Decentering Whiteness in Worship
What Are These Webinars About?
In these three videos, Unitarian Universalist religious professionals of color discuss how UU worship leaders can decenter whiteness, take apart models and habits that uphold white supremacy culture, and find new ways to create worship.
"Beyond Basic Representation," is a conversation about why and how UU worship leaders need to do more than include readings by authors of color in worship, and why the next stage of our collective spiritual growth calls for the (often uncomfortable) creation of new processes and relationships.
Beyond Basic Representation: Taking Our Anti-Racist Commitment into Worship
Recorded in June 2019, this conversation between Julica Hermann de la Fuente, Aisha Hauser, and Rev.
Erika Hewitt begins with the question Why can't we search WorshipWeb for authors who are people of color? and extends into an expansive discussion of applying anti-racism work to Unitarian Universalist worship.
Here are a few of the benchmarks in this 38-minute conversation:
- 3:50 Aisha invokes "intentional relationship-building"
- 5:00 Julica wonders what else is behind the request to identify authors who are POC
- 7:50 Aisha lists widely-published UU religious professionals of color whose work needs to be read by white UUs
- 13:00 Julica explains the historic model of preaching -- the "transmission of knowledge" -- as reflecting an outdated, colonialist framework
- 20:00 Julia distinguishes an ethic of control from an ethic of risk
- 21:30 Aisha reflects on the spiritual value of learning to sit with discomfort
- 25:50 Aisha reveals what white people rarely say out loud
- 30:45 Julica unpacks the cost of perfectionism in worship
- 32:45 Erika, Aisha, and Julica comment on the emotional labor required to navigate conversations about race
- 35:50 Aisha names the question she asks someone when she learns that she's caused harm
Additional Resources
These resources are either referenced in the 2019 webinar, or might be helpful to our continued learning:
A 2021 blog post, Dismantling White Supremacy Culture in Worship, by Rev. Erika Hewitt and Julica Hermann de la Fuente, inviting us to consider the question: If we’re unable to change our expectations of worship, how can we build our tolerance for decentering the status quo outside of worship?
The Institutional Change Blog The 2017 charge to the Commission on Institutional Change: to conduct an audit of white privilege and the structure of power within Unitarian Universalism, an analyze structural racism and white supremacy within the UUA.
"In This Delicate Turning," a sermon delivered on June 23, 2019 by Rev. Marta Valentin as part of Sunday morning worship at General Assembly (Spokane). Note: as a beautifully and carefully crafted service, the entire service is informative and inspiring. Rev. Valentin's sermon begins at 1:10 and ends at 1:45.
DeReau Farrar's reflection (delivered at First Unitarian Church of Portland, Oregon in May 2017) about white privilege as it applies to music in worship.
- Centering: Navigating Race, Authenticity, and Power in Ministry, edited by Mitra Rahnema. A joint project of the Committee for Antiracism, Anti-oppression, and Multiculturalism of the UUMA and Skinner House Books, Centering is the first book to center the stories, analysis, and insight of Unitarian Universalists of color offering their religious leadership.
- Darkening the Doorways: Black Trailblazers and Missed Opportunities in Unitarian Universalism by Mark Morrison-Reed.
- Voices from the Margins, edited by Jacqui James and Mark Morrison-Reed.
- Worship Guidelines and Components for The Promise and The Practice (PDF)
- The Black Lives Matter worship collection on WorshipWeb
Decentering Whiteness in Worship... Continuing the Conversation
This video conversation was recorded on September 12, 2017 by Rev. Erika Hewitt, Christina Rivera, Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout, and Julica Hermann de la Fuente.
Due to the free-flowing conversation between four computers, there are portions with minor sound distortions. Thank you for bearing with those distractions, and for addressing any questions to WorshipWeb.
Decentering Whiteness in Worship, Part 1
This webinar was recorded on June 1, 2017 by Rev. Erika Hewitt, Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout, and Julica Hermann de la Fuente. Thanks to the 100+ viewers who joined in the chat.
