Beloved Unitarian Universalist Minister Rev. Daniel Harper Is Creeped Out By UUA-UUMA Use Of The Word “Beloved”

According to this recent Yet Another Unitarian Universalist blog post beloved Unitarian Universalist minister Rev. Daniel Harper is creeped out by the use of the word “Beloved” by UUA leadership, including UUA President Rev. Dr. Sofia Betancourt and UUA Vice President for Programs and Ministries Rev. Ashley Horan. . .

I hope Rev. Dan Harper won't mind too much if I plagU*Urize his two month old blog post. In fact, I hope that he will be somewhat amU*Used by my plagU*Urism of his written words. . .

 

Recently, Rev. Daniel Harper noticed a new catchphrase in mass correspondence that comes from both the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) and the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association (UUMA). Instead of addressing U*U recipients as “friends” or “colleagues,” or something similar, some of the people sending U*U religious professionals this correspondence address U*Us as “Beloveds.” (And yes, this word always seems to be capitalized.)

Rev. Daniel Harper spent most of his career in Unitarian*Universalist congregations aka U*U churches cleaning up after misconduct by professional staff. Most of that misconduct was sexual misconduct, and most of the people perpetrating sexual misconduct were men. Rev. Daniel Harper never heard those perpetrators say “Beloved,” but some of them talked rather freely about how much they “loved” “their” congregations, and “their” congregants. (He’s putting the word “their” between quotation marks because, in his experience, that sense of possession was also characteristic of sexual misconductors; and unfortunately, the word “Beloved” also carries connotations of possession.)

Now, Rev. Daniel Harper understands the intent behind addressing him as a “Beloved.” At least he thinks he does. He thinks the person calling him a “Beloved Unitarian*Universalist Minister aka BU*UM” intends to include him in a “Beloved Community” of  “Beloved Unitarian*Universalist Ministers aka BU*UMs”? Or maybe they just want to signal that love is at the core of Unitarian*Universalism aka U*Uism? Actually, he’s not real clear on the Big Fat U*U Intent behind* the UUA leaders calling him a “Beloved Unitarian*Universalist Minister aka BU*UM.”

But being called a “Beloved Unitarian*Universalist Minister aka BU*UM” creeps Rev. Harper out. Yes Rev. Harper knows, maybe he has a little bit of secondary trauma from dealing with a number of religious communities that have been traumatized by sexual misconduct. Yes he knows, the word “love” in the English language incorporates a whole range of meanings and he doesn’t need to interpret that word as necessarily creepy. And yes, OK, maybe he’s being what former UUA President and yet another Beloved Unitarian*Universalist Minister aka BU*UM Rev. Dr. John A. Buehrens would call an “overly sensitive U*U soul”.

 

Even so — when Rev. Daniel Harper is addressed in UUA-UUMA correspondence as “Beloved,” it does creep him out. Once he reads that word, he finds he can rarely read any further. It just sounds so yucky, and it stops him dead.

As famous U*U Rev. Dr. William Jefferson Clinton aka Bill Clinton might say. . .

It depends upon what the meaning of the word “Beloved” is. . .

And I can't help but notice that one of the definitions of the word “Beloved” provided by the Cambridge Dictionary is -

someone that you love and who you have a romantic relationship with: 

 

 

Please note the use of the word “and” in that dictionary definition of the word “Beloved”. . .

According to that definition of the word “Beloved”, whenever UUA President Rev. Dr. Sofia Betancourt, and UUA Vice President for Programs and Ministries Rev. Ashley Horan, or any other “Beloved Unitarian*Universalist Minister aka BU*UM” addresses a fellow “Beloved Unitarian*Universalist Minister aka BU*UM”, as their “Beloved” they are presumably quite UNwittingly implying that they are in a romantic relationship with that BU*UM, and according to the Unitarian*Universalist Ministers Association's UUMA Guidelines for the Conduct of Ministry, being in a romantic relationship with a fellow BU*UM can amount to U*U clergy sexual misconduct these days, even if that was not always the case. . . 

 

I expect that if being addressed as a “Beloved Unitarian*Universalist Minister aka BU*UM” in UUA-UUMA correspondence creeped out Rev. Daniel Harper in 2024, he will be even more creeped out by being addressed as “Beloved” by his fellow “Beloved Unitarian*Universalist Ministers aka BU*UMs” in 2025 if he should happen to read this plagU*Urized blog post. . .