“I contend that the Unitarian Universalist movement lives under a prophetic imperative, a religious mandate for the corporate address of the church to the systemic problems of society. I cannot prove that, I do not assert it as a divine imperative; I only feel it deep in my bones.”[i]
With these words, Rev. Richard S. Gilbert, a Unitarian Universalist minister, introduces his book The Prophetic Imperative: Social Gospel in Theory and Practice. Gilbert calls us, in the tradition of Channing, Ballou, Parker, Adams, and others to work together as a religious community to foster a truly just and free society by working for fundamental and systemic change of those institutions which today create injustice. Not one to simply “talk the talk”, Gilbert has “walked the walk” since the civil rights movement of the 1960’s. In the words of the Rev. John Buehrens, former UUA President, “Richard Gilbert is no mere theoretician. He is, and has been throughout an exemplary ministry of nearly (fifty) years, a practitioner of the faith he advocates: publicly engaged in religious leadership, seeking to help create what Dr. King called ‘the Beloved Community’ for us all.”
In his many written works, Gilbert explores the roots of the prophetic imperative in Unitarian and Universalist history and then sketches out a model for how a congregation like ours can embrace it. His model moves away from the traditional stove pipe approach to church programs, with constituencies for ministry, religious education, fund raising, social justice, property management, etc. and toward a more integrated approach in which the spiritual and social action do more than coexist. They are integrated into a whole to the extent that one cannot survive without the other because each is an expression of the other. Such an integrated congregation can be a powerful force in the community for meaningful social action and systemic change.
Gilbert’s is a model that will empower our congregation to embrace our core value of the Beloved Community and work more effectively for its realization. It is our religion given expression in action and it is, I believe, a blueprint for the future of our church.
We are honored that Rev. Gilbert will preach in our church on Sunday February 28th, following a program he will offer to ours and other UU Congregations on Saturday February 27th. During this weekend, Rev. Gilbert will help us answer a question I often hear asked by those who want to work for justice, “What can I do?” His experience and insight will help us to decide individually and collectively how to “walk the walk.” I invite you to take part in this important weekend program.
Tom Beall
Social Action Co-Chair
[i] Gilbert, Richard S. The Prophetic Imperative: Social Gospel in Theory and Practice, 2nd ed., Boston: Skinner House Press, pp. 4-5.
