Elevator Speeches

Susan M. O'Connor, Director of Religious Education, September 12, 2004

Several years ago I was at a week-long seminar in Arizona. I’ve long forgotten the topic and even the year but I do have one memory that I will never forger. While we were waiting for a bus to take us back to the hotel, one of the other participants asked me what religion I was. When I answered “Unitarian Universalist”, he replied, “I’ve never heard of them.” I scrambled to find word to explain what I believed and why I was a Unitarian Universalist. After a few sentences, his eyes glazed over and I knew the conversation was over and that I hadn’t explained myself well at all.

When I started working in Roxbury, I found myself dealing with all sorts of individuals who were serious church goers, whose religious practices extended into the work week and which were very visible in their daily lives. They talk freely of their religious beliefs and practices and want to know mine—to a certain extent. When they find out that I am the DRE at a UU church in Stoughton or that my husband is a UU minister, I find that my acceptance is ratcheted up a notch or two.

When asked what I believe—not which church I attend—what comes to mind are the words and gestures of the chalice lighting that we use in each Children’s Chapel—“This is the church of the open mind, this is the church of the loving heart, this is the church of the helping hands, together we care for our earth and work for peace and friendship everywhere.” (do the gestures at the same time) This really does sum things up well but it’s not exactly an adult response to the question.

While struggling to come up with a succinct statement that expresses what I believe and value without denigrating the beliefs of others, I read Rev. William Sinkford’s President’s column in the March/April 2003 issue of the UU World. In it he talked about the difficulty Unitarian Universalists have in sharing our faith with a world that needs it badly. He encouraged everyone to work on their UU “elevator speech”-- what you'd say when you're going from the sixth floor to the lobby and somebody asks you, 'What's a Unitarian Universalist?'" This was exactly what I had been struggling to have at the ready when asked that very question—a UU Elevator Speech one that emphasized the positive and wasn’t focused on what we don’t have—no creed, no ecclesiastical hierarchy, no proscribed prayers or worship rituals!

Let me explain his term “elevator speech.” Basically the term “elevator speech” was coined in the business world from the idea that we sometimes meet the important people in our lives in elevators. The idea of an “elevator speech” is to have a prepared presentation that grabs attention and says a lot in a few words. You have three seconds to engage them with your answer before their eyes glaze over and you've lost them. You will be present yourself in a way that rather than putting people off will make them want to know more about you.

Since that article in 2003, the UU World has published “elevator speeches” in every issue. And I’ve been so fascinated and awed with how people describe their beliefs enough that I’ve been collecting those that have been published in the UU World and looking for them in other places as well. I’d like to share with you some that I’ve found particularly meaningful.

What did Rev. Sinkford write:

The Unitarian side tells us that there is only one God, one spirit of life, one power of love. The Universalist side tells us that God is a loving God, condemning none of us, valuing the spark of divinity that is in every human being." So my version of what Unitarian Universalism stands for is, "One God, no one left behind.

Rev. Edmund Robinson, minister at the UU Wakefield Church writes:

Unitarian Universalism is a religion founded on the proposition that some questions are too important to have only one right answer.

These same questions are also “too important for someone else to answer them for you” adds another minister.

Let me share with you some of the elevator speeches that have appeared in the UU World since Rev. Sinkford's challenge.

Bruce Whatley, First UU Church, San Diego, CA states:

Being a Unitarian Universalist means belonging to a community that accepts and understands doubts of the divine and the search for truth without imposing an unrealistic doctrine with a promise of unnecessary salvation.

Jill McMullen, North Shore Unitarian Church, Deerfield, Illinois, states:

Unitarian Universalists search for the universal, person by person, path by path.

From Bruce Melville, Southwestern Unitarian Universalist Church, Berea, Ohio, we have:

Unitarian Universalism encourages each of us to understand and apply the teachings of the world’s religions to our daily lives, to seek truth, to promote justice, and live in harmony with the world around.

Dr. Tony Larsen, Olympia Brown UU Congregation, Racine, Wisconsin, shares:

We believe in searching for the truth with an open mind. We believe in loving your neighbor as yourself, which includes trying not to steal, lie, kill, or hurt people in any other way. And we believe in making the world a better place, which includes working for justice, peace, and freedom for all people.

Your elevator speeches may be very different from these and from mine. I would encourage each of you to take the time to create your own UU elevator speech and to not be caught off guard as I was that day in Arizona. As Rev Sinkford concluded in his column, what is important is to “put a name to what calls you, and to what you find yourself called to do in response. Practice telling it to others. We have Good News for a world that badly needs it. But we may need to expand our vocabularies if we want others to hear us.”

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