Unitarian ministry reaches beyond web, makes old resources new. Introducing Maurisa Brown-Latham of Unitarian Ministries, LLC
Scott Wells, Washington, D.C.
The young Internet-based organization Unitarian Ministries (http://www.unitarianministries.com) might evoke feelings of curiosity and wonder from longtime and cradle Unitarian Christians. It is, by its founder's description, "a non-denominational online ministry dedicated to sharing the Unitarian Christian tradition and spiritual philosophy of interfaith." There is no hint of generational anxiety or conflict. Nor, indeed, is there evidence of hard feelings towards a denomination, association or tradition.
While Unitarian Ministries makes references to luminaries like William Ellery Channing, it seems clear that founder Maurisa Brown-Latham has created something not only younger, but new. In January 2009, we spoke by telephone for this profile.
In a story familiar to other come-inners, Brown-Latham grew up a Roman Catholic but converted to Islam at age fifteen, a faith she practiced for seventeen years. About two years ago, she looked at her life of faith and began to re-approach her Christian heritage "in a different way" that maintained the "monotheistic outlook of God" similar to the one she knew as a Muslim.
Looking for a religious alternative, Brown-Latham searched the Internet for options where she discovered Unitarianism. But from her home in Columbia, South Carolina, there were few options for Unitarian Christians and she decided that---rather than drifting from her own commitments---would "have to be my own minister." (Brown-Latham does visit the local pluralist Unitarian Universalist congregation and worships with a Unity church.)
Problems emerged. First, there are no Unitarian Christian seminaries in the United States and the seminaries associated with the Unitarian Universalist Association demanded more than she "could put into the process" including the prospect of deep debt. Instead, Brown-Latham chose to study by extension with The New Seminary, an independent, interfaith institution based in New York, and identifies both its interfaith approach and their encouragement of her Unitarian Christianity as important influences. The New Seminary, which ordains its graduates in its own right, will ordain Brown-Latham as an interfaith minister in June.
Her site, which attracts between 130--300 visits a day has been published since summer 2008. A pillar of her work is to take classic Unitarian Christian works, particularly those of William Ellery Channing, recast them in a contemporary idiom and publish them online and in bound versions. The former is available free of charge; the printed editions are sold as inexpensively as practical. A telephone-based devotional small group study begins this summer. Very recently, Brown-Latham has instituted a membership plan---a "pastor membership"---that is, despite the name open to ordained and unordained persons alike. There is no charge for the membership, which strives to identify Unitarian Christian leaders and coordinate the production and distribution of materials.
Her husband Mitchell Latham, a banker, assists her in the ministry by helping structure it and by ensuring the edited works of Unitarian Christian classics are simple, practical and applicable.
She encourages other Unitarian leaders to meet ministry needs, many being small or simple. "Without resources, it's too hard to be a Unitarian Christian."
Does Brown-Latham have a dream? Yes, "to be ordained as a Unitarian Christian."
Of her mission, she comments: "I'm not running away. I'm not giving up."
Unitarian Ministries may be visited at http://www.unitarianministries.com.