The Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC) is a liberal religious association of Unitarian, Universalist, and Unitarian Universalist congregations in Canada. It was formed on May 14, 1961, initially to be the national organization for Canadians belonging to the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) which formed a day later on May 15, 1961. Between 1961 and 2002, almost all member congregations of the CUC were also members of the UUA and most services to congregations in Canada were provided by the UUA. However, in 2002, the CUC formally became a separate entity from the UUA, although the UUA continues to provide ministerial settlement services and remains the primary source for education and theological resources. Some Canadian congregations have continued to be members of both the CUC and the UUA, while most congregations are only members of the CUC.
The International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU) was an umbrella organization founded in 1995 comprising many Unitarian, Universalist, and Unitarian Universalist organizations. It was dissolved in 2021 along with the Unitarian Universalist Partner Church Council to make way for a new merged entity. Some groups represented only a few hundred people; while the largest, the Unitarian Universalist Association, had more than 160,000 members as of May 2011—including over 150,000 in the United States.
Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is a liberal religious association of Unitarian Universalist congregations. It was formed in 1961 by the consolidation of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America Christian denominations with Unitarian and Universalist doctrines, respectively. However, modern Unitarian Universalists see themselves as a separate religion with its own beliefs and affinities. They define themselves as non-creedal, and draw wisdom from various religions and philosophies, including humanism, pantheism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Judaism, Islam, and Earth-centered spirituality. Thus, the UUA is a syncretistic religious group with liberal leanings.
Unitarian Universalism is a liberal religious movement characterized by a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning". Unitarian Universalists assert no creed, but instead are unified by their shared search for spiritual growth. Unitarian Universalists do not have an official, unified corpus of sacred texts. Unitarian Universalist congregations include many atheists, agnostics, deists, and theists; there are churches, fellowships, congregations, and societies around the world.
The Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans is an independent affiliate of Unitarian Universalists who identify with the precepts of classical or contemporary Paganism: celebrating the sacred circle of life and guiding people to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature. CUUPS members foster the development of "liturgical materials based on earth- and nature-centered religious and spiritual perspectives" as well as encourage "greater use of music, dance, visual arts, poetry, story, and creative ritual in Unitarian Universalist worship and celebration." Many members of CUUPS embrace the cycle of seasons and beauty of all life forms found in nature. Unlike many mainline religious sects, Unitarian Universalists and Pagans both value the "sacredness in the present world rather than on an afterlife." CUUPS is a community open to all Unitarian Universalist members and those who support the tenets.
The American Unitarian Association (AUA) was a religious denomination in the United States and Canada, formed by associated Unitarian congregations in 1825. In 1961, it consolidated with the Universalist Church of America to form the Unitarian Universalist Association.
The Universalist Unitarian Church of Joliet (UUCJ) is a Unitarian Universalist church, and is home to one of the oldest congregations in Joliet, Illinois.
The First Parish Church is a historic Unitarian Universalist church at Tremont and Depot Streets in Duxbury, Massachusetts. First Parish Church is currently a member congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Association.
The Unitarian Universalist Church of Cortland, New York, also known as "The Old Cobblestone Church," is an historic cobblestone church building located at 3 Church Street in Cortland, New York, United States. Built in 1837, the building was established as a Universalist church. Since 1961, the congregation has been a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association due to a denominational merger. The Unitarian Universalist Church of Cortland was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.
First Parish Church in Arlington, Massachusetts is a Unitarian-Universalist congregation, which was founded in 1678 as First Parish in West Cambridge. It merged with the Arlington Universalist Congregation in 1962. The Highrock Church building originally housed the Universalist church in Arlington, one of the congregations joined in 1961 with the formation of the Unitarian Universalist Association, with the Unitarian congregation at the corner of Pleasant and Massachusetts Avenue.
The Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship (UUCF) is the main group serving Christian Unitarian Universalists within the Unitarian Universalist Association of the United States, whose main office is based in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The UUCF was founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1945, and can trace its roots back through the history of North American Christian Universalism and Unitarianism. As its bylaws put it:
We serve Christian Unitarians and Universalists according to their expressed religious needs; uphold and promote the Christian witness within the Unitarian Universalist Association; and uphold and promote the historic Unitarian and Universalist witness and conscience within the church universal.
The Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (ERUUF) is a Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregation located in Durham, North Carolina. In 2018, over seven hundred people were members of ERUUF, making it the largest UU congregation in NC and one of the largest in the UUA.
The Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Westport is a large active Unitarian Universalist congregation in lower Fairfield that is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association. Its dramatic building in Westport, Connecticut was designed by modernist architect Victor A. Lundy and completed in 1965. It won an award from Architect magazine. The congregation was founded in 1949 as "The First Unitarian Fellowship of Fairfield County" and changed its name to "The Unitarian Church in Westport" in 1964; in 2023 it changed it to "The Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Westport." The building has been compared to E. Fay Jones' Thorncrown Chapel (1980) and to the wooden tent Lundy designed for the interior of his Unitarian Meeting House (1964) in Hartford, Connecticut. It's nickname New Ship Church is a reference to the Old Ship Church built in 1681 in Hingham, Massachusetts.
The First Universalist Church of Lyons, Ohio, located at 145 East Morenci Street, Lyons, Ohio is a member congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Association.
The Unitarian Church of South Australia, Inc., is an independent and self-governed church affiliated with the worldwide Unitarian Universalist movement and an affiliate member of the Unitarian Universalist Association. It is a socially progressive and inclusive spiritual community, not covenanted by doctrine and dogma, but by liberal religious principles distilled from the essential values of all world religions, as well as the arts, humanities, and sciences.
Church of Our Father was the first Unitarian church established in Atlanta, Georgia. The church was organized on March 27, 1883, by Rev. George Leonard Chaney, a Boston minister. Rev. Chaney initially held Sunday services in the Senate Chamber, Concordia Hall and the United States Courtroom. A church building was constructed at the corner of North Forsyth and Church Street and dedicated on April 23, 1884. The original building was demolished in 1900.
Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Congregation is a Unitarian Universalist church located in Bethesda, Maryland. The congregation is active in community service and social justice projects. The church is officially a "Welcoming Congregation" following the guidelines of the Unitarian Universalist Association, of which it is a member. Cedar Lane has weekly Sunday services and offers religious education classes for young people during the school year. Cedar Lane changed its name by congregational vote in 2023 from Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church to Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Congregation in an effort to be welcoming and inclusive to all religions.
Northwest Unitarian Universalist Congregation (Northwest) was organized in 1969. The organization of Northwest was the result of action taken by the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta (UUCA) to establish a new congregation in the northwest suburbs of Atlanta.
The Unitarian Universalist Church of Lancaster is a Unitarian Universalist church located at 538 West Chestnut Street, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The church building is part of the Historic District of the City of Lancaster. The congregation is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association, in the Association's Central East Region. Like all Unitarian Universalist churches, it is noncreedal, covenantal and religiously liberal. According to the UUA, the Lancaster church currently has 275 members and is an LGBTQIAA+ Welcoming Congregation.
