AboutJon Bond Expertise Will answer all questions regarding Unitarian Universalist (UU)church; including ancient history (Universalists go back to at least 250 A.D.) and medieval history (Unitarians look to 1553 A.D. as their beginning) up to merger of the two movements in 1961 and continuing up to present. Am familiar with Christian church organizations and relationship of UUs to traditional churches.
Experience Currently member of Unitarian Universalist Church of Boulder, Colorado. Past vice-president of Board of Trustees and currently on Membership Committee. Have taught UU history for over 20 years. Have attended Unitarian Universalist General Assemblies (annual meetings held in June) for past 15 years.
Organizations Unitarian Universalist Church of Boulder, Colorado
Question QUESTION: Hello Jon, I am doing a project on other religion. I was assigned Unitarian. I have very few research done and was wondering if you had any information on Unitarian religion. I have some questions too. What do Unitarians believe? What is a service like? How would you compare it to the Catholic Church?
It would be the best if you could e-mail me what you know.
Thanks a ton!
ANSWER: Dear Marc -
You have posed three questions. And, I’m more than pleased to answer them. What a great combination of questions! I’m going to answer your question based on my being around UUs for thirty years. Before that, I was one of many Christians who wondered about other religions. So, I’ve seen two sides of a belief system just like many Christians.
I’d like to divide my answer into four parts: first, a background of our association; second, what do Unitarians believe? Third, what is a service like? Fourth, how would I compare it to the Catholic Church?
FIRST– a background (including where the two groups (Unitarian and Universalist) originated):
The concept of Unitarianism generally looks to a Catholic priest, Michael Servetus, as a spiritual originator. Servetus was born in Spain in 1511 and died in 1553, after attacking the doctrines of the Trinity. Unitarianism is a doctrinal system characterized chiefly by a belief in the unipersonality of God and the normal humanity of Jesus, as contrasted with the Trinity and the eternal deity (divinity) of Jesus. Most Unitarians I’ve spoken with reject the divinity of Jesus, but do recognize him (Jesus) as a great moral teacher
Universalism is the theological doctrine that all souls will ultimately be saved and that there are no torments of hell. Universalism has been asserted at various times in different contexts throughout the history of the "Christian church"--e.g., Origen in the 3rd century. The Universalists also denied the miraculous element in Scripture, and rejected such important Bible doctrines as the total depravity of man and the Trinity.
The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) was created in May of 1961 as a merger of Unitarians and Universalists.
SECOND – In this part of my answer, Marc, I will answer your question on what Unitarians believe. Unitarians mainly believe in the uni-personality of God and the normal humanity of Jesus, as contrasted with the Trinity and the eternal deity of Jesus of Nazareth.
I must point out that the Unitarian Church (hereinafter referred to as UUA) has no creeds, only statements of purpose. We pride ourselves in welcoming atheists and humanists, as well as Christians. Recently, the UU organization took a survey to find out what we believe is important in our religious lives.
Almost 10,000 Unitarian Universalists took the time to fill out and return the survey, giving us all an invaluable snapshot of who we are. Our association has been enriched by the knowledge gained from the answers many UUs provided.
This survey began a process designed to reach out to all UU individuals and congregations called "Fulfilling the Promise." This Concept was set in motion by the Unitarian Universalist Association's Board of Trustees. Its goal was to help us move toward agreement about why we come together as congregations and as an association, and what we hope to accomplish.
The survey questions came from individual UUs, as did the suggested responses. More than 500 people helped create this survey. We hope you will find your own experience reflected in the questions and answers, even if the exact language you would use is not perfectly captured here.
What follows are the total tabulations for the first 8118 surveys. At least one question deals with theological perspective. Question number 30 results follow:
Please check the one of the following which best describes your theological perspective:
The balance of the questions (age, sex, length of church membership, etc.), gave us a picture of who are demographically and as church persons. They provide a picture of what we say our values in religious community are.
As you can see, fewer than 10% of the UUA consider themselves Christian. Those in the UUA who consider themselves Christian may believe Jesus is god or son of god. However, many may consider Jesus a prophet of god like the muslims. BOTTOM LINE – There is a belief in Jesus as the highest model of the religious life: At the same time, there is an interpretation of Jesus that equates his ministry with that of Moses, Buddha, Socrates, and Mohammed. The main differences would be the fact that the UUA welcomes people from all faiths (see results of survey.)
THIRD – In this part of my answer, Marc, I will attempt to answer what a service is like. Church services vary considerably from congregation to congregation and from week to week. Each of the congregations in the United States are democratic in polity and operation; they govern themselves. They unite in the Association to provide services that individual congregations cannot provide for themselves. Each congregation is associated with one of the UUA’s districts.
Unitarian Universalism is a liberal religion with Jewish-Christian roots. It has no creed. It affirms the worth of human beings, advocates freedom of belief and the search for advancing truth, and tries to provide a warm, open, supportive community for people who believe that ethical living is the supreme witness of religion. They usually follow the basic format of Protestant churches. Many congregations have a story for children called “For all Ages” after which we sing our children on their way to Religious Education, followed by a time for sharing of Joys and Concerns (Sorrows) plus a time for “Responses from the Gathered People (Sermon Talkback) at the end. Very few congregations would have a traditional Communion ritual, although many have “Baby Blessings/Naming Ceremonies”, Memorial Services, Wedding Ceremonies. Another UU expert points out that it is a common misconception that UU Congregations allow all beliefs. We don't specify a required set of spiritual beliefs. We do share a set of relational beliefs in our Principles and Purposes.
FOURTH - This brief essay compares Roman Catholicism with the liberal religion of the Unitarian Universalist Association.
In the 16th century, during the Protestant Reformation, many faith groups split away from the Roman Catholic Church. This destroyed the relative unity of Christendom in western Europe. The Protestant movement further fragmented during the following centuries. At the present time, there are over a thousand Christian denominations in North America alone, in addition to many thousands of independent, unaffiliated congregations, para-church organizations, and personal or couple ministries. The Unitarian Universalist Association is a liberal faith group and liberal in nature.
Most beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church and liberal UU denominations are in opposition to each other. Examples are:
The acceptance of the theory of evolution by the Catholic Church, and the continuing rejection by most liberal Protestants including UUs.
Catholics place ultimate interpretive authority in the Pope and Magesterium. Liberal UUs place religious belief with the individual UU and his/her interpretation of the Bible and other religious books.
Catholics teach that the bread and wine during the mass becomes the actual body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus. UUs would generally regard the two components as symbolic of Jesus' body and blood.
There are undoubtedly many, many other differences. For more information, please feel free to check out our web site http://uua.org/ A good book to check on is “A Chosen Faith” – ISBN 0-8070-1617-9.
Marc, remember that I’m one of over 250,000 UUs and, if you ask another UU (Unitarian Universalist), you may get a different (but, hopefully, not conflicting) answer. I must thank you for taking the time to question our differences with the Catholic Church and I wish you only good luck in your search – you’re on the right track!
Jon Bond
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thanks for the great answers! If you don't mind, I have a few more questions. What are some Holy Days and customs of Unitarian? Who are some important leaders (names and more general leadership roles)? What influence does Unitarianism have on North America and the world? And finally, what are some CURRENT issues affecting the religion and/or its followers.
Answer Hello again Marc -
I’d like to divide your questions into four areas:
a) What are some Holy Days and customs of Unitarian? b) Who are some important leaders (names and more general leadership roles)? c) What influence does Unitarianism have on North America and the world? d) And finally, what are some CURRENT issues affecting the religion and/or its followers.
Now, I’d like to answer your four questions with a corresponding ‘capital’ letter to your ‘lower case’ question:
A) Like most churches, we honor Western Holy Days such as Christmas and Easter. But, many of our churches try to make people aware of the historical evolution of these Holy Days; i.e. Christmas may have evolved from the Jewish tradition of Hannukah which may have evolved from Pagan mid-winter Solstice celebrations. Easter may have evolved from Jewish tradition of Passover which evolved from the Pagan celebration of Ishtar.
In addition to ‘holy days’ we may have Dedication Services, Flower Communions, and personal services such as a Memorial Service or Celebration of Life Service.
UU services are pretty traditional. We usually have hymns, chalice lighting, readings, and a Sunday Talk (Sermon.) We usually have a “For All Ages” time when a story related to the talk is read/spoken to the children before singing them off to their Religious Education time. The service is about an hour. And afterward we serve coffee and light refreshments.
Our ‘holy days’ and ‘customs’ implicitly affirm the inherent worth and dignity of every person as well as respect for diversity.
For our current administration, we have an elected moderator who presides at the General Assembly and at meetings of the Board of Trustees, and represents the Association on special occasions. We also have a financial advisor, elected by the General Assembly, who also sits on the Board. Finally, we have an elected president, an appointed executive vice president, a treasurer, and ten others form the leadership council, manage the day-to-day business of the Association.
C) Universalists have been influential throughout American and world history. Some famous Universalists include Clara Barton, Olympia Brown, Thomas Starr King, Horace Greeley, George Pullman, Mary Livermore, and Benjamin Rush.
Unitarians have been very influential throughout American and world history, especially in politics and literature. Some famous Unitarians include Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams, Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Paul Revere, President William Howard Taft, and Frank Lloyd Wright.
Here is a list of famous UUs that you may consider influential:
• Louisa May Alcott (author of "Little Women")
• Susan B. Anthony (advocate of women's rights)
• P. T. Barnum (circus entrepreneur)
• Bela Bartok (Hungarian composer)
• Clara Barton (American Red Cross)
• Alexander Graham Bell (invented telephone)
• Dorothea Dix (worked with hospitals and asylums)
• Ralph Waldo Emerson (poet, philosopher, thinker)
• Thomas Jefferson (Declaration of Independence)
• Linus Pauling (Nobel Prize for Chemistry in '54)
• Beatrix Potter (wrote "Peter Rabbit")
• Joseph Priestley (scientist and theologian)
• Albert Schweitzer (musician, philosopher & doctor)
• Henry David Thoreau (poet, naturalist and essayist)
• Frank Lloyd Wright (architect)
• Whitney Young ( National Urban League)
• William Cohen ( former Secretary of Defense)
• Elliot Richardson (Nixon's Attorney General)
• Adlai Stevenson (Senator and Presidential Candidate)
• Ray Bradbury (Sci-Fi author)
• Pete Seeger (legendary folk singer)
• Kurt Vonnegut (preeminent writer/author of latter half of twentieth century)
• Paul Newman (Academy Award winning actor)
D) In the late 1800's Unitarians and Universalists were about 10% of the US population, now we are 0.1% and holding. But, this is not unique. Religions tend to fade slowly, but they do disappear. Quakers were once a powerful part of the culture, now they are nearly gone. Methodists and Presbyterians are dying out.
We want to influence the larger culture, to promote justice, etc. We have a sizeable bit of influence around the gay rights and race issues. And, we continue with the idea that we’re going to be able to influence political issues with our social action work.
I'm pleased that I was able to answer your first question and hope that this additional information suffices.
