Tapestry of Faith: A Place of Wholeness: A Program for Youth Exploring Their Own Unitarian Universalist Faith Journeys

Leader Resource 3: Values Quotes and Actions Background

This resource includes background information on each of the quotes and actions used in Activity 2 and Alternate Activity 1. This will help you help participants make connections among the quotes, actions and value(s).

Quote 1 — Universalists made several statements of faith prior to the Unitarian Universalist principles. This quote is the Universalist Bond of Fellowship from 1935. This quote demonstrates the values of love and faith.

Quote 2 — William Ellery Channing (1789-1842) was a Unitarian theologian, preacher, and minister of the Federal Street Church in Boston, Massachusetts. Channing believed in human goodness and the human potential to be like God. This quote demonstrates the values of love and tolerance.

Action 1: Through this action, our current religion of Unitarian Universalism was created. Decades of discussion concerning whether the two religions should merge were marked by arguments both for and against. Leaders on both sides considered the pros and cons carefully before committing to a merger; hence, this action demonstrates reason.

Quote 3 — Abhi Janamanchi is a Unitarian Universalist minister. He is a native of India and a member of the Brahmo Samaj, a Unitarian-Hindu reform movement. This quote demonstrates the value of hope.

Quote 4 —Clarence Skinner (1881-1949) was a Universalist minister, teacher, writer and social activist. He served as Dean of the Crane School of Theology and wrote many influential books on Universalist theology including Worship and a Well Ordered Life, which was published posthumously and from which this quote is drawn. This quote demonstrates the values of faith and freedom.

Action 2 — Thomas Potter (1689- 1777?), a New Jersey farmer, eventually welcomed John Murray to preach in his chapel and was instrumental to bringing Universalism to America. This actions demonstrate hope.

Quote 5 — Clara Barton (1821-1912) was a Universalist who served as a nurse in the Civil War battlefields and was the founder of the American Red Cross. She was also active in the movements for women's and African American suffrage. This quote demonstrates the value of freedom.

Quote 6 — Waitstill Sharp (1902-1984) was a Unitarian minister who, with his wife Martha Sharp, helped hundreds of Jews and other refugees escape Nazi persecution in Czechoslovakia during World War II. This quote demonstrates the value of freedom.

Action 3: By choosing death over conversion, Katherine Weigel's action demonstrates the strength of faith.

Quote 7 — Marjorie Bowens-Wheatley (1949-2006) who was African American, was a Unitarian Universalist minister and religious educator whose work had a profound impact on Unitarian Universalist engagement with anti-racism work. This quote demonstrates the values of tolerance and hope.

Quote 8 — The Second Humanist Manifesto (1973) is one of three manifestoes (written in 1933, 1973, and 2003) that articulate a Humanist worldview. This document was written by Paul Kurtz and Edwin H. Wilson, and signed by dozens of others. It is one of the foundational documents for Unitarian Universalist Humanists. This quote demonstrates the value of reason.

Action 4: Queen Isabella's action, which preceded her son's, King Sigismund's, Edict of Torda, demonstrates tolerance.