New paper, new departments

Introducing the new and improved 'UU World.'

District board protests firing of its executive

UUA, Pacific Central District 'moving forward together' after disagreeing about firing of district executive.

Heritage and history groups sponsor conference together

'History and Heritage Convocation' unites four independent organizations.

Board approves two-year project to shape UUA's vision

Will invite congregations to use Appreciative Inquiry to develop 'shared vision for denomination's future.'

Changing myths

Different generations see the world through different myths.

Remember the pro-censorship Unitarians?

Boston's elite saw censorship as part of their larger social reform agenda.

Satire takes aim at recent UUA history

In new novel, former editor of this magazine satirizes the Unitarian Universalist Association.

The partner church movement today

Almost 200 North American UU congregations have partner churches in other parts of the world.

What is UU culture?

Is Unitarian Universalist congregational culture a barrier to a more diverse faith?

Beyond the horizon

Seeing Unitarian Universalism as an international faith.

UUA contemplates bold changes

A guide to changes promoted by the Board of Trustees and by the UUA administration.

Keeping up with change

'UU World' offers many ways to keep up with changes in the UUA.

Racial and ethnic diversity of Unitarian Universalists

The United States is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse faster than the UUA.

What is 'UU culture'?

Does UU culture embody our deepest values? Or does it express narrow assumptions about who truly belongs?

Forrest Church's Universalism

For Church, 'E pluribus unum' was a civic ideal and a religious insight.

Photographic tour of Wright's Unity Temple

New book celebrates Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpiece for an Illinois Unitarian Universalist congregation.

We are not alone

Unitarian Universalism is not alone on the 'religious left.'

The breadth of our message

Can Unitarian Universalism become more culturally diverse?

A multicultural future

The Unitarian Universalist Association elects a president focused on helping congregations adapt to a changing society.

General Assembly narrowly rejects new Principles and Purposes

Delegates in Salt Lake City elect new president, send ‘Peacemaking’ Statement of Conscience back to committee.

Morales decisively wins UUA presidency

The Rev. Peter Morales elected with 59 percent of the vote.

Follow UUA General Assembly with 'UU World'

Daily updates on the presidential election and other business on uuworld.org's General Assembly Blog.

Beacon Press to reissue Martin Luther King Jr.'s books

Exclusive partnership with King’s estate will bring civil rights leader’s writings to a contemporary audience.

A public witness

President William G. Sinkford looks back on eight years of leadership.

Blog roundup, Summer 2009

Online responses to UU World.

'Utne' honor, farewell to 'uu&me!'

'Utne Reader' names 'UU World' a finalist for an Utne Independent Press Award.

Blog roundup, Spring 2009

Online responses to UU World.

Charles Darwin's bicentennial

Two aspects of Darwin's legacy for liberal religion.

Commission offers second draft of new UUA Principles

After receiving more than 1,700 comments on proposed changes to the Unitarian Universalist Association’s Principles and Purposes, Commission presents revised draft to Board of Trustees.

Covering the Knoxville church shooting

Online reporting allows more timely response.

Good news for parents

Debra W. Haffner's new book is full of good news about raising children.

General Assembly endorses youth 'empowerment'

UUA's 2008 convention asks for annual reports from congregations and denominational groups about youth and young adult empowerment.

Ministry of the printed word

If anyone has popularized liberal religion in the last quarter century, Forrest Church has.

UUA presidential campaign begins with two candidates

Laurel Hallman and Peter Morales compete for 2009 General Assembly vote.

UUA suspends funding for young adult network

C*UUYAN has cancelled annual conferences; UUA staff groups serving youth and young adults expected to merge.

Provocative conversations

Three moving and informative stories; introducing our new blog about blogs.

Books that amplify our voices

This issue of 'UU World' highlights books worth sharing.

Liberal theology, vibrant but hidden

Unitarian Universalism was liberal theology's first home, but we have neglected it lately.

Independent magazines take a hit

New postal rules treat small periodicals unfairly.

Jesus for UU children

New book offers a Unitarian Universalist view.

Environment and diversity themes of General Assembly

Report on the Unitarian Universalist Association's 2007 annual meeting.

General Assembly asserts UU moral values

In Portland, UUA's annual meeting recalls Pentagon Papers, urges opposition to torture and Iraq war, affirms transgender people.

Daily updates from UUA General Assembly

Follow the UUA's annual meeting with uuworld.org's GA blog, June 20-24.

Meet our online columnists

Doug Muder and the Rev. Meg Barnhouse bring distinctive voices to 'uuworld.org.'

General Assembly 2007 preview

Congregational leaders and representatives of other UU organizations will gather in Portland, Oregon, for the annual General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations June 20 through 24.

A mirror and a lens

My goal is to give you a magazine with a broad range of UU voices that truly conveys the dynamism of liberal religion today.

Sinkford outlines plan for more diverse ministry

Board of Trustees hears UUA president's proposal for new ministry opportunities for minorities, approves General Assembly review of UUA's Purposes.

Inheriting a bold magazine

Share your dreams for Unitarian Universalism and its magazine.

New survey of UU congregations shows growth potential

UUA survey conducted alongside Faith Communities Today study.

UUA General Assembly confronts global warming

Delegates also select 'peacemaking' as four-year congregational focus.

Daily reports from UUA General Assembly

Follow the UUA's annual meeting with uuworld.org's GA blog, June 21-25.

Harvard announces professorship in Unitarian Universalist studies

Ralph Waldo Emerson Professor will focus on liberal religious traditions.

Counterculture and liberal religion

How American culture transforms — and is sometimes transformed by — liberal religion.

Report examines racism, youth at 2005 General Assembly

Commission offers timeline and recommendations after tense interactions at UUA annual meeting in Fort Worth, Texas.

A surrogate mother, Kwanzaa in Maine, Christmas controversies, and more

Unitarian Universalists in the Media, December 12-19, 2005.

Boston honors Selma's civil rights activists

With flags flying at half-mast to honor the death of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks, Unitarian Universalists joined several thousand Bostonians in a civil rights march on Sunday, October 30, to mark the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Fired up: General Assembly 2005

Sermons, music, and politics fired up the annual gathering of Unitarian Universalists.

Ambitious first book at 21

Paul Kendrick, a twenty-one-year-old student at George Washington University, spent two years researching and writing Sarah's Long Walk, a new Beacon Press history of Boston's free black community, with his father, the Rev. Stephen Kendrick, minister of the First and Second Church in Boston.

Notable recordings

Brief reviews of Heinrich Christensen Plays the C.B. Fisk Organ, King’s Chapel, Boston and The Fire of Commitment: Music of Jason Shelton.

Talking about reverence

Whether Unitarian Universalists have responded to President William G. Sinkford's call for a renewed "language of reverence" with appreciation or anger, the subject has generated a rousing and enduring conversation. But until quite recently, a newcomer to the conversation might have felt unsure about the source of all the commotion; there was no single collection of primary documents under discussion. A Language of Reverence, a brief collection of key speeches, answers that need.

James Luther Adams's examined faith

Widely regarded as the most important Unitarian Universalist theologian of the twentieth century, James Luther Adams championed themes that have never been UU favorites, among them conversion and guilt, sacrifice and discipline, conflict and tragedy. Without them, Adams believed, liberal religion becomes complacent, accommodating cultural trends that distort truly liberal values when resistance is called for. He became the leading exponent of the liberal church as "the prophethood of all believers" — an institution whose people, rooted in the biblical and liberal traditions, learn to judge and correct their society.

Wielding our power

Recognizing our power and using it to promote our values in the world fulfills one of the Sources of our living tradition: It empowers us to “confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love.”

General Assembly 2004

Several workshops and plenary speeches expanded on conversations begun at last year's Assembly about religious language. Last year, a delegate's request opened up forty-five minutes of plenary discussion in response to President Sinkford's call for a renewed “language of reverence” in the UUA. Some perceived his call as a reactionary move toward mainline or conservative Christianity, but others saw him urging religious liberals to acknowledge the spirituality that is already among us.

Kindergarten's radical advocate

The educator, publisher, and reformer Elizabeth Palmer Peabody (1804-1894) was inseparable from the circle of writers and reformers known as Transcendentalists in mid-nineteenth century Boston. Her lasting achievement, however, wasn't her advocacy of Transcendental philosophy or even her strong support for a broad range of social reforms. It was her introduction of kindergarten to the United States.

Singing the Seventh Principle

The Rev. Ralph Galen describes the songs in The Earth and Spirit Songbook as “the soundtrack to the peace and justice and environmental movement.” For many Unitarian Universalists, Jim Scott's collection of songs, chants, and choral arrangements may seem like the perfect soundtrack to their faith, too.

Gay rights timeline

Major social, political, and religious milestones on the road to equality.

Talking about the 'L'-word

Modern Unitarian Universalism was “born into a given historical constellation of ideas”—and as that constellation of ideas has been eclipsed in much of our public life, we have sometimes grown doctrinaire and defensive in our political thinking even as we proclaim the tolerance and diversity of our theology. Perhaps we would be served by thinking through the “specialized notions” of liberalism we take for granted. Perhaps it is time for us to ask each other: Which aspects of liberalism really do belong to Unitarian Universalism?

Science and its metaphors

Science — the work that scientists do — is revered, perhaps even idolized, in our religious movement, but as a religious movement we are not doing science ourselves. Yet for some Unitarian Universalists and for many self-described Humanists, science has become the touchstone for human values. We want our theology to be compatible with science, and some of us even treat science as our theology and ethics. Mary Midgley cautions us that the authority of science should not go unexamined; there is no divine right to the "intellectual imperialism" some science advocates promote.

Adin Ballou: Practical utopian

Adin Ballou (1803-1890) spent a lifetime trying to build a community modeled in every difficult particular on the Sermon on the Mount. He even succeeded for a while.

Humanists celebrate 70th anniversary with new manifesto

Sophia Lyon Fahs: Revolutionary educator

As a teacher, writer, editor, and advocate, Sophia Lyon Fahs helped to revolutionize American children's religious education and played a major role in what is often called the "Unitarian renaissance."

Religious dialogue in a divided world

The war with al Qaeda may not be a clash between Islam and the West. But 9/11 publicized another conflict quite clearly: There is a clash of theologies within Islam, and the stakes of that battle are high indeed.