Comments on: Unity or uniformity? http://www.priestlynation.com/unity-or-uniformity/ my journey of recovery from University Bible Fellowship Tue, 29 Mar 2016 16:34:31 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.6.1 By: BrianK http://www.priestlynation.com/unity-or-uniformity/#comment-350 Tue, 13 Sep 2011 13:45:21 +0000 http://www.priestlynation.com/?p=134#comment-350 Chris, yea I used to think UBF chapters were so diverse (and of course there are minor differences and recently there seem to be more superficial differences). Those minor differences were one part of my defense of UBF in the past.

Then I experienced a city called Detroit. (If any missionary out there wants to know what diversity really is, please come to Detroit!) Our standard [in UBF] was All Hail The Power of Jesus’ Name. We almost accused the hymn publisher of blasphemy when we found out we could no longer purchase the old-style hymnbooks, but instead had to buy the new hymnbook where they changed the hymn numbers.

The franchise idea is pretty close to reality. What was I given as Director of Detroit UBF to start a new chapter? A Federal tax exempt ID number (and I was supposed to open a bank account but never did), some folding chairs (of the same style as what used to be at the center), and some hymnbooks. With that I was supposed to just walk onto campus and find some willing students…

]]> By: Chris http://www.priestlynation.com/unity-or-uniformity/#comment-349 Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:10:42 +0000 http://www.priestlynation.com/?p=134#comment-349 People in UBF will say they aren’t all uniform. Ok, granted, but they are still more uniform than in any other community I ever came across, and UBF creates an atmosphere that promotes uniformity in every way. I remember somebody comparing UBF with a franchise business. The way conference rooms are decorated, the way they preach, the way they pray, they way they read verses from the Bible, the Bible translation used, the way they use titles, they way they marry, clothing, hairstyle, language, all these things are pretty much uniform. Try to handle any of these things differently, and you will see what I mean.

I remember that we used to have conferences in a Christian recreation centre which had a nice hall with a wooden cross on the front. But every single time when we had a conference there, UBF missionaries would first remove that cross, lock it into the broom closet, and stick their conference title on the wall instead (and then in that same room they would sing how they cherish that old rugged cross). They would also exchange the speaker’s desk with their own desk with the UBF logo on it. All because things needed to be uniform.

Our chapter leader even let us sing the always same hymn (I think it was “To God be the glory”) every Sunday at the beginning of the service which had to start at the always same but in our country unusual time of 15pm. When I asked why, he explained because every UBF chapter in the world did it that way and he liked the thought that they would all sing the same hymn at the same time (actually in view of the existence of time differences a pretty weak rationale anyway, but that’s what he said to me).

But if we look at the world around us, it seems that God does not favor uniformity at all. Every planet in our solar system is unique, every species on our world is unique, every single person is unique. God really seems to love diversity.

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