I've officially been a Unitarian Universalist for over 10 years, and I've visited several UU…read morecongregations during that time. This church ranks on the top of my UU church list, but I'm biased, because I'm a member here. I feel so alive when I'm there. The services, the groups, the library, the other members, everything... they all help me develop my search for peace, love, truth, community, all those wonderful things... and I know I'm not alone in that quest when I'm there.
I wasn't raised with any particular religion. My parents told me I could choose my own religion when I grew up, so I did. It is " a chosen faith," which just happens to be the name of a definitive book about the UU faith.
Unitarianism and Universalism have both been around for many years. Unitarianism has been around since the 18th century, and was historically comprised of people who believed in the "oneness" of God (as opposed to the Father/Son/Holy spirit Trinity). Universalism was found in Christianity as early as the 17th century. Universalists believed in God's salvation for all. In 1961, North American Unitarians and Universalists combined to form the Unitarian Universalist Association, and now we have UU as it is today: a liberal religion that draws from many sources. So we have deep roots, although they were historically considered heretical. We're not a New Age thing or a cult or whatever. I promise.
If you come to this spiritual sanctuary expecting our leaders to preach Christianity as the one and only path, you will not find what you're looking for, but you will find that we incorporate passages from the Bible in our services. You will find that in any given service, you might learn about teachings from Judaism, Paganism, Buddhism, or other faiths. Many UUs are humanists/atheists. Some are Buddhist. Others are Christian. Still others are simply "spiritual." I personally subscribe to a bit of mysticism. My point is you have the opportunity here to develop your own spiritual path and personal theology, even if it's atheistic.
Read about our principles and sources at http://www.uua.org/beliefs/principles/. It's not for everyone, and if it's not, I won't try to convert you, because it's inherent in my faith that I will respect whatever your beliefs might be. If you're interested, join us on a Sunday morning for a moving service, and then have a donut and a cup of coffee, because coffee hour is a ubiquitous UU tradition. Unitarian Universalism might just be what you've been looking for!
