarian (or other) influence your life outside of the worship/meeting space (if at all)?

A. It’s all part of the same thing for me. I can’t separate my politics, my lifestyle, my work, my faith. I try to practice contemplation every day (though I don’t always succeed). My work involves working on climate justice because my faith is about believing that the world is beautiful, and that every person has sacred worth and deserves to live in a liveable world. When I pray outside Barclays once a month, I’m trying to bring about a new world free of fossil fuels but I’m starting by trying to transform my own heart. When I’m part of a team organising community events in Riverside with my other job I’m trying to “love my neighbour.” When I’m chatting to people in the pub and listening to someone who opens up about the fact someone they love has just died, I’m just trying to be there, in simple small ways to build a better world, and to connect.

Q. What does your personal practice entail (i.e. do you solely worship/contemplate during meeting/worship times or do you also have a practice outside of this? Meditation? Prayer? Creativity etc.?)

A. I try to practice contemplation every day. I say “contemplation” rather than “prayer” because people can have wrong ideas about prayer. My practice usually involves using a Celtic prayerbook, meditating on the words of Jesus, chanting, and long periods of silence. Though I do “talk to God” in my mind, I also seek the mystical silence of simply being in the presence of this great Love. I tend to use Centering Prayer as the practice of using a sacred word to bring me back into the sense of presence. I don’t use the word all the time, just as a way to bring me back when my mind wanders.

Q. What would you say to someone who is interested in Unitarianism?

A. To any spiritual seeker I would always say go towards that which makes your heart come alive, and makes you a better, fuller, more connected, more alive person. I don’t mind too much what spiritual path someone follows, as long as they find something that makes them more alive, aware, and compassionate.

If someone was interested in my spiritual path I would probably advise them to find out about great spiritual teachers like Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Channing, George de Benneville, Anna Barbould. At the risk of sounding self-promoting, probably the easiest way to dip into these writers is by reading the book I put together called The Unitarian Life.

You can find 'The Unitarian Life' (edited by Stephen) on Amazon here.

Stephen is also author of 'Seeking Paradise', which is also available on Amazon here.