We celebrate that we are all sacred beings, diverse in culture, experience, and theology.

From the three theological moves our forebears made that I discussed above – understanding there to be a divine spark in all beings; understanding God’s love to embrace all and refusing to separate humankind after death into different groups; and turning to the world, human experience, and other religions of the world as sources of our evolving theological perspective – our theology eventually grew to embrace a pluralism that those same forebears might not have thought imaginable. We declare that there are many paths to the sacred. We hold fast to the notion that one religion does not hold all the truth for all time, not even Unitarian Universalism. We maintain that a free, open, and respectful dialogue is one of the primary ways our theological perspectives evolve and grow.

Liberal theology’s intellectual historian Rev. Dr. Gary Dorrien explains in the third volume of his collection on American liberal theology that the striking achievement of liberal theology in the later part of the twentieth century was its expansion in diversity and enfolding of pluralism. The incorporation of theological perspectives arising from previously marginalized and silenced voices was central to the development of progressive theology. In some mainline Protestant churches, this resulted in academic theology being dramatically out of step with congregational life and practice. While this was true for a time in Unitarian Universalist congregations, the tide turned more quickly. We find evidence in the statement of purposes and principles adopted by the general assembly in the 1980s and the ongoing development into the 21st century of worship and educational efforts aimed at all ages of the lifespan that celebrate pluralism, multiculturalism, and work to counter anything that inhibits either the free and responsible search for truth and meaning or the embrace of our differences and commonalities with love, curiosity, and respect.