What We Believe
Unitarian Universalists come from many diverse backgrounds and beliefs, and people of any denomination, race, sexual orientation, and age are welcome. We don’t adhere to one single creed or doctrine, but we have agreed to uphold and promote certain principles in how we want to be with one another, and in the wider world. Our principles challenge us to be responsible, compassionate people who put our faith into action.
While we draw motivation from the world’s great faith traditions, we also look to many other sources for knowledge, guidance, and inspiration. We believe religious wisdom and spiritual insights are an ongoing process and we encourage open and responsible development of our individual spirituality and conscience.
We come together to share our passions and resources in order that we may build a better life for ourselves, our community, and our world.
Through worship, programs, classes, social events, and outreach we cultivate our values and put our faith into action in our social justice work.
Click here for our Vision and Mission Statements.
The people of our Church together have chosen to be:
A Welcoming Congregation: We ask our state and nation to give equal rights to everyone. Being welcoming means striving for radical inclusion, and creating spaces that honor every part of our identities, backgrounds, and experiences. For instance, we strongly supported the movement for equal access to marriage for all couples, both straight and gay.
A Nuclear-Free Zone: Our congregation has taken a stand against the use of war and violence as a political tool. During the Vietnam War, our church provided sanctuary to draft resisters.
A Smoke-free environment: Our congregation encourages behaviors that keep our bodies healthy and our minds clear and curious. Our ethical principles call us to leave our world and environment in better shape than we received it.
A Supporter of a Woman’s Right to choose birth control or abortion.
Please check out the drop-down menu tabs in the About Us section for more information on Unitarian Universalism and our church. Then come share a service with us!
Our Principles and Sources
Unitarian Universalist congregations affirm and promote Principles, which we hold as strong values and moral guides. We live out these Principles within a “living tradition” of wisdom and spirituality, drawn from sources as diverse as science, poetry, scripture, and personal experience.
Principles:
1st Principle: The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
2nd Principle: Justice, equity, and compassion in human relations;
3rd Principle: Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
4th Principle: A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
5th Principle: The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
6th Principle: The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
7th Principle: Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
Proposed 8th Principle: 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.
Sources:
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 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 which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life;
Jewish and Christian teachings call us to respond to God’s love by loving our neighbors as ourselves;
Humanist teachings counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit;
Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.
At the opening of Unitarian Universalist worship services, many congregations light a flame inside a chalice. This flaming chalice has become a well-known symbol of our denomination. It unites our members in worship and symbolizes the spirit of our work For more information click on: Our Symbol: The Flaming Chalice UUA.