There’s a lot of excitement in Austin right now. The Reverend Meg Barnhouse has come to the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin as the new settled minister, and the Pagans want to know all about her.
Rev. Barnhouse is a well-known Unitarian Universalist writer and songwriter, humorist, and speaker. After graduating from Duke University with a degree in Political Science and Psychology, Barnhouse trained at Princeton Theological Seminary. She was ordained in 1981 and, as a college chaplain, went on to teach world religions, church history, human sexuality, and public speaking.
Her life partner, Kiya Heartwood, is an award-winning singer-songwriter and composer.
Okay, these are wonderful credentials, but why all the buzz? Read on…
—The Interview —
Stephanie: When we talk about Unitarian Universalism, I think there are many people who don’t understand what a “non-creedal” faith is, or how that works. I wonder if you could say a little bit about what non-creedal means to you.
Meg: To me, non-creedal means that there is no list of beliefs that you have to “sign off” on in order to be a Unitarian Universalist. We have our seven principles, but they are more of a statement of intention for how we want to live, rather than “I believe this about God, and I believe this about unity.”
Stephanie: When I first came to First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin, I was so surprised at the mix of different approaches to spirituality of the people who identify as Unitarian Universalists. There were liberal Christians – who were non-evangelical! -Hindus, Jews, Humanists, Pagans, Buddhists, even Atheists, who gathered together to explore spirituality under one roof.
As a UU minister, what do you see as the strengths of such a diverse group of seekers coming together like this?
Meg: When I think of the strength of diversity, I think of those “super” grains that Monsanto is being vilified for producing. Because if you don’t have diversity in the genetics of your seeds and grains, you grow a crop that is so homogeneous that one virus or one fungus can wipe the whole thing out.
Diversity makes for resistance to death, basically. In my worldview there’s a lot we can learn from the plant world and the animal world about life, and humanity, and being good citizens of this planet.
Then you see how natural diversity is; when you see how protected a species is by its diversity, it makes me glad that we have a huge variety and diversity within Unitarian Universalism. [While] people do identify as liberal Christian, or Jewish, or Hindu, or Pagan — yet we are all Unitarian Universalists. We don’t even have to hyphenate: I’m a UU-Pagan, or UU-Buddhist, or I’m a UU-Jew. All you need to say is, “I’m a Unitarian Universalist.”
You have the room in that UU tent to take what is meaningful for you from Pagan practice, from Buddhist practice, from Christian belief and ethics, from Jewish tradition. You make your own recipe of spirituality for yourself.
We encourage that. And we call that Unitarian Universalism.
Stephanie: Can you tell me something about your own interactions with the Pagan community?
Meg: Oh my goodness. [laughs] Well, I had an aunt who called herself a witch, and she would tell stories about the witches in our family. She taught me to read tarot cards and palms.
She was quite a formidable and intelligent woman, and so I grew up with the sense of witchiness in my family.
My father thought she was a terrible influence, so he didn’t let her visit very often, but she did manage to pass some of that knowledge on to me.
Then, when I was an adult, I was in a women’s spirituality group, and through that group I was introduced to Unitarian Universalism.
So it was really through that Pagan aspect of Unitarian Universalism that I came into the ministry. While I consider myself and name myself a Unitarian Universalist, I deeply value the earth-based way of seeing things, along with earth-based elements of worship. I am very grateful to the Pagans for bringing me in and introducing me to UUism, so I feel a lot of affection for the Pagan element in our movement.
I think of that element as neo-transcendentalist. Emerson and the transcendentalists mean a lot to me. They were reading from the Hindu and Buddhist texts, which were just being made available as they were doing their studying, [and these texts] affected their view of humanity, of God, and the world. So they mixed Eastern thought with Unitarian Universalism. And out of that came transcendentalism, which influenced Unitarian Universalism, [and also] influenced me greatly.
So I see the Pagans as not only reviving the old Celtic religion, but as also respecting the Native American religions, and reviving the transcendentalist thought that has been a part of Unitarian Universalism since the 1800s.
Stephanie: That’s a very mystical approach.
Meg: Yes, I think so too. And every faith has its mystical strengths. And Pagans are part of Unitarian Universalism’s mystical strengths.
Stephanie: When Yew Grove Pagan Interfaith was founded in 2003, there had already been a Goddess-oriented group here for nearly 20 years; the Pagan community has grown deep roots. If you wanted to say one thing to the Pagan community about your vision of First UU Church of Austin, what would it be?
Meg: I love the element that my Pagan practice brings to my life and my spirituality. And I love putting Pagan elements in worship.
But there is such joy and safety in pure Pagan celebration, that you can’t really have on Sunday mornings.
What I really want to say to the community is, I’m so glad you guys are here and I so look forward to working with you. On certain worship services [such as] Day of the Dead, the solstices and equinoxes, and Yule, and Brigid (and things like that that), we can bring [Pagan practice] to the non-Pagan population.
I think this will surprise and delight people and would help people to really feel their attunement to the cycles and rhythms of nature. I look forward to working with you on those projects.
Stephanie: I look forward to that too.
Meg: My longing is for the Pagans to join with the non-Pagans in worship [so that Pagans can] learn more about Unitarian Universalism as well as [non-Pagans can] learn about Wicca.
Stephanie: I think there is tremendous room for healing, from both directions.
I have really enjoyed your sermons and really appreciated the Pagan elements that you bring to the standard UU worship service.
Meg: [Nods] Thank you.
Stephanie: I like to point out to newcomers that when you come to a Yew Grove ritual, the non-Pagans who are there are the people who are supportive of our traditions. This is why we don’t tolerate speaking ill of other faiths before, during, or after our circles.
The other side of that coin is we continue to reach out to the people who may think they know what Paganism is because they’ve seen a movie! Each side needs to be open-minded and tolerant of the other’s search for meaning. I think we’ve made progress.
Meg: There are many ways to God.
Stephanie: You have spoken in the church about coming from a family of Presbyterian ministers, your work as a therapist for many years, and being out as a lesbian. These aspects of your life are indicative of major changes in direction as you progressed through your spiritual journey.
But the aspects of your life which are most striking when I’m around you — when you share your humor, your singing and songwriting, your life with your partner Kiya — are the genuineness and joy surrounding you.
I know that creating a life with integrity like that represents an expression of “intent” and “will,” which are two concepts important to many in the Pagan community.
What would you say are two concepts that have been essential to you in bringing yourself to this place in your spiritual life?
Meg: If I had to pick two I would say “authenticity.” I try to be as much the same on all levels and in all situations as I can when I am alone. Being my true self is what led me to coming out, to exploring the Pagan side of my nature, and brought me to Unitarian Universalism. Through that absolute growing inability to tolerate any kind of bigotry. I found I had a really loud guiding voice in me.
The other one, which is related to this, is “truth.” It’s hard to really know the truth, or say the truth all the time. Sometimes the truth is hurtful, and you want to say the truth with a lot of love. [But] at least know what it is; whether you choose to keep silent about it or not, at least know what you would say if it were the time to say it.
And those two principles, authenticity and truth, mixed with my understanding of what love is, have guided all my choices.
And so it really didn’t feel all that brave or unusual to do it. It felt necessary.
Stephanie: Thank you for your time.
Meg: Such good questions! It was my pleasure.
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Stephanie Gill is a visionary artist, writer, and Tarot scholar. She serves as coordinator for Yew Grove Pagan Interfaith at First UU Church of Austin. She a Unitarian Universalist, and a solitary witch who practices Appalachian Granny Witchery and honors a variety of pantheons. She is also the owner-moderator of the “Ethical Witches” group on Yahoo Groups.
Among her causes as an activist, she promotes religious tolerance, the cessation of mountaintop removal mining, and is an advocate for wildlife and responsible pet ownership.
You can contact her through her profile on WitchVox.org in the “Texas” section, under Adult profiles in Austin.
Edited by: John Medellin of The Daily Apostate, Bureau Coordinator
