Worship Service

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803- 1882) is known to most Americans as an essayist and philosopher. To Unitarians he is also known as one of the important figures of the 19th century American Unitarian church. Some of the details of his life as a Unitarian minister offer a window into the history of our tradition. Join us on March 9 when Dr. James Barszcz provides a picture of this complex man and his insight into the relations of metaphor, symbol, and mysticism.

In his talk Dr. Barszcz explains that Emerson resigned from his ministry in Boston, a vocation he followed for only four years, when he was directed to offer the communion celebration, or the Lord’s Supper, as a regular part of his services. In his view, this ritual was an outdated distraction from true spiritual pursuits, and he would not comply. In a fascinating final sermon, Emerson justified his decision to leave the ministry in a manner that is at once plain and densely suggestive.

Dr. Barszcz will show how the sermon documents Emerson’s distaste for formal religious observance, and also what Emerson offers in its place: a kind of every-day poetic work we can all participate in. He argues that the sermon is vitally linked to the works Emerson would produce in his second career–the essays, poems, and lectures that gave life to the strong tradition of American literature that bears his name and that thrives to this day.

James Barszcz earned a PhD in English Studies from Rutgers University and taught for many years at colleges and universities in New Jersey.