Tuesday Jun 03, 2025
Episode 4: Ana Levy-Lyons on leaving the Unitarian ministry, connecting to Judaism, and disconnecting from technology
Arc's editor-in-chief sits down with Ana Levy-Lyons, author of the forthcoming book The Secret Despair of the Secular Left, to discuss her work as a Unitarian minister, her decision to leave the ministry and go to rabbinical school, and the problems at the core of secular life.
2 days ago
As 40 year members of the Brooklyn UU congregation which Ana served, my husband and i were very interested to listen to this interview. While we appreciated your insightful questions, we believe that you were condescending toward UU and misinformed about our being anti-theist. In fact, many of us do believe in a creative force in the universe. We do have prayers at the beginning of our service, sing from two hymnals, and share many readings from our hymnal. We also have four communion services a year, a Passover seder, Christmas Eve, Palm Sunday and Easter services. We’ve had a Juneteenth service for twenty years. We are not a faith of denial, but one of acceptance, incorporating what many faiths have to offer, deeply enriching our practice. In fact, we appreciated Ana’s sermons about Jewish thought and practice. The congregation welcomed Ana with open arms and supported what she wanted to bring. We were really shocked to hear her say that she never felt herself to be a Unitarian minister, but rather this was her occupation rather than a calling..