Unitarian Universalist

[SunDrop23]

Can someone give me a reader's digest version of this church? A close friend of mine attends a local UU church and has invited me. I could google it and do a bunch of reading, but I'd rather hear from real people. Thanks.

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. They are not Trinitarian. They are universalists.

They tend toward extreme liberalism.

Some consider themselves Christian, some do not.

Some Christians do not consider them Christian, some do.

They broke out of the Congregational tradition in the US in the early- to mid-1700s in Massachussetts, and are very much a New England faith tradition.

HOWEVER - that said, Unitarianism actually goes back to the early 1500s in Europe.

They are different than just plain Unitarians, though not by a whole lot - the main difference being that it's the UU who more often label themselves "not Christian" and who are labeled "not Christian" by other Christians.

At a UU Church one might very well hear readings from Gandhi, ee cummings, or Vishnu, as much as hearing scripture.

They are very much more oriented toward being intelligent, critical thinking, independant, and doing good works in the service of justice, mercy, and compassion.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

2. Their Sunday services may seem more like a book club or a lecture

series with music than like a typical Christian worship service.

The largest UU group in Portland seemed to bend over backward to be non-specifically religious. One year, they celebrated Chanukah on the first Sunday in December, Christmas on the second Sunday (which was actually during Chanukah), and Solstice on the third.

I had friends who attended it, and I attended a couple of times with them, but frankly, I like more church in my church.

[SunDrop23]

3. Thanks and your description...

"They are very much more oriented toward being intelligent, critical thinking, independant, and doing good works in the service of justice, mercy, and compassion."

That sounds just like my friend.

[Critters2]

4. I used to be married to a UU

I liked 'em, generally, but found their disdain of Christianity a bit much. Like the guy who told me "You're too bright to be a Christian", and thought he'd paid me a compliment.

In terms of beliefs, they're a merger of two traditions (like every mainline Protestant church). The Unitarians tended toward humanism, with an interesting mix of agnostics and atheists. The main thing they had in common was rejection of the Trinity--which could mean anything from rejection of a god at all to believing in God, but seeing Jesus as a good teacher, not the Messiah.

The Universalists were Christians who rejected the doctrine of election, and ultimately the idea of hell. The original Universalists believed Jesus' death and resurrection was salvific for everyone. There are few such traditional Universalists in the UUA today, but some.

Put succinctly, Unitarians believed humas were too good to go to Hell. Universalists believed God was to good to send us there.

The two groups merged in the early 60's (when everyone else was doing it, too!). They now incorporate a wide range of beliefs. There's a UU Humanist organization, UU Buddhists, UU Christians, a Jewish group, and the Covenant of UU Pagans, among others. They get annoyed when you say UU's can believe anything. But I think it's safe to say UUs can believe anything that affirms some basic ethics and aesthetics. Or, as a friend put it, you can't be a good Nazi and a good UU.

They tend to be very intellectual and upper middle class. Very common in college towns. In industrial, working class communities, or rural areas, not so much.

They do have a set of Priniciples and Purposes to give them a common mission. And a set of Sources and Traditions, or some such, that affirms most religious traditions as being within UU beliefs.