Unitarianism

There are Unitarian and Unitarian Universalist groups in at least twenty-five countries on six continents. Some are relatively large and long-established, others are very small and very new.
Most are members – along with Britain’s General Assembly – of the International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU), which was established in 1995. Each member group is independent, with its own history and traditions, and they vary considerably both in theological emphasis and cultural setting. All are committed to a liberal approach to faith.
The largest is the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, in the USA. This is also the most pluralistic theologically. Second largest is the Unitarian Church of Transylvania (in Romania), which is wholly Christian in its Unitarian faith.
The ICUU fosters understanding and closer relations between its member groups, organizing activities and events for this purpose. These range from courses for strengthening leadership in small and newly-emerging groups around the world, to theological conferences and symposia – the proceedings of which are published.
To be a part of a congregation in any one country is also to be a part of the global fellowship fostered by the ICUU.

On pacifism, as on all issues of personal conscience, each Unitarian is free to come to his or her own conclusions without fear of judgement or censure. So although there are many Unitarian pacifists, there is no explicit requirement or implicit expectation on the matter. Unitarians live with diversity and its potential tensions – on this subject as on many others. A Unitarian congregation may include both pacifists and members of the armed forces.
But whether pacifist or not, Unitarians affirm the values of peace, justice, forgiveness and reconciliation. Some call these divine values. They are held to be necessary for the wholeness and happiness of any human community, from the family to the nation and the world.
On the subject of war, Unitarians agree that it is wrong. Some say that this rules out the use of force entirely, that it can never be justified in any situation. For others, though, there are – sadly, tragically – situations in which the use of proportionate force is necessary in order to prevent or defeat a greater evil, particularly to defend the innocent and the weak in immediate peril.
Unitarians generally agree, however, that we must find better ways than war and violence to resolve conflicts and disputes. We agree that nations and individuals should regard the renunciation of violence as a moral imperative.
But many Unitarians also believe that, in the world as it is, circumstances sometimes necessitate actions for the sake of others that fall short of these ideals. It gives them no satisfaction to do so.

The short answer is “yes”, but short answers can be inadequate. It is necessary to stress that Unitarians differ from mainstream Christian doctrine on this.
Unitarians believe that human beings are essentially pure and innocent when they are born into the world. That is to say, Unitarians believe that a newborn child is free from any burden of inherited guilt or “original sin”. No Unitarian would say that Christian baptism is necessary in order to save the soul from purgatory, hell or damnation.
Because of such unfortunate associations, many Unitarians do not use the word “baptism” at all. Unitarian infant or child baptism is actually a ceremony of thanksgiving and celebration for a new life.
It is also a time when the parents, godparents, families, and friends dedicate themselves to the child’s nurture and upbringing. The ceremony also welcomes the child into the religious fellowship, the “Universal Church”, and the wider community of humanity and of life on earth. It does not have to take a Christian form.
Adult baptism is unusual among Unitarians. It takes place when an individual wishes to make public witness of her or his commitment to Christian discipleship and the way of Jesus.
With adult baptism, as with the welcoming and dedication of a child, Unitarians plan the ceremony with maximum input from those most centrally involved. In this way every effort is made to ensure that it is a true and honest reflection of what they believe.

Some congregations celebrate Christian communion several times a year. This is a simple memorial act, associating those present with Jesus and all who have followed him. It may also look beyond the Christian tradition to embrace all people of goodwill, whatever their faith. Unitarians also celebrate other forms of communion, notably the Flower Communion. Devised by Czech Unitarian minister Norbert Capek in the 1920s, this is a celebration of unity in diversity, both within the congregation and in the wider world.
The various forms of Unitarian communion, traditional and otherwise, are concerned with the celebration of connectedness, sharing and commun-ity. They express in a simple and informal ritual the links we have with each other in the present and with those in the past in whose footsteps we follow. They may also express our membership of the wider humanity and the whole matrix of life on earth.
All forms of Unitarian communion are open unconditionally to anyone who wishes to participate in the spirit of goodwill.

A trained and educated professional ministry has always been an integral component of the Unitarian movement, and this remains the case.
In the Unitarian context, the minister is not a member of a distinct priesthood. There is nothing a minister does that, in principle, a lay person may not do. A minister is simply a person who has been prepared and appointed to fulfil a role that others may not have the time, the inclination, or the skills to fulfil themselves. A minister is a leader of worship, a pastor, an educator, a counsellor, a facilitator, and perhaps the representative of the faith community in the wider society.
Appointment of a minister is in the hands of the congregation, not the denomination, although the denomination keeps a roll of ministers as a way of maintaining personal and professional standards.
The Unitarian ministry is open equally to women and to men, and has been since the early 20th century. It is open to homosexual and to heterosexual people – with no prejudicial conditions imposed on either.
The Unitarian movement also has lay people fulfilling a ministerial role in a proportion of its congregations. Such recognised lay leaders must undergo appropriate training. Sometimes lay leadership is a preliminary step towards gaining full ministerial status.
Both ministers and lay leaders receive training and theological education at colleges, situated in Manchester and Oxford, and there is also provision for Welsh-speakers to prepare for the ministry in Aberystwyth.

Unitarians have always had a somewhat ambivalent relationship with what are called “mainstream” Christian churches. The ambivalence can come from both sides. Both historical theological differences and recent trends influence the relationship.
However, Unitarians have generally sought as close and constructive a relationship with other denominations as both are comfortable with. In the nineteenth century a leading Unitarian* proposed, in vain, the formation of a “Federal Union of Churches”. Unitarians were also active in the foundation of the British Council of Churches. We have so far been excluded from the BCC’s successor, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.
In local situations, Unitarians have often been closely involved with ecumenical activities. Sometimes, though, we have been excluded here too, and sometimes we have not wished to be involved.
Unitarians have no desire to indulge in theological disputes with the Christian mainstream. We are content to respect the faith and beliefs found in other churches, even if we do not share them.
However, Unitarians and mainstream Christians have a great deal in common too, both historically and spiritually. This is particularly so when it comes to putting shared values into practice. In all sorts of areas concerned with social responsibility, pastoral care, global justice, environmental issues, and human welfare, Unitarians can and do find common cause with mainstream Christians.

[*’Life and Letters of James Martineau’, James Drummond & C.B .Upton, 1902.]

The majority of Unitarians would say that worshipping together is at the heart of all that we do. Most Unitarian communities gather in their churches, meeting houses, chapels or other premises on Sundays to worship. In worship we affirm the faith and the values that we share, while being respectful of our differences.
Unitarian worship seeks to engage the whole person as well as the whole community in what goes on. Thus while the spirit and the soul are addressed, so too is the mind – the faculties of thought and reason. Even the body is included – singing is, after all, a physical activity! Sometimes the body is involved in other ways too, in movement and dance, but this is much less common.
The form that Unitarian worship takes varies considerably. There is an increasing wish to explore new forms. It is still the case, though, that most Unitarian services take a form closely akin to the hymns / prayers / readings / address long familiar in Nonconformist churches. But while the form may be similar, the content is usually rather different, often markedly so.
The service will usually include hymns or songs. Some may be familiar from mainstream Christian-ity, but Unitarians have a rich and living tradition of hymn-writing.
Prayer, very often of a more contemplative and meditational type, is a regular component. Both in words and in silence Unitarians focus themselves on the divine, both immanent and transcendent. Prayer and reflection also enables the worshipper to “centre down”, to draw on interior sources of inspiration and resolve.
A selection of readings is a usual feature. These may well include the Bible, but by no means always or exclusively so. Unitarian openness to many sources of insight means that readings can come from any source deemed relevant and appropriate. Thus poetry, the scriptures of other faiths, secular writings, and all manner of devotional materials may be drawn on.
There will often, but by no means always, be a sermon or address. In the Unitarian context this is a personal statement of witness by the preacher. It is offered to the listeners to use as they think appropriate. There is no suggestion that the preacher’s views must be accepted. A good sermon is a sustained and intelligent discourse that reflects spiritually on an issue of either current or timeless concern.
A childrens story is often told to the whole group.
A sharing of personal news may feature.
Music is a valued component of many services.
Unitarian worship often begins with a “chalice-lighting”, the “Flaming Chalice” being the recognised symbol of the Unitarian faith.

The basic unit of the Unitarian movement is the autonomous local congregation. It may be called a church, a fellowship, a chapel, or a meeting. There are about 180 of these in Britain. They vary in size, but membership is usually in the tens rather than the hundreds. Some have their own buildings, while others hire space for their activities or meet in private homes. Distribution across the country is very uneven. These congregations associate together for the purposes of mutual support and shared endeavour. Thus at both the regional (district association) and national levels they comprise an interdependent federation or denomination. The structure is democratic at every level.
The national organisation is called the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches. This has departments and committees dealing with such things as ministry, religious education, youth, social responsibility, worship, information, development, interfaith matters, and finance. There is a department dealing with Welsh affairs: a high proportion of the twenty-two congregations in Wales use the Welsh language.
The General Assembly also owns and administers the Nightingale Centre, a conference, retreat, and holiday centre in the heart of the Peak District National Park at Great Hucklow in Derbyshire.
Unitarians who are unable to reach a church or fellowship are catered for by the National Unitarian Fellowship with postal/internet contact and some regional meetings.
Within the Unitarian movement there are a number of organisations catering for specific con-stituencies and interests. These include women’s groups and young adult groups, societies interested in Unitarian history, church music, and psychical studies, and open fellowships concerned with peace issues and with meditation.
The General Assembly has a close association with the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland. This shares the same freedom from imposed creeds and dogmas but is overwhelmingly liberal Christian in theology. As a denomination, it does not identify itself as Unitarian, although it includes people who do.

Within the Unitarian historical tradition there have been many strands. These include deeply devotional Christian and Theistic forms, as well as a strong belief in the necessity of reason.
Religious humanism has also played its part, by locating the focus of spiritual concern wholly in our life in this world rather than in realms or beings deemed supernatural.
Another long-standing, and now resurgent theme, is that of nature or the creation as replete with spiritual significance.
In a sense, there has always been something of a shifting balance between two tendencies. On the one hand, there is the rational, scientific and discursive. On the other, there is the intuitive, the emotional and – in its true sense – the mystical. While there may not be a single Unitarian spirituality, it could be said that the spectrum of Unitarian spirituality covers this range.
Unitarians would not see the poles of this spectrum as in opposition. We see a healthy spirituality as one that holds in balance the intuitive and the rational. Active respect for both the mind and the deepest emotions is necessary for wholeness of spirit.
This respect for all the aspects of one’s own being extends also to other people. A willingness to recognise the spiritual core of another person’s faith in this profound and balanced way liberates us from the tendency to be distracted by the particular forms, concepts, and words in which they express it.

Wherever possible a Unitarian ceremony to mark someone’s death – and to celebrate his or her life – should be true to that person and sensitive to the needs and feelings of the bereaved.
Even if the minister or celebrant did not know the deceased personally, she or he will make every effort to make the funeral service reflective of that persons qualities and beliefs. Consultation with relatives and friends is usually a part of this.
It is also an opportunity to offer pastoral care if needed and requested. Unitarians do not use the emotional vulnerability of those in mourning to “evangelise” or impose our own beliefs on them.
Respect for the deceased’s convictions is very important, and Unitarians are usually willing to provide celebrants for those who might otherwise find it hard to find one, such as humanists.
Unitarians propound no particular view on whether the dead should be buried or cremated.

The Unitarian approach to children’s Religious Education is concerned initially with encouraging a young child’s natural sense of wonder and curiosity. In this lie the roots of spiritual growth. Hearing the stories with which others have sought to make sense of a mysterious world helps them to find a language to express themselves.
Unitarians do not impose one set of answers on vulnerable minds. At every stage Unitarian RE is concerned with helping youngsters to develop beliefs that are truly their own. This involves such things as the exploration of their developing feelings and relationships. It involves learning without prejudice about their own and other people’s faith traditions. It involves consideration of the various moral, ethical and related issues that young people must face.
The aim is to provide a warm and affirming setting in which children can grow their own faith, respect themselves and others, and prepare to enter adulthood with a healthy and personal system of values.
Religious Education doesn’t end there. Unitarians believe that it should continue throughout our lives. Increasing knowledge of our own and other faith traditions is part of this. So too is gaining a better awareness of all that moulds us and our world. Unitarian adult Religious Education is, however, particularly concerned with helping people to explore, understand, and articulate their own spiritual odyssey. A supportive, non-judgemental and entirely voluntary group is the setting for this.
In such a group a high level of trust is encouraged – and pre-determined “right answers” are neither offered nor required. Adult Religious Education programmes of this kind are an important feature in the life of many Unitarian congregations.

Human beings are infinitely varied. So too are their cultures and the conditions in which these evolved. Furthermore, the universe and its mysteries – including the human psyche – cannot be entirely comprehended by our limited powers of thought and description. For these reasons Unitarians recognise the inevitability of many diverse expressions of faith.
Unitarians do not say that all religions are the same. Nor do we say that all are of equal worth. What we do say is that no honest and sincere expression of belief should be discounted out of hand. To judge another’s faith is presumptuous and dangerous. All true expressions of the religious impulse come from our encounter with the wonder and mystery of the universe. All result from the joy and pain, the highs and lows of our life-experiences in this world. Thus all have something to say and to teach.
However, between the original experiences at the root of a faith tradition and the development of its religious institutions much can happen. Interpretation, rationalisation, elaboration and corruption come into play. At every stage what happens is subject to the vagaries of human beings. This means that any claim to absolute and exclusive truth must be treated with the utmost reservation, if not suspicion.
Thus Unitarians afford respect to all sincere believers of whatever faith. We seek to learn from the witness of all spiritual traditions, but we do not do so uncritically.
Unitarians were pioneers in the area of interfaith dialogue, and founded the world’s oldest global interfaith organisation, the International Association for Religious Freedom. Unitarians are also active in many local interfaith organisations and initiatives.

The Flaming Chalice has become the generally accepted “badge” of Unitarianism over the past fifty years. It was first adopted by the American Unitarian Service Committee during the Second World War.
Since then, Unitarians throughout the world have seen it as a way to express their distinct identity as a liberal religious community.
The man who designed it was a Czech named Hans Deutsch, and his inspiration was the Czech religious reformer, Jan Hus. Hus was burned at the stake in 1415 for the “heresy” of offering the chalice of communion to the laity as well as the clergy.
Recalling this, we Unitarians offer our own “chalice of communion”, symbolising the religious community itself, to all people without condition or reservation. When and where Unitarians actually celebrate communion, the understanding becomes literal as well.
The flame atop the Unitarian chalice represents the spirit of love, truth and liberty. To this spirit the community bears witness and with it, hopefully, the community is filled. For some, at least, this recalls the “tongues of fire” of Pentecost.
The flame also has a more tragic significance. It commemorates the martyrdom, not only of Jan Hus, but of so many who died bravely in the cause of religious liberty.

Unitarians believe that freedom from prescribed creeds, dogmas and confessions of faith is necessary if people are to seek and find truth for themselves. We rate spiritual honesty above religious conformity. But without a binding creed, how can a congregation – let alone a national movement – stay together?
The Unitarian answer is that shared values and a shared religious approach are a surer basis for unity than theological propositions. Because no human being and no human institution can have a mono-poly on truth, it is safer to admit that from the outset. We are seekers and sharers, fellow pilgrims on the path, and this is how we Unitarians see ourselves. The values underpinning the Unitarian movement have to do with mutual caring and mutual respect. They involve a readiness to extend to each other a positive, involved and constructive tolerance. They are the values of a liberal religious community that honours individuality without idolising it; of a community that finds spiritual stimulation in the unique contribution of each person while feeling itself united by a bond too deep for words. They are the values of a community that is open to truth from many sources; a community of the spirit that cherishes reason and acknowledges honest doubt; a community where the only theological test is that required by ones own conscience.
Above all, perhaps, Unitarians are bound by a sense of common humanity. We believe that the world would be a better place if more people put this one factor before all the lesser and illusory things that divide us.

• People looking for an open-minded religious community where you are free to develop your own truly personal faith.
• People looking for a liberal church where you are free to voice doubts – where you are not expected to say things you don’t really believe.
• People looking for worship that engages the mind as well as the spirit and the emotions.
• People who want a universal religious approach, open to the insights of more than one faith tradition.
• People who want a spiritual foundation for their humanist values and their social and environmental concerns.
• People who want a church that engages seriously with the Christian heritage but is not bound by it.
• People in search of something to give balance and depth to their awakening spirituality.
• People in search of a welcoming and undogmatic religious community for themselves and their families – however defined.
• People who take humanity’s spiritual dimension seriously but want to move beyond fundament-alism, sectarianism, and religious intolerance.

• The Elements of Unitarianism by George Chryssides (Element, 1998)
• The Epic of Unitarianism: original writings from the history of liberal religion by David B. Parke (Skinner House Books, 2nd ed. 1985)
• For Faith and Freedom: a short history of Unitarianism in Europe by Charles A. Howe (Skinner House Books, 1997)
• Unitarian Perspectives on Contemporary Religious Thought edited by George Chryssides (Lindsey Press, 1999)

Most of these titles are available from the address below.

Unitarian Headquarters
Essex Hall
1-6 Essex Street
London WC2R 3HY

The Unitarian Information Department will be happy to deal with your enquiries or put you in touch with your nearest Unitarian congregation. They can be contacted at:
Unitarian Headquarters
Essex Hall
1-6 Essex Street
London WC2R 3HY
Tel. 0171- 240 2384
Fax 0171 240 3089
email: ga@unitarian.org.uk
web address: www.Unitarian.org.uk

The Unitarian view of religious authority contrasts with those held by many other traditions.
It is often the case that a religious organisation, whatever its size, vests spiritual authority in a holy book, a creed or confession of faith, in a hierarchical structure or priestly caste, or in some charismatic leader or authority figure. Although this authority may be seen by its own adherents as divine or a mediation of the divine, the Unitarian view is that it remains essentially human, regardless of claims made by it or for it.
Unitarians are sceptical of any claim to be in exclusive possession of religious truth. In the final analysis, all human beings have the same access to the evidence. All human beings can have a direct relationship with the ultimate, with God. All human beings can see the universe for themselves. All have the potential for an interior life of the spirit.
Although someone may develop spiritually within a particular faith tradition, such development is greatest when the believer is in active and critical dialogue with it. To be unthinkingly submissive to it, on the other hand, is fraught with dangers.
Unitarians believe that the seat of religious authority lies within oneself. This is not an arrogant claim. All people develop their own belief-system, whether they articulate it or not. All people choose what to accept or reject from the propositions on offer. The Unitarian approach is, therefore, to recognise that each person is his or her own final authority in matters of faith. Our liberal religious ethos grants full individual freedom in this regard.
However, we also see the necessity of religious community, of exposure to the beliefs, doubts, and insights of others. This provides the necessary checks and balances that prevent belief descending into self-indulgence, fantasy, and a blinkered self-centredness.
To be a Unitarian is to take responsibility for one’s own faith. It is to value the intuitions of oneself and others. It is to test one’s beliefs against reason and conscience. It is to afford others the same right to be honest with their own inner authority as one claims for oneself.

The Universalist tradition dates back at least to the 18th century. It began by preaching universal salvation as opposed to the predestined consignment to heaven or hell propounded especially by orthodox Calvinism. Universalists held that Gods love would not permit anyone to be damned eternally, and that everyone could and would be saved eventually. This Universalism evolved to a position that saw universal truth reflected in all the great faith traditions.
In Britain the few Universalist congregations that existed in the 18th and 19th centuries soon became part of the growing Unitarian movement.
In the United States, the Universalist Church and the Unitarians grew closer and closer together until, in 1961, they merged to form the Unitarian Universalist Association.
Some of the newer movements around the world have taken the double Unitarian Universalist name from the outset.
Unitarians and Universalists, while having their own historical and theological traditions, now form one integrated faith community.

Unitarians do not look to any one person as the founder of the whole faith tradition. Many people played their part in the emergence from mainstream Christianity of a liberal religious movement with a Unitarian theology. In fact, Unitarian ideas have developed independently several times in a number of places around the world.
The oldest Unitarian movement in the world with a continuous history is in Transylvania – now part of Romania. Unitarians there look to Francis David (1520-1579) as the founder of their Church.
Another early figure of great importance was Fausto Sozzini (1539-1604) (better known to history as Faustus Socinus). He was an Italian theologian who became the effective leader of the Unitarian Minor Reformed Church of Poland, also called the Polish Brethren.
In England several names are worthy of special mention. John Biddle (1615-1662), a young schoolteacher, publicly propounded a Unitarian theology during the religious and political ferment of the mid-17th century. Joseph Priestley (1733-1804), best remembered as a scientist, became the leading spokesman for the Unitarian movement of his day, which grew within the English Presbyterian and other Nonconformist denominations during the 18th century. Theophilus Lindsey (1723-1808) left the Church of England to found the first avowedly Unitarian congregation in Britain (in Essex Street, London) in 1774.
The Unitarian movement had its pioneers elsewhere in Britain too. During the 18th and early 19th centuries they included such figures as Jenkin Jones and Charles Lloyd in Wales, and William Christie and Thomas Fyshe Palmer in Scotland.
Although the social conventions of the time kept women out of leadership positions, this did not stop them from contributing to the developing life and thought of the emergent Unitarian movement. Sadly, their names were often neglected by historians. Among them, though, were the pioneer feminist Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) and the poet and educationalist Anna Laetitia Barbauld (1743-1825).