Unitarian Universalism

[MoonBreath]

The more i read about this path, the more i like it. The outlining beliefs or principles believed by the faith seem to coincide well with my own. Does anyone here feel the same as me? Any experiences with a UU organization?

[Nox_Mortus]

I grew up in a UU church, it's a very interesting religion, with a lot of nice and enlightened people involved, however YMMV depending on what church you go to, so of them are loaded to the brim with very snobby pseudo-intellectuals, especially the ones in college towns.

[RainInanna]

I haven't had experience but I know there's a few threads on the subject

http://mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=174557&highlight=unitarian+universalist
http://mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=99438&highlight=unitarian+universalist
http://mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=137544&highlight=unitarian+universalist
http://mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=111055&highlight=unitarian+universalist
http://mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=109707&highlight=unitarian+universalist

If you do a search for "unitarian universalist" scads of pages of threads come back, although you might have a bit of a time picking out the useful ones.

[DaNcInG_WiNd]

The more i read about this path, the more i like it. The outlining beliefs or principles believed by the faith seem to coincide well with my own. Does anyone here feel the same as me? Any experiences with a UU organization?

Yep, I occasionally attend a UU church in a nearby town. Nice people and they are willing to stick their necks out to help anyone when they need it. I have had a lot of positive experiences with them. The seven principles pretty much sum up what I believe. You can get more info at http://www.uua.org (http://www.uua.org/)

[cheddarsox]

I was very active in a UU church for over seven years, including several as a leader in the UU Pagan group.

Nice people. Interesting discussion. But generally seemed to be more interested in talking about spirituality than in doing anything spiritual. More intellectually inclined than participatory.

On the other hand, they were very interested and committed to social justice issues.

Definitely worth looking into. Your local fellowship might be more open to spirituality than mine was.

Some groups have a group called CUUPS (you can also look up the national CUUPS page online) which is specifically for pagan UU's.

[Windsmith]

I haven't had much experience with UU, but what I have has been pretty...bland. It may tie in to what cheddar said about their being more interested in discussing religion than practicing it; because the ones I've met don't really believe in what they're practicing (Paganism, in this case) but just find it interesting, they don't get too deep into ritual or magical practice because it feels "silly" to them. So I wasn't impressed, but then, that happens a lot. Because I'm a curmudgeon.

[Tanya]

I've been a member of several UU congragations. Its really for me provides the 'community' aspect to religious practice that I had missed as a solitary.

alas, over in OZ, I''ve yet to find a UU organization in Canberra

I recommend them very much.

[MoonBreath]

thanks so much for all the reponses! There are actually 2 UU meeting places near where i live. I might consider checking them out, that is, if i ever get tired of my spiritual soliatariness (sp? hmm, that might not be a real word! lol :) )

[~Belladonna~]

Can anyone with some experience with them please explain a little about their beliefs? I've just checked thier website and it doesn't really tell you much, unless I've missed something.

Thanks and Blessings!

[cheddarsox]

Can anyone with some experience with them please explain a little about their beliefs? I've just checked thier website and it doesn't really tell you much, unless I've missed something.

Thanks and Blessings!

They have no creed, so there is NO set of common beliefs, but they have seven principles, which are like values or philosophies for living that could be held by people of varying religious beliefs.

Generally, UU tends to attract people too educated to believe in any religion, or people who had a very hurtful experience in another type of church, and are seeking healing and spiritual freedom. In the 60's and 70's it was made up primarily of secular humanists, but more and more frustrated former Christians are joining the ranks, as well as pagans, and changing the face of things (not without some grumbling and sparks from both sides)

Part of the reason for many fellowships lack of spiritual practice is that many of the people attending are fleeing anything that comes across as too "churchy" (I have NO idea why they refer to themselves as churches and their services as worship services in many areas, but they do)

For the seven years I attended there was a constant battle between being spiritual and being a "safe" place for anti-church people...It was sort of like, I want to have all the good things that come from being part of a church, but nothing that makes me uncomfortable, which is a nice idea, but a bit harder in theory, especially when you have people of such diverse beliefs and backrounds coming together.

The idea is that they will teach and discuss ALL religions, and people will choose what they believe privately, while still acting according to the seven principles. Same with religious education for the children, they teach them about all faiths.

Each congregation/fellowship is autonomous. There is an Association, but each fellowship makes decisions for itself about how to conduct itself, what type of services to have, what to focus on etc. So, even though others share their experiences with you, you should always check it out for yourself, because each fellowship has it's own "flavor" and your local one might be very different from mine.

[lavenderdawn]

Like has been said every fellowship is different. I've belonged to two UU congregations and one was a vibrant growing group that had several sub groups including a CUUPS chapter and Spiritualist Circle and the other a dying group that had little interest in trying new things or growing their membership. The services in both places were very like a compartive relgions class, different speakers from other churches and all kinds of beliefs would speak on some theme and then open the floor for discussion. Very interesting but a bit removed if your seeking spiritual communion. Look for CUPPS group near you, check it out.

The best thing about UU is you can tell people your family belongs to a church( if that sort of thing is important to you) and you will meet some pretty open minded folk there and learn a lot about other faiths while gaining the postive social things that come with belongning to a congregation.

I once considered becoming a UU minister but decided instead to become Dr of Psychology( just beggining chool for that) because I'm more interested in service work than running a brick and mortar church but I would join a UU if I find another one that is alive and kicking.

[Rosetta Morrigan]

UU = :thumbsup:

[Wood Nymph]

I was a member of a UU congregation for a time. As others have said, they do not practice religions. They sometimes discuss religions. Mostly, the one I went to seemed to be more interested in politics than in learning about religions. They are very much into social justice issues - more about talking than acting, at least the one I attended.

Once, a woman who was into a goddess path did a service. It was not participatory, but demonstratory, which is very odd in itself, but that is more the UU way. The secular humanists in the congregation started snickering when she began to cast a circle. It was pretty sad.

Later on, that congregation formed a CUUPS branch. I had higher hopes for that. But perhaps because it tried to be so broad and all-inclusive it seemed to not resonate for me, personally. At least in that format, there was a participatory service, rather than a demonstration of what worship might look like.

Ultimately, I decided that I am best suited for solitary practice. And as gas prices have soared, a long drive to a city with a UU church seems not worth the cost.

But there are some very nice people who attend the churches and they could be good for social interaction, even if they lack something in terms of spiritual practice.

That's just my experience. I'm sure they vary greatly from place to place.

[Twinkle]

OK...so what makes Universal Unitarianism a religion if there is no core set of beliefs, and no practice?

Is it more of a Church of Religious Pluralism? Would it be more of a social/spiritual group than an actual path?

[Kes]

OK...so what makes Universal Unitarianism a religion if there is no core set of beliefs, and no practice?

Is it more of a Church of Religious Pluralism? Would it be more of a social/spiritual group than an actual path?

We're getting into the whole "what is a religion/what is a path" questions.

For me, the distinction between a religion and a path is that a path pursues spiritual development and can be done without other people; a religion is just shared beliefs/community/practices.

Personally, I'd say that UU is a religion - they do have core tenets, and though every UU group I've ever been involved with (four at this point) ascribes to those tenets to varying degrees they all did adhere to them. There are also universal practices - lighting the chalice, sharing joys and concerns, hymns, and extinguishing the chalice. It's not a "fire in your belly" religion, but I do think it is a religion.

On the other hand, I would not say it's a path - UU encourages individual exploration, so different UUs could be going a thousand different ways. Two of the UU churches I attended were explicitly Judeo-Christian (more "Christian" than "Judeo") and one of them had a membership which was predominantly atheist. There's no set manner by which a person is encouraged to broaden or deepen their spiritual life, and no specific practices which are specifically designed to create spiritual experience.

[herbal_legends]

I went with my best friend to a local UU Church yesterday and we enjoyed it. :uhhuhuh:
Everyone there was so nice and welcoming. We plan on going back next Sunday. I loved the fact that I could see a Pentagram up on the wall alongside all the other faiths and their symbols.

[Rosetta Morrigan]

I'm in the process of trying it out...for Samhain, I went to a ritual and party held by the UU church of Ann Arbor. It was fun! Also at my local UU, they have a pagan group.

[Phoenix_Falls]

My dad's a Christian Unitarian and a UU minister and I've been to a ton of UU services of all types (and my dad encouraged me to go to religious services of all stripes when I was younger).


The best way I can sum up UU beliefs, seeing as there's no official creed is "everyone's got a good idea, so don't be a dick."


I honestly lean more towards UU being a philosophy rather than a straight up religion. There are Buddhist UUs, Wiccan UUs, general Pagan UUs, Christian UUs, Jewish UUs...pretty much any faith you can think of, Unitarians will generally be accepting of and they'll probably have a specific service for it at the UU church. They have absolutely no problem with people who don't describe themselves as UU going to their services and are (in my experience) generally an all around awesome bunch of people :thumbsup:

[Chaos Hawk]

OK...so what makes Universal Unitarianism a religion if there is no core set of beliefs, and no practice?

Is it more of a Church of Religious Pluralism? Would it be more of a social/spiritual group than an actual path?

Funny, that's exactly what my mother said!

The local UU church was doing a sermon called "The Will of the Goddess" last Sunday so I took my kids and invited my parents along with us.

My parents had never been to a UU church. We were all talking about it afterwards and my mother (who used to be an Episcopalian Sunday school teacher) said she enjoyed it but did not find it a "religious" experience and thought of it more like going to a social group then to church.

[Rainsong]

UU Churches have, in my experience, been the only churches that I've felt at home in.