A plain banner imprinted with a brief prayer hangs at the front of Cedarhurst Unitarian Universalist Church. The words, an "amen" repeated at the end of each service, embody the spirit and camaraderie of worship.
From you I receive To you I give Together we share And by this we live The first Unitarian Universalist church to open in Carroll County meets in what used to be the Congoleum Corp. employees' club house, just off Route 140 in Finksburg. Members have signed a two-year lease, with an option to buy the building.
Membership numbers about 60, a "small denomination, willing to grow," said its pastor, the Rev. Kerry Mueller.
The main floor accommodates about 100 worshipers. A lectern, an organ, hymnals and a pewter chalice denote the worship that takes place. The church has no altar.
The congregation is converting the lower level into classrooms for youth religious education.
"This congregation needs to grow," said Ms. Mueller, 51, who was recently "called to minister" by the church board of directors. "We have a lot to offer those who need a religious home."
The congregation moved in September from Reisterstown, where it had outgrown its space on Main Street.
Cedarhurst Unitarian Universalist, like the 1,000 churches of the denomination nationwide, welcomes people from all religious backgrounds into its ministry.
"We have no creed and our beliefs vary a great deal," Ms. Mueller said. "The process binds, not a list of beliefs."
Instead of strict dogma, the Unitarian Universalist Church encourages members to develop a personal theology and present religious opinions without fear of censure.
"There are institutions, where there is a single answer from the church and it is the person's job to accept that answer," Ms. Mueller said. "With the UU, there is a free and responsible search for the truth. Questioning is OK."
Services, at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, begin with the lighting of a candle inside a chalice. The pastor encourages members to light the smaller candles that surround the chalice, and share their concerns with the congregation.
The sermons, given by Ms. Mueller or guest speakers, draw on many religious writings. The Bible is not the only source of religious wisdom, she said.
"We look to world religions as well as Judaism and Christianity," Ms. Mueller said. "We may also use prophetic voices, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Sermons often overlap between spirituality and social justice."
The church follows the Christian year and celebrates the traditional holy days, but "in a different light." On April 15, Ms. Mueller will recognize both Passover and Easter.
"I look for the common themes," she said.
The faith also celebrates life passages such as birth, marriage and death. "Religion helps people get through the crises of life," she said.
Many Unitarian Universalists come from other faiths, not necessarily Christian, or from no religious background at all.
"For many, we are just the right place," Ms. Mueller said. "Here, they can work out their faith journey, with others who think like them, in a religious community that works for social justice. It is from those people we hope we will grow."
Ms. Mueller, a Unitarian Universalist since childhood, will be ordained next month at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, Va., where she and her husband, Dave Hunter, are members. The couple resides in Arlington.
"For me, the ordination is like a wedding, something I have worked toward for many years," she said. "The authority to minister comes from the people. The people ordain and call me to minister."
A circuitous path to her ministry includes jobs as a teacher, a marketing analyst and research director for a railroad. Four years ago, when her son left home for college, she enrolled in Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington. She graduated last year with highest honors.
In addition to the Finksburg congregation, Ms. Mueller also ministers once a month at the Unitarian Universalist church in Newport News, Va.
"It is a lot of driving and hard work, but it is work I am called to do," she said. "It is what the UU church has to do and say to make the world a better place."