All Souls came about because we yearned for a place where African Americans in particular feel empowered and welcome. All Souls is not an attempt to create a black alternative to the four thriving predominantly white UU congregations in our area. All Souls is the love-hate relationship between aspiring to do what is right and struggling to make it viable. It is a commitment formed among five different religious associations, each trying to realize a new sense of community through the struggle over what it means to be an intentionally multicultural, multiracial effort . And just as our dreams of democracy are not easily reached, our dreams of creating a welcoming place for people of different races and cultures under a Unitarian Universalist framework is challenging.
All Souls isn t very big or very old yet.
We are still in the gathering phase of our organization and have been holding services for less than a year. When the choir sings, we count on visitors to be our congregation because all the members are singing. We can count out pledge units on the digits of an average person. We are still looking for a regular home for our services. We don t yet have a real religious education program.