17 May Unboxing: The Gift of UBM
By Rev. Alaya Chadwick, M.Div., M.S.W.
Yes, I attended Yale Divinity School and completed a three-year master’s degree. But no, I was not ordained within a specific denomination—I chose UBM (Universal Brotherhood Movement) as my path to becoming a Reverend.
Recently, someone asked me to explain this choice. My answer was simple: faith, for me, has always felt universal, not confined to a single denomination. As a child, I experienced Methodist, Episcopalian, and Congregational services and Sunday schools, each offering valuable lessons. Yet, I never felt fully at home within any one tradition.
When I graduated from divinity school with my M.Div., I resisted stepping into a pastoral role, instead pursuing my passion for social work. Over time, the question of ordination faded into the background. I wasn’t actively seeking a religious title or even a denominational affiliation.
Years later, when my husband and I moved to New Hampshire, a friend introduced me to UBM. The moment I heard its story, something inside me awakened. Here was a movement built on fluidity—a structure that embraced self-declared ministry, allowing individuals to define their way of serving. YES to women pastors! YES to autonomy! YES to faith beyond constraints!
UBM was a radical unboxing—a liberation of the true spirit of pastoral care. It felt like an emancipation of my calling.
Despite my formal training in theology and doctrine, my deepest conviction has always been simple: faith is about tender, loving care for those before us. Pastoral care is a sacred exchange of blessings between minister and individual, uniquely expressed in ways that defy rigid structure. My resistance to being shaped by dogma was strong—I never wanted to be boxed in.
Discovering UBM was a revelation. The ability to declare my own ministerial identity, without binding myself to external directives, felt like a miracle. I could stand in the paradox of “Yes, I am a minister!” and “No, I refuse limitations on my expression of faith.” UBM held space for both realities, and that, to me, was the essence of unboxing.
I hadn’t realized I had been living inside a spiritual box until UBM set me free.
I offer this reflection to the UBM Global community as an invitation to celebrate the profound gift of unboxing—to embrace the uniqueness of our paths, the power of our callings, and the universality of living beyond societal expectations.
With deep gratitude to all who uphold UBM across the world.
Great blessings to us all.
Rev. Alaya