We adapt to the changing world.

One of the hallmarks of liberal religion, Unitarian Universalism included, is the idea that revelation is not sealed. That is to say, our religion can and will change by the discovery or unveiling of new truths and new ways of understanding all existence and the sacred. At its core, then, our theological heritage proclaims an abiding openness to change. From our early roots in Universalist and Unitarian Christianity; through the blossoming of humanism and ongoing dialogue with scientific developments; to the re-emergence of a sense of spirituality in creative interplay with humanism, process theology, liberation theologies, and religious naturalism; to a religious pluralism that embraces traditions and practices emerging from the organic multireligiosity of Unitarian Universalists today – Unitarian Universalism has evolved in the context of a changing American and global society and in response to new insights from an ever widening circle of voices and perspectives.

In a way that mirrors the openness of our tradition as a whole to change, Universalists and Unitarians also understand every person not to be fixed in belief, capacity, or ethical orientation. Early Unitarians and Universalists moved away from the Christian catechism as the primary vehicle for religious education towards an emphasis on drawing out the capacities, insights, questions, and understandings of children and adults. This orientation to religious education continued through the 20th and 21st centuries.

In a spiral-like fashion that is never perfect and never finished, we pay attention and learn from experience; reflect on it religiously – supported by engagement in religious community; respond and act in the world; and repeat the cycle. Our religious communities at their best are places where we grow our capacities to be with experience in all its complexity and paradox, to listen deeply to one another, to allow ourselves to be seen and held in love, and to respond creatively and collectively. Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker, emerita professor of theology and former president of Starr King School for the Ministry, has asserted that the spiritual practice at the center of Unitarian Universalism is education. Transformation characterizes Unitarian Universalist religious life as we grow spiritually and ethically throughout the lifespan.