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by Rev. Katie Lee Crane

In the historic center of Sudbury, as in so many New England towns, stands the First Parish Meeting House, the religious home of the local Unitarian Universalist congregation. What is a Unitarian Universalist? What do we believe? Exactly what happens inside that 200+ year-old white clapboard building with the town clock?

Unitarian Universalism is born from the Jewish and Christian traditions. We believe that religious authority comes from deep within ourselves, not from a particular book or person or institution. We ask ourselves the same religious questions people have asked in all times and places. We find answers from many sources and rely on reason and conscience to put our religious insights to the test.

We are committed to a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. We do not have a fixed belief; we have never adopted a creed. We expect things to change as what we know changes. That's why we call ours a «living tradition.» The more we learn or discover or experience, the more likely it is that our insights will influence how we make meanings about what matters most to us. To us, revelation is continuous.

This leads to a common misconception that Unitarian Universalists can believe anything they want. This is not true. From the beginning, our members have attempted to summarize what they share in common. Most recently, in 1984-85, Unitarian Universalists made a covenant with one another based on the principles and purposes you see printed here. Because we make these promises to one another, we hold ourselves and each other accountable to them.

It is true, however, that we don't all believe the very same things. We make meanings in different ways, not only from other denominations, but also from one another. One UU might say: I believe in God and try to model my life after the teachings of Jesus. Another might say: I don't believe in a god at all; I only believe in things I can know, things we can prove. The next might say: I find what you might call God in nature. When I'm in a beautiful spot, I feel one with everything.

In any one congregation, you will find those who believe in one God and those who believe in no God at all, those who believe in God and nature, those who believe that God is all, those who believe that God is everything and much more, as well as those who believe in more than one god or goddess.

We UUs practice diverse spiritual disciplines and rituals, many from the world's religious traditions. We find inspiration from many sources, each as valid as the other: direct experience, prophetic women and men, wisdom of the world's religions, Jewish and Christian teachings, Humanist teachings and the teachings of earth-centered traditions.

Sometimes we UUs (that's what we often call ourselves) get confused with the Unity Church or the Unification Church, but we are quite different.

We are a small denomination, with not more than 250,000 members worldwide. If you were to see a pie graph of religious denominations in North America, Unitarian Universalists might be represented in the category called «other.»

Many of us no longer call ourselves Christians. We are strongly influenced by our Jewish and Christian heritage, but also make meanings from what we've learned from Humanist teachings and other religious traditions of the world. What holds us together as a community is the commitment to love and justice, human worth, peace, compassion, acceptance, freedom and responsibility, and a sense of the value and the interrelationship of all that is.

At the turn of the 21 st century, we Unitarian Universalists embrace racial, cultural, social and economic diversity along with religious plurality. We include all who share the principles and goals of our community.

For example, because they have been turned away from churches in the past, we have made a commitment to be intentional about welcoming the presence and participation of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons in all aspects of our congregational life. We make the same kind of purposeful commitment to those who have been turned away for inability to climb the stairs, read the hymnal, or hear the worship service as well as those people of different classes and races.

Though we sometimes struggle with the challenges all these differences present, what we have in common is our commitment to diversity.

We are now, as we have been throughout history, champions of change. Listen, and you will hear strong and compelling Unitarian Universalist voices in public policy, in social justice, in moral discourse and in large and small communities throughout the country. You will find us in marches and vigils and retreats and healing services. You will find us at soup kitchens and legislative luncheons. You will see us in the news and at the grocery store. As individuals and as congregations, we are never exactly the same, yet we are active, vibrant communities of faith, always engaging in and engaged by one another and our world.

Revision 2. Last edited Fri 11 Apr 2008 11:27am by TomYelton