by Susan Morris

Created on: July 15, 2008   Last Updated: October 13, 2009

The Unitarian Universalist Church: Contemporary trends vs. Christian roots

To the non-believer, today's modern Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregation may seem a study in contrasts. Atheists, Agnostics, Christians, Transcendentalists, Humanists and Pagans worship together, celebrating common values and various sources of faith, while "agreeing to disagree" on the nature of, or even the existence of God.

According to the Faith Communities Today (FACT) survey of 2001, 46 percent of UUs are humanist, 19% are earth based, (some of these are Pagan,) 13% are theist, 9.5% are Christian (UU Christianity is very different from that of the Protestant Christian denominations,) and 13% stated "other." This study also revealed UUs who self-identified as mystic, Buddhist, Jewish, Hindu and Muslim. According to another study, many Unitarian Universalists identify with more than one path.

Despite this diversity, (or perhaps because of it,) they come together to worship in like-minded community, bound by not by creed but a desire to be in service and by their Seven Principles and Six Sources:

The Seven 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 six sources of UU Faith:
1. Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life;
2. Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love;
3. Wisdom from the world's religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life;
4. Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God's love by loving our neighbors as ourselves;
5. Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit.
6. Spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the

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