Unitarian Universalists of Merced What We Believe

Our detractors call us "The church that doesn't believe in anything." That is not true. We believe in many things. Our first belief is in the inherent worth and dignity of every person. It gets a little complicated after that, because some of us believe in God and some of us don't. We do have a common set of Principles and Purposes, adopted as bylaws by the 1984, 1985 and 1995 General assemblies:

• The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
  
  
• Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
  
  
• Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
  
  
• A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
  
  
• The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
  
  
• The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
  
  
• Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

Sources

The living tradition which we share draws from many sources:

• 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.
  
  

Additional Reading

Our parent congregation, the UU fellowship of Stanislaus County, has a much more detailed Beliefs page, with three short essays by famous UUs and links.

If you'd like to see what UU's have done over the years and across the country, Famous Unitarians and Universalists is a site devoted to people from one denomination or the other from the 1800's to today. (We were two separate denominations until 1961.) Six presidents of the United States were Unitarians or Universalists. So were Clara Barton, Susan B. Anthony and P. T. Barnum.

If you have more questions after you read this, you can go to 100 Questions. This is a web site the Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashua, New Hampshire has made from the booklet, "100 Questions that Non-members ask about Unitarian-Universalism" by John Sias. It concentrates on the Theist and Humanist sides of UUism. Some people find it conservative. UU's come in many flavors. We have Buddhists and Wiccans as well as Christians and Jews.

If you'd like an outside opinion, Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance has simple, non-judgmental descriptions of 63 different religious faiths. In their words, "We describe dozens of faith groups as accurately as we can, from Asatru to Christianity to Zoroastrianism." Click on "About Other Religions", then scroll past "Introductory thoughts", some ads, "World Religions" and "Neopagan Religious Faiths" until you get to "Other Non-Christian Religions". (OCoRT is a big site.) We UU's are towards the bottom of that list, by virtue of the alphabet.

Questions about UUs of Merced? Ask the Osbornes,
Questions about the web site? Ask Ted Pack,

We are a liberal church and the only UU congregation in Merced county. We serve Atwater, Chowchilla, Livingston, Merced, and Winton. We welcome Agnostics, Atheists, Buddhists, Christians, Deists, Free-thinkers, Humanists, Jews, Theists, Wiccans, and those who seek their own spiritual path. We welcome people without regard to race, ethnic origin, physical ability or sexual orientation.