A Theology of Solidarity
Workshop Leader:
The Rev. Anthony P. (Tony) Johnson First Unitarian Universalist Church of Essex County 47
Cleveland Street Orange, NJ 07050 (973) 674-0010
About the Workshop:
A liberal and diverse urban congregation that would be a living worshipping community must
be built upon a theology of solidarity. By solidarity, I mean a down-to-earth, specific,
lived version of the Universalist ideal of a love so great that none is left out. A
theology of solidarity is not an abstraction. Rather, it embodies the reality of a
particular community in a particular time, particular place, and particular struggle. In
the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Essex County, the solidarity is palpable. It is
a place where the vision of human solidarity is taken seriously. But it is also a place
where individuals holding a liberal approach to religion can find solidarity with
like-spirited others, and where they share their struggles and are energized for their
struggles in solidarity in their neighborhoods and workplaces.
Workshop Leader Biography:
The Rev. Anthony P. (Tony) Johnson has been consulting minister to FUUCEC since 1996 and
was previously a parish and/or community minister in Burbank, CA, New Brunswick, NJ, and
New York City. A graduate of Harvard Divinity and the New School for Social Research (M.S.
in urban policy and management), he also teaches sociology at Monmouth University, West
long Branch, NJ. "I have spent much of my ministry outside of UU institutions because
of their historical inability to relate to more than a narrow demographic segment, while
turning to them for spiritual nurture. The challenge to UU urban church and ministry is
not just to serve "others" in our cities, but to be one with them. After 19
years of ministry I found in Orange, NJ, a congregation that was trying with some success
to be a community of solidarity. I want to share the excitement and the lessons of these
four rich years of ministry, what we are doing together, and talk theology of solidarity
with others."
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