AUBURN - Richard Gilbert, a retired minister, was a recent guest speaker at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Auburn addressing what he calls “the new atheists.”

Although the Unitarian Universalist Association was formed as a merger of the Universalist Church of America and the American Universalist Association in 1961, the movement traces its roots to independent, self-governing churches in Colonial New England and Europe before then. Ken Mochel is the present pastor of the Auburn church.

Gilbert received a Doctor of Ministry degree from Colgate Rochester Divinity School, and has pastored UU churches in Cleveland, Ohio and Golden, Col., and the First Unitarian Church in Rochester. He has also authored “Building Your Own Theology,” a text which is frequently studied by Unitarian members across the country.

Gilbert, who said he had formally retired in 2005, still preaches at churches across the state.

“Have several hundred sermons, will travel,” he said with a chuckle. “I still work as the social justice coordinator of the St. Lawrence Unitarian Universalist District, which includes Auburn. I also work with the Interfaith Impact of New York State.”

After the announcements, Gilbert opened the service by ringing a bell and lighting a candle on a small table in front of the white podium he had been speaking from. Then Gilbert's wife, Joyce, led the congregation, who were seated in a semi-circle facing Gilbert, in a chant. Half the members sang, “Breathe in, breathe out,” with a slow, regular rhythm, while the other half sang, “When I breathe in, I'll breathe in peace, when I breath out, I'll breath out love.”

After the chant, the congregation read its church's statement of intent out loud and in unison: “We are an intentionally diverse congregation and welcome all men, women and children of every race, religious creed, political conviction and sexual orientation.”

Then individual members came up to the small table and lit a candle while declaring joy or a concern.

Following a moment of prayerful silence after he had read a meditative passage, Gilbert spoke about several books written by influential secular and political figures who have tried to ridicule or encourage others to abandon a belief in God. He called these writers “the new atheists.” God is a theist's joy, an atheist's folly and an agnostic's doubt.“

Gilbert explained that he grew up in a Universalist home.

“I was taught God is love,” he said, “I felt called to the ministry at the age of 14.” He

preached his first sermon that same year, and became a teenage preacher.

While attending college and seminary, Gilbert experienced times of doubt in his own religious beliefs. His life began to change nearly 10 years later, when as a young ordained minister, he encountered a woman whose husband had just died. Her request of him was simple, yet hard for Gilbert. She asked him to pray with her. He was moved to rethink his positions, because, he said, “God was very real to this woman.”

Now, many years later, he continues to preach according to the philosophy he has developed throughout his life and career. He has concerns about the role of religion in society. He interprets the question, “Do you believe in God?” to mean, Do you believe in the questioner's version of God? He also said, “There is nothing more dangerous than fanatics doing what they say is God's will.”

“Who are they to know for sure?”