There were a number of other consolidations and collabrations between Unitarian and Universalist organizations which paved the way for the consolidation of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America. A few individual churches merged and some ordained ministers held...

Origen of Alexandria (c. 185-250 CE) was an early Christian theologian who articulated ideas of universal salvation in ways that led his critics to charge him with heresy centuries after his death. From all accounts, Origen was a brilliant, gifted, and prolific scholar who studied science,...

In modern, Western, Christian conception, salvation occurs only after death. In their book Saving Paradise (Beacon Press, 2008), Rita Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Ann Parker write, "Theologians speak of sacred and profane time, of salvation history and of hope. They interpret the expulsion of Adam...

Even as a young girl, Mary Ashton Rice Livermore was tortured by the idea that only some were destined for salvation. She would awaken her parents in the middle of the night begging them to pray for her sisters lest their souls be eternally lost....

From the Unitarian Universalist Association archives.

Phineas Taylor Barnum (1810-1891) — "The noblest art is that of making others happy, honesty, sobriety, industry, economy, education, good habits, perseverance, cheerfulness, love to God and good will toward men." This was the philosophy of P. T. Barnum, the greatest American showman of the 19th...

Universal salvation, or universalism, is the theological belief that, through the goodness, mercy and love of God, all people will be saved; that is, all people will be forgiven their sins and granted eternal life. The idea that all people would be saved is a very old one....

From the Unitarian Universalist Association archives.

Print each sin and virtue on an index card to make a set. Make a set for each team. Teams may not have more than seven participants. You will need to estimate how many teams you will have. Keep the sets of virtues separate from the sets of sins. Sins Lust Gluttony Greed Sloth Wrath Envy Pride...

The five readings requested below are provided on Handout 2, Defining Moments. Distribute Handout 2, Defining Moments and invite volunteers to read quotes from the handout as indicated while you present this material....

From the Unitarian Universalist Association archives.

STAR DEVIL CONSCIENCE GOD PARENT FRIEND JUROR JUROR JUROR JUROR JUROR JUROR...

Make a copy of this resource and cut it in half, the PRO section on one half and the CON section on the other half. PRO: It is 1963, in Chicago, and you are delegates to the UUA's General Assembly. You support an amendment to the UUA's Constitution and Bylaws that would require congregations to...

Unitarian In the list of men who subscribed to the 1637 covenant of community of Dedham, Massachusetts appear the names John Allin and John Hunting....

While freedom and independence were among the first concerns of those who founded the first Universalist churches and the precursors to the Unitarian churches, so, too, was association....

The notion that it is the right of every congregation to determine its own qualifications for membership is basic to congregational polity....

Definitions from Donald K. McKim, Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996). DEFINITIONS Polity (from Greek, politeia, and Latin, politia, "administration of a commonwealth), a form of church government adopted by an ecclesiastical body.

The concepts of voluntary association and freedom of belief were important in the developing Universalist faith, as they were in Unitarianism. Just as the Cambridge Platform of the Puritans was to set the stage for Unitarian societies in North American, so the early history of Universalism in...

The free church tradition of which we are a part does not offer up a creed, a certain set of beliefs, that everyone must accept in order to belong to the community. Instead, the boundaries of our community are determined by commitment and participation. Our central question is not "What do we...

The song "Hava Nagila" and the simple dance called the hora are common at traditional Jewish weddings, bar and bat mitzvah celebrations, and other festive occasions.Sing "Hava Nagila" Learn how to pronounce the Hebrew words....