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About the UUA
The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is a religious organization that combines the Unitarian and Universalist traditions. Each of the 1,000+ UU congregations is self-governing and they join together in the UUA to provide services that individual congregations cannot provide for themselves. Each congregation is also associated with one of the UUA's regions and districts (First Unitarian Society of Westchester is associated with the Central East Region and the UU District of Metropolitan New York). To learn more about the UUA, please visit the UUA web site. |
Our UUA Seven Principles
The Seven Principles guide all member churches of the Unitarian Universalist Association:
UU Sources
Unitarian Universalist congregations affirm and promote seven Principles, which we hold as strong values and moral guides. We live out these Principles within a “living tradition” of wisdom and spirituality, drawn from sources as diverse as science, poetry, scripture, and personal experience. These are the six sources our congregations affirm and promote:
What does it mean to be a Unitarian Universalist?
Unitarian Universalism is a covenanted, not a creedal, religion. We believe that truth continues to unfold, and that revelation is not fixed. Because of that, we do not submit to a particular doctrine. Rather than committing to a creed, we commit to each other. We live in intentional relationship with one another. Because we are non-creedal, we are free to search for truth individually and collectively. We are open to many spiritual paths and know that truth is revealed from many sources. These include our personal experiences, the truths of science, the Judeo-Christian tradition, humanist teachings, our own reason and conscience, and the people of faith from all over the world.
The Seven Principles guide all member churches of the Unitarian Universalist Association:
- First Principle: The inherent worth and dignity of every person.
- Second Principle: Justice, equity and compassion in human relations.
- Third Principle: Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations.
- Fourth Principle: A free and responsible search for truth and meaning.
- Fifth Principle: The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.
- Sixth Principle: The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all.
- Seventh Principle: Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
UU Sources
Unitarian Universalist congregations affirm and promote seven Principles, which we hold as strong values and moral guides. We live out these Principles within a “living tradition” of wisdom and spirituality, drawn from sources as diverse as science, poetry, scripture, and personal experience. These are the six sources our congregations affirm and promote:
- 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.
What does it mean to be a Unitarian Universalist?
Unitarian Universalism is a covenanted, not a creedal, religion. We believe that truth continues to unfold, and that revelation is not fixed. Because of that, we do not submit to a particular doctrine. Rather than committing to a creed, we commit to each other. We live in intentional relationship with one another. Because we are non-creedal, we are free to search for truth individually and collectively. We are open to many spiritual paths and know that truth is revealed from many sources. These include our personal experiences, the truths of science, the Judeo-Christian tradition, humanist teachings, our own reason and conscience, and the people of faith from all over the world.
