On Sunday, July 14, we explore the deep spiritual connection that Unitarian Universalists often feel with nature, tracing its origins to the Transcendentalist Movement of the early 19th century and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s writing, among others. How does Transcendentalism and its ideas about nature continue to influence modern Unitarian Universalist spirituality, and what revisions do we need to make Transcendentalism a spirituality for the twenty-first century?
Rev. Dr. Nicole C. Kirk is the Frank and Alice Schulman Chair of Unitarian Universalist History at Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago, Illinois. A lifelong Unitarian Universalist from Tulsa, Nicole served as a Unitarian Universalist parish minister before her doctoral studies. Her work as a historian is animated by questions that emerge from archival research, her work in the classroom, and the complex questions about the relationship between business, infrastructure, mobility, and religion. Nicole is the author of Wanamaker’s Temple: The Business of Religion in an Iconic Department Store (New York University Press, 2018, 2023) and several chapters in edited volumes. Currently, she is working on a book about the American circus and the railroad, Circus Day: Religion and the Circus.
Topics: Humanism, Nature, Unitarian Universalism