Right on Time
U History Professor Bob Goldberg is in good company.
As a speaker at the Salt Lake Unitarian Church, he joins the likes of Langston Hughes, U Law School Dean Scott Matheson and six candidates for Salt Lake City mayor, among others.
“In 1999 we received national coverage from Time magazine for the mayoral speakers,” said Tim Chambless, chair of the church’s Sunday Summer Forum speaker series.
However, the series’ mission has never been about celebrity.
“We are focused on solving community problems. We are a place of ideas. There is an emphasis on the secular, not dogma,” said Chambless, who is in his 15th year of organizing the program. And, on a blistering Sunday morning in July, the tradition that Chambless speaks of comes alive.
At 10 a.m. sharp, Chambless enters the church’s main hall and makes the opening remarks, introducing Goldberg and the week’s topic.
Though the hall looks like a traditional church?shining white pews, crimson carpet and black hymnals?it’s clear this is not a standard service.
Goldberg is here to talk about conspiracy?his specialty and the subject of his new book, Enemies Within: The Culture of Conspiracy in Modern America.
“I’ve been to a lot of religious communities,” Goldberg says as he reaches the podium, “but I’ve never been to one that started right on time. I’ve heard of Jewish time and Catholic time. This must be Unitarian time.”
In many ways, Goldberg has touched on the uniqueness of the Unitarian Church. The hymns are not restricted to one denomination, and the readings are taken from various sources?everything from the Bible to Lebanese poet Kahlil Gibran’s “The Prophet,” to little-known traditions found in “The Masai Herders of Eastern Africa.”
“I like our eclectic selection of readings,” says Cathy Chambless, president of the Unitarian Church Board of Trustees, “They come from all faiths.”
The same applies to the church’s beliefs, which states that “the living tradition we share draws from many sources.” Among the central beliefs are “the inherent worth and dignity of every person,” and “justice, equity, and compassion in human relations.”
A Campus Connection
“I think that the church’s history as well as its physical location has established a link with the university,” said Tim Chambless.
As the internship co-coordinator at the Hinckley Institute of Politics, Chambless has secured speakers for both the Institute and the summer speaker series.
“We have two U professors this summer?Anand Yang and Bob Goldberg. Both of them happen to be history professors,” he said.
However, the U community’s involvement does not stop at speakers.
Since the building was established in 1927, the Unitarian Church has been a meeting place for many individuals from the U, including Dr. Henry Plank, a U medical school founder.
According to Chambless, the Unitarian Church also has members from the U law school.
“Those who come here tend to be people of ideas who are fiercely independent,” Chambless says, “and instead of staying home on Sunday, they come here.”
Audience Participation
At the conclusion of his speech, Goldberg fields question.
One audience member asks what kind of reactions Goldberg got when his book first came out.
“The worst feedback is from the UFO guys and gals,” he responds. “They thought it was suspicious that the book was published by the Yale University Press, and that’s where both Bushes went to school.”
Unlike the traditional vision of a Sunday service, this audience’s reaction is lively. The group claps at the conclusion of the presentation, and members of the church pass around offering plates.
While the audience prepares to leave, Chambless announces that Goldberg has one more thing to say.
The group becomes silent.
Goldberg points to another U professor in the audience.
“The passing of the plate?what do you think would happen if we did that after our normal lectures?” he asks.
The silence that had stifled the audience is broken by Goldberg’s playful inquiry.
The exchange of information and the open dialogue that accompanies it at the Unitarian Church each Sunday during the summer is, to its participants, priceless.
In the coming weeks, the church will host, among others, Shuaib Din, Imam of the West Valley City Mosque and Lily Eskelsen, the newly-elected Secretary/Treasurer of the National Education Association.