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Preface
Welcome to the Unitarian Universalist Pocket Guide! Thank you for the opportunity to share the faith I love with you. Like the other contributors to this book, I am challenged, inspired, sustained, and nurtured by Unitarian Universalism, and excited to offer this guided tour of our values, commitments, and ministries.
The fact that you are here, reading this book, indicates that you have some interest in learning more about Unitarian Universalism. Perhaps you are a spiritual seeker, exploring whether a Unitarian Universalist congregation might provide a spiritual home for you. Perhaps you are a new member of a Unitarian Universalist community, seeking to learn more about these people you have joined yourself with. Perhaps a friend or a family member has told you that they are a Unitarian Universalist and you want to know what that means. Whatever your reasons, I hope this book is a helpful guide.
A key characteristic of Unitarian Universalism is our affirmation of a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. We have no creed, no litmus test for belonging. We encourage everyone to bring their doubts and questions, their evolving system of beliefs and spiritual practices, and the gifts of their own experiences and perspectives. We are life-long learners and all of these enrich our collective spiritual journey. The sources of our inspiration are broad. We draw from scripture and science, from nature and philosophy, from personal experience and ancient tradition. We remain ever open to new revelation that can guide us into deeper engagement with our own spirit and greater understanding of humanity and the world around us.
Ours has never been a monolithic faith. It’s one of the reasons we refer to Unitarian Universalism as a “Living Tradition.” We are people of all ages, coming from many backgrounds, and holding many beliefs. Our faith does not guarantee that everything will be alright if we live by a certain set of rules. Instead, the hope and courage we receive from worship, religious education, community, and social justice efforts call us out of self-centeredness and fear, to a larger commitment beyond ourselves.
These are defining times. The challenges before us, as individuals and as members of local, national, and global communities, are quite literally matters of life and death—especially for black and brown people, immigrants and refugees, LGBTQ folx, people with disabilities, and those deprived of the material resources needed to survive and thrive. Powerful social forces imperil our sense of hope and threaten the bonds of interdependence that bind us all. At its best, Unitarian Universalism teaches us that the humanity of every single person is threatened when we let the dehumanization of any human being goes unchallenged.
This is no time for a casual faith or a casual commitment to the values that matter most to you. This is also no time to be alone. Right now, we need nurturing communities that remind us of our connections and responsibilities to one another as a human family. As Unitarian Universalists, we are learning how we better support one another, protect each other and our neighbors, inspire and remind each other of the power of community, practice joy and love, and teach these to our children and next generations.
Unitarian Universalism is at a crucial moment in its history. Like all institutions, we have not always been aware of or willing to grapple with the systems of privilege and oppression in which we are embedded and in which we participate. But that is changing. In ways large and small throughout our denomination; our faith communities are examining our history, our theology, our commitments, and our practices, looking for the ways in which we perpetuate systems of oppression and seeking to disrupt those systems and attitudes that bar our path toward Beloved Community. We are called to put our values, our relationships, and all our spiritual resources to the work of wholeness. Together, imperfectly, we work to build communities and practices of inclusion, care, growth, and love.
I have great faith in the power of this faith to change lives for the better. I speak to you not only as the president of the Unitarian Universalist Association but as a lifelong Unitarian Universalist who knows that this faith saved my life, time and time again. As you’ll see in these pages, I’m not alone in that conviction. Unitarian Universalism taught me courage. It taught me to take risks for what is right, to not be afraid to speak up for my values, even if it means being a lone voice. It helped me learn to organize for justice, to love abundantly and boldly, and to trust in the saving power of joy and laughter, of community and song. I am grateful to have been raised from my earliest days to honor the core values of respect and compassion for all. I have been regularly encouraged to wrestle with questions of truth and meaning. And I have received affirmation of my own agency and my ability, indeed the ability of everyone, to make a positive difference.
I hope that whatever has sparked your interest in Unitarian Universalism, whatever your belief or non-belief, wherever you come from, and whatever you carry in your heart, you receive the message of welcome, love, and challenge in these pages. I hope it helps you to embody and practice an unbounded, unconditional, overflowing, and audacious love in your own spiritual journey. Perhaps we can journey together. The path awaits.
—Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray
