If you’re an LGBTQ person who’s out to any degree, chances are you’ve run into anti-LGBTQ fundamentalist Christians. Maybe you encountered an itinerant campus preacher, a less-than-tolerant coworker, or a well-meaning family member concerned for the state of your eternal soul. Perhaps they quoted Bible verses to back up their arguments against being queer or […]

Interfaith ministry calls on us to respect and understand the beliefs of a wide range of people. Whether we agree or disagree, our higher calling is to find common ground from which to form our faith and beliefs. A study by Barna Research, based on more than 2,000 interviews with U.S. adults, concludes that Bible […]

Some celebrants of Christmas recently bemoaned the raising of a Festivus Pole at the Florida State Capitol in response to the large Nativity already on display. A Fox News reporter asked how she is supposed to explain the symbol of secular anti-consumerism to her children while she drives them around looking at Christmas decorations. What […]

Passover is one of the most important holidays of the Jewish faith. It celebrates the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. The Passover Seder ritualistically commemorates this event, with the participants re-enacting the enslavement and the subsequent liberation of the Jews. Today, the Passover Seder can also be used to focus on […]

On February 3, 1943, three Army ships and three Coast Guard Cutters were fired on by a German submarine in the frigid waters off the coast of Greenland. With 900 men on board, the troopship the Dorchester was hit in the midsection and began sinking rapidly, and ammonia and oil were everywhere. Four Army Chaplains […]

Interfaith ministers in the Universal Life Church are responsible for ministering to people of all faiths. Knowledge of the rituals and traditions of a variety of religious systems is important to anyone who gets ordained as an interfaith minister. Part of the education and training of an interfaith minister who gets ordained by the Universal […]

As homes and storefronts hang their holiday decor, the jolly, rotund figure of Santa Claus features prominently. Santa Claus symbolizes universal values of cheer, kindness, and generosity. The more modernized and secular Santa Claus developed from the historical St. Nicholas. St. Nicholas also appears at Christmastime, often imagined with traditional style carvings of a gaunt […]

Vampires have been important figures in legends from a variety of cultures across the world. Often depicted as bloodthirsty and demonic beings, they still strike fear in the hearts of many people, even in the modern era. In the Jewish and Christian religious texts, there are multiple mentions of creatures with vampire qualities; in the […]

Darker beings and monsters of all colors and sizes can be found all across the texts of the Earth’s major religions. For those who wish to become a pastor for the ULC, studying the inner workings of the world’s most prevalent religions can seem to be a fruitless task. However, some of the monsters of […]