My Church Believes in Civil Rights for All — Bumper sticker produced by the Allen Avenue Unitarian Universalist Church in Portland, Maine, during a state referendum about the rights of sexual minorities IN TODAY’S SESSION… We performed a play about some UU youth meeting some bullies. We talked...

If, recognizing the interdependence of all life, we strive to build community, the strength we gather will be our salvation... If we join spirits as brothers and sisters, the pain of our aloneness will be lessened, and that does matter. — Marjorie Bowens-Wheatley In the opening to our workshop we...

Heaven and hell suppose two distinct species of men, the good and the bad. But the greatest part of mankind float betwixt vice and virtue. — David Hume IN TODAY’S SESSION…We had a competition to see which groups could come up with the most virtue and sin words. We heard the story of “Amazing...

To different minds, the same world is a hell, and a heaven. — Ralph Waldo Emerson IN TODAY'S SESSION... We made up a group story about an awful day. We talked about whether we could have a day with just good acts and no wrongdoing—or the reverse. We tried to imagine what pure virtue and pure sin...

Universalists are often asked to tell where they stand. The only true answer to give to this question is that we do not stand at all, we move. — L. B. Fisher, A Brief History of the Universalist Church for Young People (1904) The doctrine of universal salvation rests on a theology of a supreme...

The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day.

Mindful of truth ever exceeding our knowledge and community ever exceeding our practice, reverently we covenant together, beginning with ourselves as we are... — Walter Royal Jones, Jr., chair of the commission that drafted the 1985 revision of the Unitarian Universalist Principles and Purposes...

I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see. — John Newton IN TODAY'S SESSION... This was the first session of Amazing Grace: Exploring Right and Wrong. Our story was "Adam and Eve," from the Hebrew scripture. We made our own Garden of Eden from pipe cleaners and talked about how...

As connected as we are—to friends, to family, to each other—we often feel ultimately on our own as we make our way through life, and that can be a frightening prospect. We can overcome this fear only by reaching out to one another, and in our shared courage, we will learn. — Phoebe Eng, Asian...

For I say—whether you ever heard, directly, of this little event in Dedham or not—to understand in any depth our liberal free church tradition, or to make much sense of deeply rooted everyday realities of Unitarian Universalist churches now, today, you must understand in your bones the...

We need not think alike to love alike. — Francis David The Unitarian Universalist faith is sometimes captured in three words: freedom, reason, and tolerance--that is, freedom to search for truth and meaning; use of reason in all matters, including religion; and tolerance of the inevitable...

Let all who live in freedom, won by the sacrifice of others, be untiring in the task begun, till everyone on earth is free. — James Reeb, Unitarian Universalist minister, who was killed in Alabama, March 11, 1965 Of martyrs, Susan Bergman has written: ......

Religious reform can never be all at once, but gradually, step by step. If they offer something better, I will gladly learn. — Francis David Consider the types of reform you have discussed in this workshop—the reformation of ideas, the reformation of ways of doing things, the reformation of...

Where our treasure is, there our heart be also. And where our heart is there will be our reason and our premises. — James Luther Adams Writing in their 2005 publication, Engaging Our Theological Diversity, the UUA's Commission on Appraisal reported on the response to a statement in their theology...

He drew a circle that shut me out — Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle that took him in. — Edwin Markham, American poet (1852-1940) Reflect on these questions for your journal: Whom do I include or exclude from my community? Why? Could that...

Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going? — Paul Gauguin Consider where your personal Unitarian Universalist identity comes from. What has it made of you? How does it lead you into the future? Write your reflections in your journal or engage friends and family members in...

Question everything! — Maria Mitchell (1818-1889), Unitarian, astronomer IN TODAY'S SESSION... The magnifying glass symbolizes questioning and looking deeper. The children learned about questioning because Unitarian Universalism considers each person's path of questioning and search for truth to...