BACKGROUND and THINGS YOU WILL LEARN

We Are Unitarian Universalists

We are brave, curious, and compassionate thinkers and doers. We are diverse in faith, ethnicity, history and spirituality, but aligned in our desire to make a difference for the good. We have a track record of standing on the side of love, justice, and peace.

We have radical roots and a history as self-motivated spiritual people: we think for ourselves and recognize that life experience influences our beliefs more than anything.

We need not think alike to love alike. We are people of many beliefs and backgrounds: people with a religious background, people with none, people who believe in a God, people who don’t, and people who let the mystery be.

We are Unitarian Universalist and Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Humanist, Jewish, Muslim, Pagan, atheist and agnostic, believers in God, and more.

On the forefront of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer inclusion for more than 40 years, we are people of all sexual orientations and gender identities.

We seek to welcome you: your whole self, with all your truths and your doubts, your worries and your hopes. Join us on this extraordinary adventure of faith. Get involved!

If you’d like to learn more about Unitarian Universalism, we recommend the following introductory resources:

Welcome: A Unitarian Universalist Primer: Features common Unitarian Universalist prayers and readings, including the seven Principles and six Sources, chalice lightings, quotations from UUs of yesterday and today, and a glossary.

The Unitarian Universalist Pocket Guide: The most complete introduction to Unitarian Universalism available, covering ministry, worship, religious education, social justice, community, and history. Foreword by lifelong Unitarian Universalist Melissa Harris-Perry.

Beliefs and Principles

In Unitarian Universalism, you can bring your whole self: your full identity, your questioning mind, your expansive heart.

Together, we create a force more powerful than one person or one belief system. As Unitarian Universalists, we do not have to check our personal background and beliefs at the door: we join together on a journey that honors everywhere we’ve been before.

Our beliefs are diverse and inclusive. We have no shared creed. Our shared covenant (our seven Principles) supports “the free and responsible search for truth and meaning.” Though Unitarianism and Universalism were both liberal Christian traditions, this responsible search has led us to embrace diverse teachings from Eastern and Western religions and philosophies.

Unitarian Universalists believe more than one thing. We think for ourselves, and reflect together, about important questions:

• The existence of a Higher Power
• Life and Death
• Sacred Texts
• Prayer and Spiritual Practices

We are united in our broad and inclusive outlook, and in our values, as expressed in our seven Principles. We are united in shared experience: our open and stirring worship services, religious education, and rites of passage; our work for social justice; our quest to include the marginalized; our expressions of love.

What We Do

We create change: in ourselves, in the world.

Seven days a week, Unitarian Universalists (UUs) live their faith by doing. Whether in community with others or as an individual, we know that active, tangible expressions of love, justice, and peace are what make a difference. Embracing peace, love, and understanding that goes beyond individual belief systems, we are creators of positive change in people and in the world.

The ways we do it:

• Worship & Inspiration—Sunday mornings and beyond.
• Action & Service—volunteering and work for justice.
• Connection & Care—caring outreach, mutual support, and small groups for adults, youth, families, and children.
• Celebrations & Rites of Passage—weddings, memorials/funerals, baby blessings, coming-of-age, and child dedications.

Get Involved

Come. Connect with our congregations and communities. Bring passion and a desire to see (and be) change. We strive to welcome deeply people of all ages and classes, sexual orientations, gender identities/expressions, races/ethnicities, and abilities.

Learn. Discover what it means to have a personal faith that is anchored by diversity and acceptance. See how we create resources and opportunities for those wanting to do more. Our video “Voices of a Liberal Faith” tells this story.

Be with us. Together we can do the most good.