uuworld.org: liberal religion and life

Recent Stories

E.E. Cummings’s ‘firstness’
Cummings proclaimed the primacy of individual experience.
By Kris Willcox 4.6.15

James Lord Pierpont and the mystery of 'Jingle Bells'
The debate over where the Unitarian wrote the holiday favorite rages on.
By Kris Willcox 12.15.14

Josiah Wedgwood: Beyond the table
The 'father of English potters' was also a Unitarian and an anti-slavery advocate.
By Sonja L. Cohen 10.27.14

Go on a Unitarian Universalist pilgrimage
We may not have shrines, but Unitarian Universalists visit the scenes of our tradition's great stories.
By Christopher L. Walton 5.5.14

Unitarian Charles Follen and the Christmas tree
A champion of religious freedom and the abolition of slavery is best known for Christmas trees.
By Kris Willcox 12.23.13

Time capsule unearthed from 25 Beacon St. cornerstone
Engraved copper box will be unsealed at farewell celebration in February.
By Michelle Bates Deakin 12.16.13

Olympia Brown: pioneering minister, women's suffragist
Ordained in 1863, Brown was the first woman ordained with full denominational authority in America.
By Laurie Carter Noble 6.17.13

Laura Matilda Towne: A quiet revolutionary
Laura Matilda Towne devoted her life to a school for former slaves.
By Annette S. Marquis and Nan White 5.13.13

UU-UNO marks fifty years at the United Nations
Unitarian Universalist voice for human rights at the UN since 1962.
By Allison Bennett 11.5.12

Beloved quotes produced by the UU rumor mill
Francis Dávid didn't say, 'We need not think alike to love alike.'
By Peter Hughes 9.17.12

Cynthia Grant Tucker rescues women's voices from archives
'I wanted to give a voice to all of this experience that has generally been disregarded.'
By Kimberly French 4.16.12

The empowerment tragedy
Unitarian Universalists remain unreconciled over the 'black empowerment' controversy.
By Mark Morrison-Reed 1.16.12

Forty years of UU sexuality education
Our congregations are recognized leaders in comprehensive sex ed, grounded in UU values.
By Sarah Gibb Millspaugh 1.2.12

Robert Gould Shaw and his regiment of 'hope and glory'
25-year-old Unitarian led the first regiment of free blacks in the Union Army.
By Polly Peterson 11.7.11

Henry Bergh: 'The great meddler'
The Unitarian who founded societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals and children.
By John Gibb Millspaugh 8.1.11

Nordic strands of our living tradition
The story of Icelandic, Norwegian, and Finnish Unitarians in North America.
By Stefan M. Jonasson 2.21.11

Unitarian values underscore Elizabeth Gaskell's novels
Victorian novelist wrote about social issues, role of women.
By Kimberly French 12.6.10

Theodore Parker, radical theologian
2010 is the bicentennial of the most influential Unitarian minister who ever lived.
By Dean Grodzins 8.30.10

James Freeman Clarke transformed congregational life
The bicentennial legacy of James Freeman Clarke.
By Sonja L. Cohen 7.5.10

Unitarian inspired popular nursery rhyme
In her childhood, Mary Elizabeth Sawyer Tyler had a little lamb.
By Sonja L. Cohen 5.10.10

Unitarians worked to 'save' Ute Indians
In the 1870s, the American Unitarian Association oversaw a Ute reservation in Colorado.
By Sonja L. Cohen 2.1.10

Fifty years after the vote to form the UUA
The Unitarian and Universalist consolidation process continues to this day.
By Kimberly French 9.28.09

John Murray's conversion to Universalism
How an 18th-century Calvinist was converted to Universalism.
By Kimberly French 6.29.09

Peace Network rallied UUs against nukes
We didn't have to declare ourselves a traditional peace church to be strong advocates for peace and nuclear disarmament.
By Stephen M. Shick 5.11.09

Adlai Stevenson, the original egghead
The last Unitarian nominated for president of the United States.
By Kimberly French 11.3.08

Ethical Culture's humanist legacy
An Ethical Culture Society joins the Unitarian Universalist Association.
By Kimberly French 8.18.08

Our congregationalist heritage
Unitarian Universalists have held fast to one aspect of their Puritan roots: congregational polity.
By Alice Blair Wesley 5.12.08

Adapting to children's needs for 200 years
How Unitarian and Universalist religious education evolved over two centuries.
By Kimberly French 3.10.08

'Twilight Zone' writer challenged prejudice
Rod Serling, a Unitarian, confronted prejudice with innovative television scripts.
By Kimberly French 11.12.07

Quillen Shinn, Universalist circuit rider
Our Universalist forebears ranged far and wide.
By Kimberly French 10.15.07

Thirty years of feminist transformation
The 1977 Women and Religion resolution transformed the Unitarian Universalist Association.
By Kimberly French 6.25.07

America's first cemetery, Unitarian-style
Boston's 175-year-old Mount Auburn Cemetery reflects Unitarian views of death.
By Kimberly French 5.28.07

Pilgrims' 400-year legacy
Unitarian Universalists celebrate the Pilgrims' historic covenant.
By Kimberly French 11.20.06

Lewis Latimer, African American inventor and Unitarian
Son of slaves invented key elements of lightbulb.
By Kimberly French 10.30.06

St. Louis, first Unitarian outpost in the West
First Unitarian church west of the Mississippi River formed in 1835.
By Suzanne Meyer 6.19.06

UU Service Committee led on Central American human rights
Fifteen years of advocacy in El Salvador.
By Richard Scobie 3.20.06

Ebenezer Scrooge's conversion
Charles Dickens's Unitarian 'Christmas Carol.'
By Michael Timko 12.19.05

Tombaugh discovered Pluto, co-founded church
At 24, Clyde Tombaugh discovered the elusive ninth planet.
By Kimberly French 10.3.05

Hosea Ballou's Universalist manifesto
The pioneering theologian Hosea Ballou challenged the doctrine of damnation.
By Charles Howe 7.4.05

William Ellery Channing's public faith
'I thank God that my own lot is bound up with that of the human race.'
By Jack Mendelsohn 3.1.05

Ephraim Nute, free-state minister
New England Unitarians and other abolitionists helped found Lawrence, Kansas.
By Michael O'Brien 9.1.04

Clarence Bertrand Thompson: Famous consultant, forgotten minister
A Unitarian minister who became a management expert and a biochemist.
By John Buehrens 1.1.04

Liberal Religious Youth merged fifty years ago
Universalist and Unitarian youth organizations merged eight years before their denominations did.
By Deborah J. Pope-Lance 11.1.03

Adin Ballou's influential utopianism
The Universalist-Unitarian who influenced Tolstoy, Gandhi, and King.
By Christopher L. Walton 7.1.03

Sophia Lyon Fahs, revolutionary educator
Starting in 1937, Fahs helped lead a Unitarian religious education revival.
By Christopher L. Walton 3.1.03

It came upon a Unitarian midnight clear
Edmund Hamilton Sears's beloved carol longs for peace.
By Ken Sawyer 12.23.02

A. Powell Davies, preacher to the nation
Unitarian minister was 'in the forefront of every assault upon intolerance and racial discrimination and injustice.'
By Warren R. Ross 7.1.02

Unitarian and Universalist roots of the American Red Cross
Two volunteer organizations led by Unitarians and Universalists set a foundation for the American Red Cross.
By Christopher L. Walton 1.1.02

UUA supported publication of Pentagon Papers
Beacon Press and the Pentagon Papers.
By Warren R. Ross 9.3.01

Wartime origins of the flaming chalice
The flaming chalice was first used by the Unitarian Service Committee.
By Dan Hotchkiss 5.1.01

UU publishing roots grow deep
UU World magazine descends from periodicals going back to 1819.
By John Hurley 9.1.00