Southern Colorado ULC Congregation Established Can a church service include such diverse a

            Southern Colorado ULC Congregation Established 


Can a church service include such diverse  activities as  listening to 
Gilbert  and Sullivan operettas, demonstrating  a  turn-of-the-century 
disk musical box, reading from the Magna Carta, picking-up trash along 
the sides of a highway, working in a vegetable garden, going on  four-
mile hikes, discussing the true meaning of terms like "family  values" 
or attending art shows?

It  can  if the church in question is the Common  Faith  Chapel,  ULC! 
Sitting  at  6100 feet above sea level, at the foot of the  Sangre  de
Cristo  mountains in southern Colorado, the church is located  in  the  
Victorian  home of Rev. Karin Conover-Lewis and her husband  Don.  The  
Common  Faith Chapel was established in January of 1993, and became  a  
congregation of the Universal Life Church in March of the same year. 

Services  are  presently  held on alternate Sundays, at  2:00  in  the  
afternoon. The service begins with the question "Are you at peace with 
your neighbour?" and a fellowship gathering, followed by communion and 
the day's activity -- whatever that may be. Sometimes the service even 
follows a more-or-less familiar structure, with a reading and  sermon! 
On  such  occasions  the service is guided by the  format(s)  for  The  
Service, Universal, found in the Common Faith Handbook. 

The Common Faith is an earth-centered religion which teaches  personal 
responsibility,  reflective  morality, and a deep sense  of  duty  for  
making  the  world a better place in which to live. To  this  end,  it  
borrows heavily from the various religions of the world, the  writings  
of  philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle and Dewey, and even  secular  
works like Mark Twain's "Letters from the Earth" or Gilbert and Sulli-
van's  "The  Pirates of Penzance". The Common Faith  Handbook  is  the  
church's primary text, containing the general teachings of the  Common  
Faith as well as many forms of The Service, Universal, but Rev.  Lewis 
stresses that it is NOT presented as the sole source of truth. 

"Truth can be found anywhere, but no one religion or person can  claim 
to  be  the only source of universal truth" says  Rev.  Lewis.  "Where  
truth is found is irrelevant, but we must learn to be able to find and 
apply  it  wherever it exists. The most important thing which  we  can  
demand of ourselves is to be able to answer with a definate 'yes' this 
question:   'Is the world better-off for my having been here?'. If  we  
aren't doing everything that we can to help ensure that we will  leave 
a better world for our children, then we are simply marking time."

Those  who are visiting or passing-through southern Colorado and  wish 
to  attend  a Common Faith service are welcome to call Rev.  Lewis  at 
(719)846-8539. The church's address is 711 W. Colorado Ave.,  Trinidad  
Colorado,  81082.  Since meeting  times and  structure are  subject to 
change,  it is recommended that one should call first. Rev.  Lewis  is  
also  available for hospital visitations, weddings, or counseling,  by 
appointment.