Unitarianism

A faith worth thinking about

 

Who are the Unitarians?

The following information is taken from the leaflet 'A Faith Worth Thinking About'.

 

The Unitarians are a spiritual community who encourage you to think for yourself.

They believe that

• everyone has the right to seek truth and meaning for themselves
• the fundamental tools for doing this are your own life-experience, your reflection upon it, your intuitive understanding and the promptings of your own conscience
• the best setting for this is a community that welcomes you for what you are – beliefs, doubts, questions and all.
• they can be called ‘religious liberals’
• religious because they unite to celebrate and affirm values that embrace and reflect a greater reality than the self
• liberal because they claim no exclusive revelation or status for themselves; because they afford respect and toleration to those who follow different paths of faith.
• they are called ‘Unitarians’
• because of their traditional insistence on divine unity, the oneness of God
• because they affirm the essential unity of humankind and of creation

 

A distinctive approach to religion

Unitarians affirm that

• people should enjoy individual liberty and private judgement in spiritual matters
• respect for integrity is preferable to the pressure to conform
• we are all engaged on a life-quest, the development of the personal value-system by which each of us lives
• our beliefs may change in the light of new understanding and insight
• the final authority for your faith lies within your own conscience.

 

On this journey we are aided and inspired by

• the example and spiritual insights of others
• writings deemed ‘holy’ and ‘sacred’ by the various faith-traditions of humanity
• inherited traditions of critical and philosophical thought
• the ongoing creative work of artists, musicians and writers
• the scientist’s search for knowledge and understanding.

 

Unitarians find their bond of unity in shared values, such as

• the nurture of life’s spiritual dimension
• the use of reason and honest doubt in the search for truth
• mutual respect and goodwill in personal relations
• constructive tolerance and openness towards the sincerely-held beliefs of others
• peace, compassion, justice and democracy in human affairs
• reverence for the earth and the whole natural system of which we are part.

It is the Unitarian experience that values such as these form a more effective foundation for true community than insistence on uniformity of belief and doctrine. Unitarians affirm that truth and humanity are best served where both the mind and the conscience are free. They maintain that no one book, institution or individual has the monopoly on truth, no matter what they may claim for themselves or their devotees may claim for them.

 

Unitarian communities

The purpose of a Unitarian congregation is

• to meet the spiritual needs of the individual in the context of a loving community
• to share joy and to offer comfort in times of trial
• to enjoy warmth of fellowship
• to make itself welcoming, inclusive and a blessing to the wider world.

Unitarian and free Christian congregations are scattered unevenly across the British Isles. They may be called churches, meetings, chapels or fellowships. They may have a minister – who may be a woman or a man – or be lay-led. They vary considerably in size from a couple of hundred to fewer than ten – and in the scope of their activities. They may meet in their own buildings – anything from a 17^th century meeting house to a modern church – in hired premises or in private homes.

Groups number nearly two hundred in mainland Britain, of which four are in Scotland (in the principal cities) and over twenty in Wales (many of them Welsh-speaking or bilingual). These communities are independent and democratic in organisation. Regionally, they are grouped in District Associations. The National Unitarian Fellowship help isolated Unitarians to keep in touch.

In Ireland, mainly in the north, is an independent sister-movement, the non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland, with a strong liberal Christian identity.

Unitarian and Free Christian communities are linked through the General Assembly. This body works to strengthen the life and witness of its member congregations and to represent Unitarianism to the wider world.

 

Worship

At the heart of Unitarianism is worship, which usually takes place Sunday by Sunday. Unitarian worship reflects what a particular community regards as being of supreme worth.

A Unitarian service may comprise

• worship of the divine
• celebration of life
• affirmation of shared values
• recognition of our failings
• commitment to the meeting of human need
• encouragement of human potential.

Many elements may be used to contribute to the worship experience including

Music
Silence
The literary heritage
Communion
The Bible
Litany
Drama
Meditation
Words for reflection
Prayer
Stories
Hymns and songs
World faith scriptures
Ritual
Dance
Poetry
Discussion
Sharing joys and concerns
Sermon/address

The order in which these appear may vary, and not all of them will necessarily be present. Those who lead worship week to make it inclusive – meaningful for people with differing beliefs and needs.

The Unitarian worship-cycle usually marks

the feasts and fasts of the Christian year

the changing seasons and cycles of the earth

occasions and festivals from the wider human heritage, both religious and secular – such as Human Rights Day and World AIDS Day

lives and events that have a special place in human history and spiritual development.

Unitarians offer special services to celebrate birth and naming, marriage or partnership, or a life that has ended. These are arranged, as far as possible, to express the beliefs and to meet the needs of those most closely involved.

Communion, where practised, expresses in simple sharing and fellowship our thanks for Jesus and all ‘great souls’, solidarity with the cause of human welfare, and recognition of our dependence on the earth’s divine bounty.

 

Religious education

Unitarian – children and adults – often participate in religious education programmes that are distinctive, thought provoking and enjoyable.

• Religious education for children is designed to
• encourage spiritual awakening and development
• build on a child’s natural sense of wonder
• channel positively the impulse to enquire and create
• share stories form our religious inheritance and from other faiths.

 

Religious education for adults is vital too. Its purpose is to

• help you understand and evaluate your own inherited beliefs and values, and those of others
• provide a forum for the free and respectful interchange of ideas and insights
• help you ‘build your own theology’ out of the bricks of heritage, experience, intuition and reflection
• explore ways in which spiritual values can be applied to life in the world.
• Many Unitarian congregations offer religious education programmes for both young and old. Other educational events are organised at a national or district level; for example, children come together from all over the country to participate in the National Youth Programme.
• Religious growth and learning are the life-blood of the Unitarian movement.

 

Unitarians and society

Unitarians have traditionally taken a positive view of human nature. They believe people are worth caring about.

In the spirit of civil and religious liberty, they support equality of respect and opportunity for everyone. They oppose oppression and discrimination on the grounds of any arbitrary or accidental factor, such as race or gender, sexual orientation or religious belief.

Unitarians balance a concern for general wellbeing with respect for the rights of the individual. They believe there must be a compromise between personal freedom and social responsibility.

The vision of the kingdom of God, a global commonwealth of peace, justice and plenty for all, has always been important for Unitarians. It has inspired their social and political involvement, duly tempered by a realistic assessment of what can be achieved.

Many Unitarians hold Jesus in high regard. Generally speaking, they think of him

• as a teacher in the rabbinic and prophetic tradition of Judaism whose central message was the call to love
• as an example of integrity, courage and compassionate living
• as fully and unequivocally human
• as divine only in the sense that his life and work revealed – or came to symbolise – the divinity and high potential inherent in everyone

The Bible is valued by most Unitarians as

• the human recd of a people’s long struggle to understand their origins, their destiny and their God
• a deep fund of wisdom and insight deserving both attention and respect.

Unitarians do not regard it as an inerrant, unquestionable authority. They believe it should be read in the light of reason, informed by the insights of biblical criticism and scholarship. When they accept something in the Bible as true, they do so because it rings true in their own humble reflection up it – not simply because it is in the Bible.

 

Unitarians and other faiths

Unitarians recognise that there will always be different ways of understanding and interpreting the human condition. They regard the existence of many diverse expressions of faith as inevitable, and also potentially enriching. They believe that learning to live with religious diversity is a major challenge for our times.

As a result, Unitarians

• engage in dialogue with people of other faiths
• promote opportunities for different religions to share their spiritual treasures in worship and celebration
• are active locally and nationally in inter-faith and ecumenical (inter-church) organisations
• Internationally, Unitarians are founder members of the International Association for Religious Freedom (founded 1900). This has member groups from all the world’s major faith traditions – and a few more besides. Its activities include inter-faith dialogue and social action in many countries.

 

The historical and global context

The roots of the Unitarian movement lie principally in the Reformation of the 16^th century. At that time, people in many countries across Europe began to claim

• the right to read and interpret the Bible for themselves
• the right to have a direct relationship with God, without the mediation of priest or church
• the right to set their own conscience against the claims of religious institutions

Many came to question orthodox Christian doctrine and to affirm beliefs of their own. These included

• the unity or unipersonality of God, as opposed to the doctrine of the Trinity – hence the name Unitarian
• the humanity, as opposed to the deity, of Christ
• the worth of human beings, as opposed to ideas of original sin, inherited guilt and innate depravity

the universal salvation of all souls. As opposed to the doctrine that most of humanity is predestined to damnation.

The earliest organised Unitarian movements were founded in the 16^th century in Poland and Transylvania.

In Britain, a number of early radical reformers professed Unitarian beliefs in the 16^th and 17^th centuries, some suffering imprisonment and martyrdom. An organised Unitarian movement did not emerge until the late 18^th century. The first avowedly Unitarian church in Britain was opened in Essex Street, London, in 1774. Denominational structures were developed during the 19^th century, finally uniting in the present General Assembly in 1928.

Today Unitarian movements exist in a number of countries around the world. Most originated independently by processes of spiritual evolution similar to that which occurred in Britain.

 

Other pamphlets available are

Women in the Unitarian Movement
Seven women say why they value their involvement in liberal religion. 
Your First Time at a Unitarian Service?
Explains what you can expect to find when visiting a Unitarian service of worship.

Unitarian Views of Jesus

Contemporary Unitarians give a variety of views on the life and teachings of Jesus and their significance today.

The Flaming Chalice: Unitarian Symbol

The flaming chalice has been a symbol of free religion for centuries; this leaflet explains some of its history and points to its contemporary relevance.

 In Times of Celebration

Child dedications, weddings, funerals and other special services should reflect the values and beliefs of those most closely involved. This leaflet sets out the open Unitarian approach.

Unitarian Views of Earth and Nature

Six Unitarian women and men reflect here on the relationship between humans and the natural world.

Inquirers looking for an introduction to the history of Unitarianism in Britain and abroad may wish to read A Liberal Religious Heritage by Andrew Hill, obtainable from the Information Department, price £1.00 inclusive of postage. Booklists of other material are available on request.

• our views of earth and nature

 

 

Where to Find Us

Unitarian and Free Christian congregations in the British Isles – their addresses and times of service.

For more information contact

Unitarian Information
General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches
Essex Hall, 1-6 Essex Street, Strand, London WC2R 3HY
Tel: 020 7240  2384
Fax: 020 7240 3089
Email: ga@unitarian.org.uk
Website: www.unitarian.org.uk

 

 

Brighton Unitarian Church, New Road,
Brighton, Sussex BN1 1UF United Kingdom
tel: (+44) 1273 696 022

email: buc@brightonunitarian.org.uk