AboutJoyce D Expertise Religious Educator (former director for six years, lifelong Unitarian Universalist - "UU"). I`m familiar with UU history & resources on the internet. I belong to many UU forums, have attended many congregations, and have been a delegate at the UU General Assembly.
Expert: Joyce D Date: 12/6/2004 Subject: Unity Church V.S. UUA again.
Question I asked Jon Bond this question, and he gave me an amazing answer... but I'd just like another opinion.
Dear Joyce,
I read the other answer about Unity Church V.S UUA, and I just had some more questions on it.
As a member of the Unity Church in Houston, I've had many people call me Unitarian, and I never knew what it was. I've been attending Unity for 6 years, and I am sixteen years old, but I'm not quite sure 'what I am', so to speak. You stated that the main difference between UUA and Unity is that UUA accepts all religions, but from my years of following the Unity Church, I've learned that we too accept all religions.
Here is some information from the UnityHouston website.
"Unity is a nondenominational church that welcomes people of all races, colors, religions, social backgrounds and economic levels in dignity and love. We take an extremely positive approach to life, emphasizing the good in people and all of life.
Although Unity is sometimes confused with other denominations, such as Unitarian or The Unification Church, there is no connection.
Unity proclaims the divinity of Jesus, but goes even further by proclaiming that every person is a child of God and therefore divine in nature. We believe that a person's mind is his or her connecting link with God or Divine Mind. Therefore, much emphasis is placed on the effective power that every thought, feeling, work or act has in creating one's life.
Unity also seeks to relate religion to daily needs, affirming that for every need there is God's perfect answer. We also place strong emphasis on prayer and meditation. Our primary textbook is The Bible, whose lessons are related to everyday experiences and therefore made more relevant.
Unity views worship as serving God by uplifting and glorifying God's spirit in man, in positive, joyous ways. We're not so much concerned about a "future life" as we are in teaching people to live more fully in the present.
Unity believes in eternal life and views the present moment as a part of that life. We also emphasize the divine potential in every child of God, and teach that through a practical understanding and application of what Jesus taught, that every person can realize and express their potential for a richer and fuller life.
In Unity, everyone is recognized as a true spiritual being, awakening to the truth that sets them free.
We are proud of our ministry, which emphasizes a positive approach to the teachings of Christianity, and would be honored to serve you and support your spiritual needs as a fellow child of God."
With that information, can you give me clearer differences and similarities? Any help would be much appriciated. Thanks very much.
-Cassidy McGowan
P.S. I would appriciate links if you have the time.
Answer Hi Cassidy,
Sorry I'm not as prompt as usual (I guess I should set my account here on vacation since this season has already gotten outrageously busy for me).
I don't know that much about Unity - none from personal experience, though there's a former Unity minister in my church. I would love to know what you learned from Jon, though.
People confuse all the Uni... faiths, because we do have one thing in common - WE'RE SMALL RELIGIONS. Most people know little about any of our groups, so that's why they confuse them.
Reading your Unity church's statement, I can see that the one major difference between Unity and Unitarian Universalism is that your church has a "creed" - a statement about the belief in God and teaching Christianity. Unitarian Universalism is considered "creedless" since we don't tell our members what to believe about God or the great questions of the universe and we don't limit them to the teachings of one religion.
Unitarian Universalists have seven principles.:
* The inherent dignity and worth of every person;
* Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
* Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
* A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
* The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
* The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all; and
* Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
We also draw upon many faith traditions.:
* 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 which create and uphold life;
* Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which 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 which call us to respond to God's love by loving our neighbors as ourselves;
* Humanist teachings which 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.
So we don't just have Christian Unitarian Universalists (UUs); we have Buddhist, Agnostic, Humanist, Muslim, Pagan, etc. Some don't name their beliefs about God and just consider themselves UU. I like to think of our religion as being an interfaith religion - people of many different beliefs worshipping together. I know Unity is pretty open, too, but we definately don't "proclaim the divinity of Jesus". There are trinitarians in my church, but for the most part it seems hypocritical to be both unitarian and trinitarian, though I love the members of my church who say they are - I'll give you a link about that below.
Here are some good UU links (they're not clickable on the site, so have this send to your email where the links may become clickable).:
The Unitarian Universalist Tradition: A Basic Research and Reading List
from Andover-Harvard Theological Library (with links to other excellent
resources): http://www.hds.harvard.edu/library/guides/uure.html
There will be a sermon posted soon that was given this past Sun. by an Episcopalian priest who's a member of my church and proclaims to be both trinitarian and unitarian at this link.: http://www.dmuuc.org/lay/
