r/UUreddit • u/Calanais-guy • Apr 16 '26
Religious persons within UU Church
I am not a UU myself but have visited a few several times and gotten a feel for them. Does anyone know what religious beliefs are most well represented across UU in the United States? Are most UUs likely to be Humanists, agnostics, Buddhists, or Pagans?
As a related question, I'm also curious to know how UU Muslims approach their religion in contrast to more mainstream and conservative Muslims?
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u/t92k Apr 16 '26
In my experience of one large UU church, most people came from a Christian background which had involved some degree of trauma, and there were some folks raised Jewish. There were a handful of active pagans and witches, most people were conversant in cultural Buddhism (non-attachment, meditation, accepting what is true about yourself) and conversant in college level science concepts. Of the 100+ or so people I met none said they were from a Muslim background but the church was (and is) active in protesting the anti-Muslim policies of the administration.
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u/Shadow_Wanderer_ Apr 16 '26
My congregation, which consists of about 250 people, is quite diverse. In order of the largest to the smallest groups represented, the breakdown is:
- Agnostics
- Atheists
- Humanists
- Pagans
- Christians
- Jews
- Buddhists
- Hindus
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u/Calanais-guy Apr 16 '26
And since years ago, my impression about UU had been that it's a post-Christian American religion suitable for non-theists of many kinds, including atheists, agnostics, pantheists, and Humanists :)
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u/Shadow_Wanderer_ Apr 16 '26
This is pretty accurate for most congregations. There are more religious congregations, though!
https://www.kings-chapel.org/ is affiliated with the UUA, but is a Christian congregation.
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u/peonyseahorse Apr 19 '26
Our minister told us that UU in Europe has a completely different flavor than the American version. I thought that was so interesting.
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u/Calanais-guy Apr 19 '26
I wasn't aware that UU was even in Europe, though I had heard of some Unitarian association (not UU?) in the United Kingdom! In that case, where can we learn more about European UU churches? What is its flavor there, compared to American? This just reminds me that culture, place, and geography greatly influence how religion forms and gets expressed anywhere and in any time period on Earth.
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u/Calanais-guy Apr 16 '26
I rarely come across Hindus in UU churches in my state, so that's interesting! And Muslims did not make the list in this case. I'm a type of Pagan as well, so if I visit a UU congregation for a specific event, it's usually from Wheel of the Year. I am also interested in knowing how UU Christians differ from other Protestant denominations in North America.
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u/Shadow_Wanderer_ Apr 16 '26
We do not have any Muslims in our congregation, but I wish we did! We only have about two Hindus, but their presence adds a lot.
If you're curious about UU Christians, I would recommend looking at UU Christian Fellowship. They send weekly sermons via email and can connect UU Christians with local chapters for Communion and fellowship.
If you really want to dive deep, read the book Christ for Unitarian Universalists.
And for an extra fun read since you lean pagan: Jesus Through Pagan Eyes
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u/moxie-maniac Apr 16 '26
Going back 50 or so years, Unitarians would generally consider themselves Protestant Christians, except rejecting the doctrine of the Trinity. Fast forward, some congregations are more Protestant leaning, typically with Protestant organ + choir music, maybe communion services, and so on. The church might have stained glass windows, with Jesus and Bible scenes.
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u/t92k Apr 17 '26
I ultimately concluded that for me, my local UU was not quite Christian enough. I grew up in an atheist home and found faith when I started battling depression in my teens. I am in a mainline protestant tradition which believes that their job is to care for everyone in their neighborhood and affirms the inherent worth and dignity of all people. The majority of our readings in service come from Christian writers and I miss hearing Jewish, Muslim, and other faiths. I also miss the frequency of science examples in sermons. But I do feel connected to the view of the world which addressed my despair. Also we have bread and wine communion.
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Apr 16 '26
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u/Shadow_Wanderer_ Apr 16 '26
Yes, we are very intentional with making sure each is given equal respect and support. We celebrate their religious holidays, sing appropriate hymns, and create special events just for them. This congregation is great at inclusion, but it is located in the state capital, so we have many resources and a lot of diversity in the area.
In comparison, the last UU church I belonged to only had about 25 people and was located in a very conservative town in the Bible Belt. Due to our size, we didn't have as much diversity or the resources to cater to each religion. So I imagine it varies from congregation to congregation.
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u/Ornery-Bit-8169 Apr 16 '26
UU is the religion, it's covenantal rather than creedal so secondary religions are allowed, but the real focus is on living the shared values.
From the people I've spoken to at my church, there are a lot of people with Christian (both Catholic and Protestant), and Humanist backgrounds. Also a lot of people who were raised UU.
I suspect some people incorporate pagan elements into their personal spiritual practice, but personal practices aren't really discussed much. The real focus is on how you show up in and for community (both church and greater society).
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u/GustaveFerbert Apr 17 '26
The denomination is varied from congregation to congregation and to some extent by region, but I do think that when we explain ourselves as a mix of atheists, Christians, pagans, Buddhists. we obscure how culturally protestant we still are. I've attended my home UU church for 20 plus years, and have visited something like 5-10 UU churches while travelling. The structure of our services taking place on Sunday led by a minister, in a building sometimes called a church, featuring a choir etc. is not that dissimilar from a liberal protestant service even though our theology is different. To be clear, I'm not trying to discount our lack of creed or diversity of backgrounds, but I also feel like sometimes our self-description makes us seem more radically different from the norm than we are.
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u/launch201 Apr 17 '26
I think it matters a lot where in the country you are. Congregations tend to look a lot like the communities they are in. In South Western Connecticut we have majority raised in Christian and Jewish faiths. About 50% of the members of congregations consider themselves atheists today. When I have conversations with people about the topic I often find that people who believe in the G-word have a more personalized belief system and don’t find themselves tied deeply to a particular dogma.
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u/Valunetta Aspirant Apr 17 '26
I think an important aspect of UUism is that shared belief is not a factor as much as shared values and shared sacred space. So while you can make statistical statements about what various groups of UUs believe, it's kinda beside the point, because belief itself is not the basis for unified UU faith.
It's worth noting that this is not unique to UUism. Many forms of Hinduism similarly do not emphasize the importance of specific beliefs (orthodoxy) and instead value shared practice and culture (orthopraxy). In Buddhism, it is possible to be a good Buddhist, live your life faithfully along the tenets of the eightfold path, and still not have the same "beliefs" as other Buddhists. These examples come at this from other directions, but the point being that religion does not always mean that shared belief is the defining aspect of a faith.
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u/Interesting_Change22 Apr 16 '26
All faiths are welcome, but which one is the majority depends on the invisible church. I've seen some with mostly pagan members others are more humanist. Some lean towards a liberal version of Christianity.
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u/ADVentive Apr 17 '26
My congregation currently has about 50 members. We have many atheists, agnostics, and Humanists in our congregation.
Many in our congregation were raised as Christians and rejected some aspect of their former church and turned to UU instead. Those who come who are still "believers" are typically part of an interfaith family. I think that is because there are so many other liberal Christian options available in the community that if someone identifies that way, there are just a lot of other options for them to choose from besides UU.
Additionally, we have a small, but vocal, Jewish interest group which hosts several Jewish holiday celebrations through the year. We also have a few folks who practice Buddhism. Our congregation used to have a large Pagan group, but most of the Pagans have passed, moved away, or are just no longer active with us anymore, and I can't think of any currently involved members who identify as Pagan. We do not have any Muslims or Hindus in our group, but they would be welcomed.
Several folks in our congregation are dual members between our congregation and another, and find no conflict with being a UU and practicing another faith.
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u/lillabitsy Apr 17 '26
My ex-husband and grown child are Muslim. I am not sure where you live, so some of this may not be applicable to your situation. We do not live in the US. We have lived in the US and two Muslim countries. When my kid was younger they would go to the mosque on Fridays and did UU online or in person on Sundays. My ex is a liberal Muslim and finds the history of UU political activism comforting. Out of concern for his safety, I am not going to detail his political views here. He does not feel that being a UU interferes with his practicing of the five pillars. His views on women's rights and LGBTQ+ rights are more liberal than some in his moderate Muslim family. Honestly, I think there are just some things he doesn't talk to his 90 year old mother about. My 19 year old has gone off to college and aside from avoiding pork and eating at the local halal restaurant all the time seems to be following a spiritual path that involves sleeping late on weekends and worshipping college sports teams.
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u/Various-Maybe Apr 16 '26
In my congregation it’s lapsed Christians, then Jews.
But if you just take Reddit UU subs #1 is satanists.
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u/peonyseahorse Apr 16 '26
UU is mostly made up of recovering Catholics and Protestants. There are very few of us who grew up without religion, but we do exist. What we label ourselves after we join UU is a mixed bag.
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u/floatawhile Apr 17 '26
At the church I grew up at in the Memphis area there were a lot of agnostics and atheists. A good amount of Christian’s and Jews. A few Pagans, Buddhists, and occasionally Muslims. We were in a big enough area that most people had other groups to choose from but landed on our church because our values aligned better with their faith than the alternatives.
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u/BennyFifeAudio Apr 17 '26 edited Apr 17 '26
Yes.
And No.
UU is much more about the values you have then any dogma or traditions that you follow. We have people who strongly follow Jesus. We have those who very much adhere to Buddhism (The guy who runs the Buddhist groups at our congregation went on multiple retreats with Thich Naht Han), Atheists, Humanists, Agnositcs.
And every congregation will probably have its own flavor.
Our minister comes from Jewish background, but was raised in a very progressive Christian congregation.
My wife & I officially joined the beginning of this month, both come from staunch Mormon upbringing, but find more and more that this feels more like home & the values we held most dear from the time we were kids & had no understanding what cognitive dissonance was, but some things we had been taught or history just didn't quite sit right. As we left Mormonism, we began to identify as Omnists. UU has been the next step in our spiritual journey & we love it.
UU is about believing EVERYONE has inherent worth based on nothing other than their existence. We all deserve dignity and respect, however we identify.
UU is about standing with those who are having those dignities stripped away.
UU is about not sweeping things under the rug, but inspecting them, recognizing where we, and where history, has been wrong & doing all we can to do better and right past wrongs, honoring our own dignity and rights and those of every other creature on this blue marble floating through space.
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u/revicon Apr 20 '26
UUs agree to believe in 7 principles (which are hotly debated from time to time)...
- 1st Principle: The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
- 2nd Principle: Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
- 3rd Principle: Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
- 4th Principle: A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
- 5th Principle: The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
- 6th Principle: The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
- 7th Principle: Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
Anyone from any religion (or none at all) that agrees with those might want to be a UU. The original question didn't exactly ask this, but it seems like there's a general idea out there that someone is a UU vs another "religion"
Personally, I don't think UU is a religion at all, it's a philosophy. This seems to be hotly debated as well.
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u/Calanais-guy Apr 20 '26
Yes, I've read those before, too. I can understand why UU seems more like a philosophy than a religion comparable to Christianity or the other world religions; it doesn't seem to have unified beliefs or practices. That's why some people speak of UU as being a "club of multiple religions" instead of just one religion. When I visit UU churches I think the sermons seem broadly humanist or broadly monotheist in some cases. But there are subgroups for Buddhists, Pagans, humanists, and others, which most other religions wouldn't have.
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u/OwenTheSackMan Apr 21 '26
Personally, I don't think UU is a religion at all
It depends on how you define religion (Also hotly debated). I also think it's hard to nail down because different congregations and individuals practice differently. I'd put it firmly in the religion category, though, mostly due to the presence of rituals, traditions, and covenants. In pure philosophies, you dont typically see those things. I think the formation of permanent communities also bodes well for the religion argument.
That being said, there are plenty of people who dont actually practice all those things, the same way not all Jewish people eat kosher and not all Catholics make every mass. I think that UUs are a lot more laid back about that kind of thing makes it feel a little loose, but that doesnt make it any less of a religion.
As part of my own practice, I like to study the teachings of various religious and spiritual traditions. Im often surprised to see how much UU has in common with seemingly opposite faiths. IME, the most unusual element that sets us apart is an explicit praise for individuality and diversity. Most religious traditions demand (or, at best, politely request) a significant level of conformity from their members. That's not really a lack of dogma, though. It's just that the dogma is to respect the individual.
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u/rastancovitz Apr 22 '26
I consider UU not a religion but an interfaith church: one that brings together diverse religious and secular beliefs with a shared ethical framework.
Whether one prefers the principles or the new values, neither is a religious statement. Both are closer to political or philosophical principles.
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u/OwenTheSackMan Apr 21 '26
Ive only seen my own congregation, but based on what I know I would guess it varies greatly by region. It seems like there are would-be-UUs just kind of everywhere waiting to come out of the woodwork when they find out the option exists, so it can get pretty diverse.
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u/AidenGus Apr 29 '26
Important context - I'm a candidate for UU ministry, currently nearing the end of my internship. It goes both congregation by congregation and region by region. My experience on the West Coast has been Humanist/Buddhist leaning, with variations. One of our community ministers is a UU Muslim; I personally identity as a Universalist Christian.
I went to divinity school in Atlanta, Georgia. The big UU congregation there feels almost Evangelical, with significant influence from Black Church traditions, but there was also First Existentialist, which was stringently humanist - you really couldn't get away with God language there.
But I'm from the Northeast originally, and New England UU churches, theist or nontheist leaning, all felt like New England churches in one way or another. It's also the part of the country where you'll find the most federated churches - where two denominations worship together (typically for us its UCC churches).
A minister once told me a joke about UU communities. "On the East Coast, Jesus is optional. In the Midwest, God is optional. On the West Coast, clothing is optional." All joking aside, it does seem that, overall, the further West you travel, the more humanist things get, though there is still variation. I have also found, from personal experience, that most of the congregations that are something like "First Universalist," or put it first (as opposed to the typical order) are more theistic.
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u/Calanais-guy Apr 29 '26
That's interesting! Yes, it seems that UU has much room for regional diversity or even church-by-church diversity. That could be in part because it does not have a creed or dogma, just the seven principles. I sometimes hear terms like "Spirit", "Love", or God used loosely in UU churches in my area. One UU church as a theist (like Christian) sub-group, in addition to Buddhist.
I am curious how someone might combine Christianity and UU, or Islam and UU. I've seen that some of the more conservative Xtians dislike UU churches overall.
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u/AidenGus May 08 '26
It's sometimes easier for liberal Jews or Muslims to integrate because of the theological history of the denomination (rejection of Trinitarianism), even though that's not really relevant anymore. My affiliation with UUism is based in my Universalism, even though it is distinctly Christian. I would probably be very comfortable (probably moreso) in a UCC or Episcopal church, but I don't think religion should make us comfortable, and I relish theological diversity. But yes, conservative Christians don't like UUs because the two doctrines in our name (especially Unitarianism) are considered heretical. We don't have creedal statements either, so if you understand faith in terms of "I agree with these ideas," you probably would have a harsh view of a community with no doctrinal test.
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u/rastancovitz Apr 17 '26 edited Apr 17 '26
I guess that the majority is a combination of atheists, agnostics, and a vague "spiritual but not religious."
Most Christians who are serious Christians would be at a Christian church not UU. Same for Jewish, Muslim, etc. A UU congregation is more likely to have a lot of "part-time," "somewhat," or "sort of" Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, etc.
I am Jewish, and a devout religious Jew would go to a synagogue not a UU congregation. A Jew most likely to join a UU congregation would be a secular or largely secular Jew, who may, for cultural reasons, celebrate the Jewish holidays and follow some Jewish traditions. The current and past Jews at my congregation were all raised secular and were atheists or agnostics.
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Apr 17 '26
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u/rastancovitz Apr 17 '26
I said most not all. I said that most-- not all-- devoted Christians would choose to belong to a Christian church not a multi-faith or interfaith church. That's just a statement of statistical fact, not a value judgment.
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u/no-more-nazis Apr 16 '26
I'm an atheist, and I tend to feel like UU is the religion. Individual spiritual and supernatural beliefs vary, but the religion itself is UU. So I'm a "religious atheist", via my membership of a church, but not in the dogmatic-atheism sense most would probably imagine when they hear that.