Unitarian Universalists Explained in 2 Minutes

What are Unitarian Universalists (or UUs as they may be called?) In less than two minutes, you will know.

[bennie.]

first UU sermon i attended involved a bee expert educating us on the social behaviors of bee hives and making frequent comparisons to how we are as humans, brought honey combs and we passed it around and marveled at the geometric patterns

second UU sermon involved a woman who makes crochet coral reef and educated us on the complex shapes they form and how to replicate it,

third UU sermon involved reading like 5 different christian religious stories (david and goliath being one of them etc), and it opened up with going around the room and sharing (if you felt like sharing) your history and emotions toward the bible, and everyone was super honest. one man was a youth minister for 20 years and just kept seeing cracks in the system and felt conflicted about his belief, and UU is a place for him to practice that belief comfortably. i shared how i was indifferent/agnostic until a profound psychedelic experience literally made me believe in god, and began my study in religion, and i was met with zero judgement.

all services ended with going around the room, and sharing (if you felt like it) one good thing, and one sorrow. one lady said how she is proud of herself for finally publishing a book to be sold in stores, which was a lifelong goal of hers. and her sorrow was that her kidney stone is taking much longer to pass than expected. i shared how i found a new job and was finally becoming semi-financially stable, and that a close friend of mine just broke up with their girlfriend and have been taking it really hard and blaming himself. the room reacted with warmth whenever you spoke.

i should go back to that, its been like 6 months :/

[krazykris]

One time I saw the college humor video "the church for people spiritual but not religious" and some commented "this is the UU this is barely an exaggeration."

[rparl]

One Unitarian minister said that if a Unitarian came to a fork in the road and one said To Heaven and the other said To A Discussion About Heaven, a Unitarian would pick the discussion every time.

[tyleryoast]

I went to a UU service and it felt like going to a healthy family gathering. I got 10 hugs and walked away beaming.

[realDonaldMcElvy]

"There's heretics, there's damned heretics, and then there's Unitarian Universalists." - Thomas Aquinas

[gabrielnelson]

"Hey UU, What beliefs do you hold?"
UU: Yesn't

[a.violet]

When coming out of my non-Christian beliefs, I went to a UU congregation. I still believed in God, but didn't know what that meant. Once I found that their roots were Christian, then it started me on my journey to Christ. I never became a member and then went to the UCC, then UCC in an ecumenical church with 4 denominations, the Episcopal Church. Now after years of study and looking, I became in Orthodox Christian. I'm done. No more needing to search. I'm home.

[duaneadams]

There is a Unitarian Universalist church near where I used to live. I never could understand what they stood for and never seemed to have a spiritual foundation that I could see. There was not any "glue" to hold them all together. I like your method of explaining things and find you easy to understand. Thank You for bringing insight to all of the different belief systems. I always look forward to your presentations.

[Laguero]

"Half of 'em is atheists and the other half is witches." -Betty Butterfield

[joemackey]

About 30 years ago I attended a UU "worship service" out of curiosity. It consisted of a greeting, a woman reading some free verse poem about nature (no mention of God), a thank you and then a coffee hour.

[Beautyonthebrain_]

I grew up UU, but was born Jewish & consider myself a Jew-U or Jew-nitarian. I also taught UU sunday school for a number of years in Cincinnati. There are a lot of nuances that this video did not mention, whilst we don't believe the bible is the word of god, we use the stories to teach the larger lessons of life. We also have 7 principles we live by,
1st Principle: The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
2nd Principle: Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
3rd Principle: Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
4th Principle: A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
5th Principle: The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
6th Principle: The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
7th Principle: Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
UU-ism is about so much more than a mono-thiest christian off-shoot. UUs are taught to question, to search for the answers to our questions in a personal way, instead of asking what the bible says. I'm proud of my UU background, just as I am of my Jewish heritage.

[carlybrittenham]

All of the comments just disrespecting this religious belief is making me so upset. How can you expect to know everything after a 2 minute video! I have found so much happiness in this community and the ignorance in this comment section is very disheartening.

[brentchaffin]

The assumption that UU's "can be anything" is actually a common misconception. We actually have 7 core principles and an overarching covenent that must be adhered to. Anyone is welcome to attend UU services but membership in the church requires dedication to upholding these principles and this covenant.

[Peachcreekmedia]

I went to seminary with several UUs. Conversation was always better with them in group.

[RonJohn]

"We don't believe in God, but we want to go to church, so we'll found a non-religion religion."

[rparl]

Back in the day I visited several Unitarian churches. But every time I went there was a guest speaker. The most impressive was when the composer and singer of Little Boxes all made out of ticky tacky spoke nearby in San Jose. She spoke about the homes which could be seen from I-280 on the way to San Francisco. At the time I was a member of MCC and we met in their sanctuary on Sunday afternoon when they weren't using it. I recall seeing a bunch of various religious symbols in the area of the altar or podium. We were probably much more conservative than they were.

[choops]

I recently joined a UU church and I'm very happy.

[rainatempest]

I grew up UU and can confirm, this pretty much sums it up

[rickswineberg]

"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law". This principle emphasizes personal freedom and the pursuit of one's true path, while being guided by love and finding one's authentic purpose. The foundation of Satanism, sounds like unitarian.

[arkhamfivehundred]

Honestly, this sounds like a church that I could belong to (I'm technically Catholic, but in practice, I'm semi-agnostic).

There really needs to be more religions that welcome all beliefs and cultures without arrogantly promoting their own.