Dot,

The church is still being torn apart by those who want to abandon God totally and those who only want their version of God and the scriptures taught.  This will never appeal to the spiritual individuals who are looking for a religious home.

Many like to talk on an intellectual level -- but do not do anything to live in accord with the words they write and preach.  It boils down to the point that talk is cheap as long as no one pushes for affirmative or positive action.  As long as this is the case -- no progress or advancement will be made.

There is a pathway that all may walk -- that is the path of love and service.  We can put politics aside to serve both God and humanity by promoting harmony and peace for all.  We can truly honor both our Father and our Mother (the Spirit and the Earth) by finding a way to balance all the extremes that we encounter.

Will the organization survive?  That is up to the members to decide.  If they want to be part of a religious revival and growth -- more than talk is needed.  Each individual will have to take an active part in doing what needs to be done.

The conviction that individual congregations ought to remain autonomous as far as governance is concerned only exacerbates the divisiveness, IMO.

I've been a member of only three UU congregations, two bricks-and-mortar churches and CLF. The latter was the closest to what I think a UU church should be with references to various beliefs fairly well represented. Probably because CLF is an online church, it would be difficult for any one belief group to achieve dominance and exert control as I've witnessed in each of the B&M churches where I was active.

Too often, I think, the idea that majority rules extends in a church to whatever belief group is in the majority dictating what is acceptable service content. Naturally, that can and sometimes unfortunately does extend to choosing a minister whose beliefs reflect those of the dominant group. While one would hope that ministers will attempt to represent a variety of beliefs in service content and sermons so as to illustrate how diverse UUism is as well as to reflect belief diversity among congregants, there are too many instances of the minister's beliefs reflecting which group rules the church because the natural human tendency is to protect one's livelihood by keeping the money and power groups happy.

That there's no oversight by any denominational authority is an asset to congregational polity in notable ways but a definite weakness in terms of correcting abuses. There's simply no means of appeal other than voting with your feet if you find yourself in a church where a dominant belief group is in control. A large part of the reason why I'm no longer affiliated with UUism is that I've been in that situation and withdrew from membership because of it.

That a person has no assurance that a UU church will actually be as accepting of belief diversity as UUism proclaims itself to be is a significant problem, IMO, with no means of resolution as long as individual churches retain the autonomy they currently enjoy.