History of Unitarian Universalism
Our faith is born from the union of two Christian faiths that were long allies. Unitarianism was the bedrock of American Transcendentalism, and as a result, many great American thinkers had Unitarian roots. The core theology of Unitarianism was that God is one, not a trinity. In the US, many parish churches in early New England were Unitarian, and many of our congregations still meet in some of those buildings and are often called “First Parish” although they are UU. Universalism’s core tenet was the salvation of everyone. Through Jesus’ sacrifice everyone is saved, without needing to do anything special.
The two faiths conjoined in 1961, and the Unitarian Universalist Association was formed. Today, our faith is not doctrinal, but covenantal. That means that we don’t expect our members to believe any particular creed, and our worship services do not tend to be Christian, and we welcome people of all faith backgrounds.
