Cheeseburger, hold the Cheese?

This has been in my head for several weeks now. It's not really a post, not really a question, not really an observation (not an educated one, anyhow). It's simply a train of thought. I don't know where this train is going, but I felt inclined to board it. Call it a runaway train or a train wreck. Destination unknown. I'm just exploring, meandering. Your thoughts or feedback are, as usual, completely welcome.

The other day, Bill Kinnon had a great post that I'm sure you have come across either directly or in linkage by now. Titled "The People formerly known as The Congregation".

[Yes, the title of Bill's post has me wondering if we need some weird unpronounceable symbol to represent us. Anyone?]

It's an incredible post that speaks to me in numerous ways. But one part really jumped out at me:

"We are The People formerly known as The Congregation. We have not stopped loving the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Nor do we avoid "the assembling of the saints." We just don't assemble under your supposed leadership. We meet in coffee shops, around dinner tables, in the parks and on the streets. We connect virtually across space and time - engaged in generative conversations - teaching and being taught."

In other words, we are the Church without the church.

So here's the thing I'm thinking about - rolling around in my head - how can we (The People Formerly Known as the Congregation, or PFKC) best have community? Or more specifically, what if we don't have any sort of PFKC community nearby? Where can we find that without going back to church? How can we maintain our newfound non-congregational freedom and still be part of something bigger than ourselves? Do we have to venture out and create it ourselves? Do we have to join with something that still isn't a good "fit"?

Should we take Jesus out of religion (i.e. Unitarian Universalism) or take religion out of Jesus (i.e. informal 'everywhere' church)? Is that even an either/or question? Are both equally valid?

We have a UU church very near our home that seems to be growing in popularity. I don't know that for a fact - it just seems that I hear this church's name more and more often as they hold an increasing variety of classes and events, inviting special speakers, etc. I can't say that I haven't wondered from time to time what's "goin' on in there?". I well know that some from the ranks of Christian exile are retreating into Unitarian Universalism, and if so, I'm thankful they have found a place that welcomes them.

My brother sings at a UU church - he's not a member - not really religious at all - but he was hired to be their lead voice for the choir. My parents, lifelong Christians, have visited the church to hear him sing and said it seemed just like church without Jesus.

However, personally, even as I am liberalizing my faith and have grown into a religious freedom some call heretical, I just can't seem to remove the essential element of Jesus from the equation. That's just my belief - no reflection on anyone else's beliefs.

I have never attended a UU service, so I'm not speaking from experience - just making some generalized observations. It seems that UU churches have met a need by taking Jesus out of religion. Making religion be whatever a person wants it to be, and creating a religious gathering place for these people. There certainly are benefits to this system - people are welcomed and affirmed no matter who they are or what they believe. However, it's still religious. Or shall I say, ritualistic. It seems they have held fast to the 'religion' and abandoned the Jesus. Please know I'm not disparaging these churches. I'm thankful for any place that exhibits this trueness of grace.

But if the problem many of us have (PFKC) isn't with Jesus, of course, it's with religion, then what? Can we hold fast to Jesus and abandon the religion? I don't want religion anymore. I'm finding that the practice of my faith lies in coffee shops, pubs and living rooms; no longer in any building with a stage, altar and pews. There is no longer any regularly scheduled programming for my faith. It's more like an amalgam of the content of 200 channels of cable TV (Community Access included) than it is like the predictability of the Big 3 Networks.

However, I have to admit that I miss some sense of a "centralized gathering of the faithful". Where should I turn?

I affirm many of the beliefs of the UU body - the grace and love and acceptance. I want all that. However, I don't want a church that is still a church just minus Jesus. Must I sacrifice my belief that Jesus is the Only Way in order to find such a welcoming place? Must I accept that faith requires ritual "church", even if it doesn't require Jesus, in order to have a place to belong?

Can I reverse the process? Can I take the religious elements out of my relationship with Jesus? The elements of a weekly, planned service where we sing, light candles, hear a message, pray (or whatever) pat each other on the back and go home; instead having a gathering that is random and flowing and unceremonial, and still end up with something that looks something like "church"? And by that I mean a centralized gathering of the faithful, not "church".

Is it possible to reclaim Jesus from the damage religion has done to His message without abandoning Him altogether? Can we sift out the Goodness, Grace and Love from the religious judgmentalism, fundamentalism and rituals and yet still be left with Jesus in the end? Will this thing we end up with even look anything at all like Jesus? Or will it just be some mushy, watery substance that used to be Jesus? Does Jesus require religion?

I don't want to have to accept religion without Jesus in order to be able to love people unconditionally without being called a heretic.

Instead, I want Jesus as my religion, hold the religion.

Is that possible? Or does that just turn into a Cheeseburger without the cheese - in other words, no longer a cheeseburger at all?