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
Expert: Jon Bond Date: 12/19/2000 Subject: Universal?
Question Hullo! I am looking for a subject for my World Religions project. I was/am very interested in a kind of universal church that is liberal and accepts believers of all types. I was wondering if your religion would be that type? Any good websites you could point me to for further information? What are you beliefs about atheists and such? Eastern religions? Pagan religions?
Thank you! Just brief answers will be fine, just looking to see how universal you are. Thanks a bunch!
Blair
Answer Hello Blair ¡V
I¡¦ll try to answer most of your question. Remember, I¡¦m one of over 200,000 people and, if you ask another UU (Unitarian Universalist), you may get a different (but, hopefully, not conflicting) answer.
First ¡V a background:
The Unitarian Universalist Assoiciation was created in May of 1961 as a merger of Unitarians and Universalists.
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.
Second ¡V what are our current beliefs?
There are currently about 205,000 Unitarian Universalist members in 1,040 congregations in North America. The beliefs of Unitarian Universalism appeal greatly to many people. Some of the beliefs which are associated with the UUA are ecumenism with all other religions and extreme theological liberalism with no official creeds. Many in this "church" do not believe in Biblical Christianity, and some do not even want to be known as Christians. According to the Unitarian-Universalist 1985 revised statement, no minister, member, or congregation "shall be required to subscribe to any particular interpretation of religion, or to any particular religious belief or creed." Four of our seven Principles and Purposes are these: The inherent worth and dignity of every person; a free and responsible search for truth; the goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all; respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
Third ¡V to address your question of ¡§What are you beliefs about atheists and such? Eastern religions? Pagan religions?¡¨ -
There are no creeds, only statements of purpose. We pride ourselves in welcoming atheists and humanists. Recently (in the last three years), 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.
For more information, please feel free to check out our web site at "http://uua.org/"
Thank you for taking the time to question our beliefs and good luck in your ¡§World Religions project.¡¨
