UU History
We are a historic religion as well as a tolerant and progressive one. The Unitarian and Universalist movements grew to encompass religious doubters of many views and welcomed to their ranks thoughtful men and women who accept the right of others to have different views.
Rooted in Christianity, the word "Unitarian" dates to 325 A.D. when the doctrine of the trinity was adopted. Unitarians stressed the unity of God. Many were heretics in their day including Michael Servetus, who was burned at the stake in 1553 for writing "On the Errors of the Trinity."
100 years before the doctrine of the trinity, the seeds of Universalism were planted by the intellectual, Origen. Origen stressed the humanity of Jesus and argued that there was no hell. He talked of a benevolent God who would offer salvation to all people.
In 1638, the first Unitarian church was established in Transylvania. The movement grew in Europe where many were considered outcasts. One of those outcasts, Joseph Priestly, carried the torch of Unitarianism to America where he established the first openly Unitarian church in America in 1796.
Meanwhile, the Universalist movement expanded and became defined in Germany during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. John Murray helped deliver the Universalist movement to the shores of America. Later, Hosea Ballou articulated the universalist vision in his book, "A Treatise on Atonement."
In the 19th century both Unitarianism and Universalism promoted the causes of social justice. Led by women like Julia Ward Howe, Susan B. Anthony and Clara Barton, the liberal religious movement championed the abolition of slavery, women's rights, and penal reform. The two movements acquired greater definition in the sermons of Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Ellery Channing, and Theodore Parker.
The Unitarians and Universalists shared first a philosophy of religious tolerance and religious questioning. In May of 1961, they combined their organizational strength by becoming the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in North America. The paths have merged, but the road goes on.
Today, there are over 1,000 Unitarian Universalist congregations throughout the United States and Canada. Each congregation is distinctly unique.
Our congregation, formed in 1992, supports the work of UUPlan and its various legislative advocacy committees on behalf of Unitarian Universalist principles. For more information, please visit www.uuplan.com.
Excerpted from A Brief History of Unitarian Universalism by Gary Provost.
We are a historic religion as well as a tolerant and progressive one. The Unitarian and Universalist movements grew to encompass religious doubters of many views and welcomed to their ranks thoughtful men and women who accept the right of others to have different views.
Rooted in Christianity, the word "Unitarian" dates to 325 A.D. when the doctrine of the trinity was adopted. Unitarians stressed the unity of God. Many were heretics in their day including Michael Servetus, who was burned at the stake in 1553 for writing "On the Errors of the Trinity."
100 years before the doctrine of the trinity, the seeds of Universalism were planted by the intellectual, Origen. Origen stressed the humanity of Jesus and argued that there was no hell. He talked of a benevolent God who would offer salvation to all people.
In 1638, the first Unitarian church was established in Transylvania. The movement grew in Europe where many were considered outcasts. One of those outcasts, Joseph Priestly, carried the torch of Unitarianism to America where he established the first openly Unitarian church in America in 1796.
Meanwhile, the Universalist movement expanded and became defined in Germany during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. John Murray helped deliver the Universalist movement to the shores of America. Later, Hosea Ballou articulated the universalist vision in his book, "A Treatise on Atonement."
In the 19th century both Unitarianism and Universalism promoted the causes of social justice. Led by women like Julia Ward Howe, Susan B. Anthony and Clara Barton, the liberal religious movement championed the abolition of slavery, women's rights, and penal reform. The two movements acquired greater definition in the sermons of Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Ellery Channing, and Theodore Parker.
The Unitarians and Universalists shared first a philosophy of religious tolerance and religious questioning. In May of 1961, they combined their organizational strength by becoming the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in North America. The paths have merged, but the road goes on.
Today, there are over 1,000 Unitarian Universalist congregations throughout the United States and Canada. Each congregation is distinctly unique.
Our congregation, formed in 1992, supports the work of UUPlan and its various legislative advocacy committees on behalf of Unitarian Universalist principles. For more information, please visit www.uuplan.com.
Excerpted from A Brief History of Unitarian Universalism by Gary Provost.