Unitarian Universalism

What is a Unitarian Universalist?

Unitarian Universalism is a religion centered on an open-ended quest for meaning in life and shared effort to put UU values into practice every day. UUism has its roots in two distinct liberal religious movements that shared a philosophy of religious tolerance and questioning. Unitarian Universalists search for truth along many paths.

At the Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly in June 2024, the assembled UU delegates voted overwhelmingly to adopt new values and covenant for the association and its member congregations. This was the result of a process of revising Article II of the UUA Bylaws:

Unitarian Universalist Values and Covenant

As Unitarian Universalists, we covenant, congregation-to-congregation and through our Association, to support and assist one another in our ministries. We draw from our heritages of freedom, reason, hope, and courage, building on the foundation of love. 

Love is the power that holds us together and is at the center of our shared values. We are accountable to one another for doing the work of living our shared values through the spiritual discipline of Love. 

Inseparable from one another, these shared values are:

  • Interdependence. We honor the interdependent web of all existence. With reverence for the great web of life and with humility, we acknowledge our place in it.
    We covenant to protect Earth and all beings from exploitation. We will create and nurture sustainable relationships of care and respect, mutuality, and justice. We will work to repair harm and damaged relationships. 
  • Pluralism. We celebrate that we are all sacred beings, diverse in culture, experience, and theology.
    We covenant to learn from one another in our free and responsible search for truth and meaning. We embrace our differences and commonalities with Love, curiosity, and respect. 
  • Justice. We work to be diverse multicultural Beloved Communities where all thrive.
    We covenant to dismantle racism and all forms of systemic oppression. We support the use of inclusive democratic processes to make decisions within our congregations, our Association, and society at large. 
  • Transformation. We adapt to the changing world.
    We covenant to collectively transform and grow spiritually and ethically. Openness to change is fundamental to our Unitarian and Universalist heritages, never complete and never perfect. 
  • Generosity. We cultivate a spirit of gratitude and hope.
    We covenant to freely and compassionately share our faith, presence, and resources. Our generosity connects us to one another in relationships of interdependence and mutuality. 
  • Equity. We declare that every person is inherently worthy and has the right to flourish with dignity, love, and compassion.
    We covenant to use our time, wisdom, attention, and money to build and sustain fully accessible and inclusive communities 

The Unitarian Universalist 8 Principles

Prior to approving the revised statement of values and covenant, the UUA and UU congregations affirmed and promoted the following Eight Principles:

  1. The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
  2. Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
  3. Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
  4. A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
  5. The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
  6. The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
  7. Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

The UU 8th Principle

At the Annual Meeting on Jun. 6, 2021, UUCF members approved adding an 8th Principle that makes a commitment to accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions. Read more about how the 8th Principle was introduced to and approved by UUCF members. The 8th Principle states:

    • We covenant to affirm and promote journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse, multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.

UU Sources

Unitarian Universalism draws from many sources: Direct experience of the transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, that moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces that create and uphold life; words and deeds of prophetic people that challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion and the transforming power of love; wisdom from the world’s religions that inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life; Jewish and Christian teachings that call us to respond to God’s love by loving our neighbors as ourselves; humanist teachings that counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit; and spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions that celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.

These principles and sources of faith are the backbone of our religious community.

A definition of liberal religion

“What does it mean to be a religious liberal? To be a liberal according to my favorite scripture, Merriam-Webster, is be open minded, is to be free from the constraints of dogmatism and authority, is to be generous and to believe in the basic goodness of humankind. Religion is defined as that which binds us back or reconnects us to that which is ultimately important. Thus religious liberals are those that are connected, through generosity and openness, to the most important aspects of life.” – Rev. Kimi Riegel, Minister, Northwest UU Church, Southfield, MI

UU history

The Unitarian faith is a product of the Reformation, and it was introduced into Transylvania by Francis David (Dávid Ferenc in Hungarian). Upon studying the writings of the religious scholars Faustus Socinius and Michael Servetus, both of whom had challenged the theological concept of the Trinity, Dávid began to spread the Unitarian “heresy” in Transylvania – with so much success that even the Prince, John Sigismund, became a Unitarian.

Transylvanian Unitarianism underwent a significant evolution in England and was transplanted to the United States at the end of the 18th Century by liberal dissenters from the Church of England, most notably Joseph Priestley, the discoverer of oxygen. Universalism developed in the United States in at least three distinct geographical locations.

The earliest preachers of the gospel of universal salvation appeared in what were later the Mid-Atlantic and Southern states. By 1781, Elhanan Winchester had organized a Philadelphia congregation of Universal Baptists. Among its members was Benjamin Rush, the famous physician and signer of the Declaration of Independence. At about the same time, in the rural, interior sections of New England, a small number of itinerant preachers, among them Caleb Rich, began to disbelieve the strict Calvinist doctrines of eternal punishment. They discovered from their biblical studies the new revelation of God’s loving redemption of all. John Murray, an English preacher who immigrated in 1770, helped lead the first Universalist church in Gloucester, MA, in the battle to separate church and state.

The two movements were merged and the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations was formed in 1961 through the consolidation of the Universalist Church of America and the American Unitarian Association. Today the UUA is a faith community of more than 1,000 congregations that support each other and bring to the world a vision of religious freedom, tolerance and social justice.

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