About Unitarian Universalism
Unitarian Universalists are committed to seven principles that recognize the worth of each person, the need for justice and compassion, and the right to choose one’s own beliefs. Our congregations promote these principles through regular worship, learning opportunities, social justice and service, celebration of life’s transitions, and much more.
Our faith’s history is long, beginning with two radical Christian groups, the Universalists, who organized in 1793, and the Unitarians, who organized in 1825. Both groups trace their roots in North America to the early Massachusetts settlers and the framers of the Constitution. Across the globe, our legacy reaches back centuries to liberal religious pioneers in England, Poland, and Transylvania. The groups came together to form the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) in 1961. Today, Unitarian Universalists include people of many beliefs who share UU’s values in common. We are creators of positive change in ourselves and in the world.
Some UU names you might recognize:
- John & Abigail Adams, US President and First Lady
- John Quincy Adams, US President
- Louisa May Alcott, author
- Susan B. Anthony, women’s rights champion
- Clara Barton, organizer of the American Red Cross
- Ray Bradbury, author
- Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent), musician and singer-songwriter
- e.e. cummings, poet
- Charles Darwin, naturalist
- Ralph Waldo Emerson, author and Unitarian minister
- Paul Newman, actor and philanthropist
- Pete Seeger, folk singer and activist
- Rod Serling, creator of The Twilight Zone
- Elizabeth Cady Stanton, suffragist and abolitionist
- William Howard Taft, US President
- N.C. Wyeth, artist