Vision for Unitarian Universalism

Unitarian Universalism has a long and storied history and many strong and vital ministries today. But if Unitarian Universalism is to thrive and grow in the years ahead, we must attend to the ways in which religious and spiritual life are evolving in our culture.  

The world in which we live is increasingly multicultural, and therefore we are engaging with our congregations and other interested groups about the great potential of multiculturalism and the inherent challenges as well.

Changes in the world and in our congregations have led us to critically examine the role of religious professionals in the future: Strategic Plan for Professional Ministries (PDF, 6 pages).

Our future obviously depends upon our youth and young adults, who actively engage in conversations about our faith in many ways, including on the Blue Boat blog.

Technological and social media innovations have led us to recognize we must examine our current communication practices and implement critical changes: Our Organization, Our Voice (PDF, 19 pages).

Unitarian Universalism grows out of congregational roots. We organize ourselves according to congregational polity, which provides us with a democratic system of governance where delegates from congregations make most of the major decisions affecting the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). (Visit Congregational Life for more information.)  

Many of our congregations are actively engaged in their own envisioning process, facilitated by the “Gathered Here” process. Recently we have come to recognize that there is also opportunity for Unitarian Universalists to connect with our movement in ways that go beyond congregational walls.  We are developing a new set of initiatives called “Congregations and Beyond” that is exploring the cultural and programmatic changes we may need to engage in.