| Mission Statement | Unitarian Universalism | Principles, Purposes and Sources of Tradition | Our Church | A Brief History |
Following is the mission statement adopted by
the congregation in 1994
The purpose of our religious community is to be a
liberal presence seeking truth through intellectual and spiritual exploration in
a caring and supportive environment. We accept a diversity of religious beliefs
and support the values of compassion, justice, and integrity in our daily lives,
in the education of our children, and in the larger world.
The
Unitarian Universalist Association of congregations was formed in 1961 by the
merger of two religious groups with roots in 15th-century Europe.
The early Unitarians were liberal Christians who believed in the oneness
of God as distinct from the Trinitarian view of God in three persons.
The first Universalists asserted that, since God was Love, salvation was
for all, not just for an elect. As
these groups evolved over the centuries, both stressed individual freedom of
conscience, the use of reason in religion, and openness to the many diverse
paths human beings may take in the search for truth and meaning.
We believe that religious journeys are best undertaken in the company of
others with whom we can share our ideas and experiences, and with whom we can
put our values into action in work that moves us closer to a world of justice
and compassion for all people.
Unitarian
Universalism now embraces not only its Christian roots, but the wisdom of all
religions. We have no creed to
which members must subscribe, but we do have a statement of Principles and
Purposes, most recently revised in 1996, which affirms values basic to most UUs:
We, the member congregations of
the Unitarian Universalist Association covenant to affirm and promote:
The living tradition we share draws from many sources:
The Unitarian Universalist Church of Canton was founded in 1825 as a
Universalist congregation. Its first building, a brick structure with a wooden
tower, was dedicated in 1829 and used until 1897, when the present Canton gray
marble church was dedicated. Through the efforts of members of our church, St.
Lawrence University and its Theological School were founded in 1856. The
presence of the Theological School, which closed in 1965, brought many
well-known Universalist and Unitarian ministers and religious educators to our
church community.
Our 230-member congregation is organized democratically. The congregation, by
majority vote, chooses its own ministers and has final authority over all
aspects of church life. The congregation elects a Church Council to whom it
delegates much of the business and policy-making of the church. Programs are
planned and coordinated by a variety of committees which oversee worship,
religious education, outreach to newcomers, social action, care of our building
and grounds, our Memorial Garden, and many other areas. Ours is a diverse and
inclusive religious community, welcoming the full participation of all without
regard to race, class, gender, sexual orientation, or physical challenge.
To maintain our building, staff, and programs, our church is supported
financially by the pledges of its members and friends, and by a few special fund
raising activities. Each fall, the congregation approves an operating budget
based on the projected income, and we hold a pledge campaign during which each
of us is asked to make a financial commitment in accordance with our
circumstances.
A
Brief History of Unitarian Universalism
Because there have always been men and women who question the religion handed
them in childhood, a religion of the free mind, like today's Unitarian
Universalism, was inevitable. If the specific events and personalities that
shaped this religious movement had never existed other religious liberals would
have filled the vacuum. Though it would be known by a different name, this
religion of the free mind would exist today.
Nevertheless, there are those illustrious personalities who forged the way
during difficult times. Struggling against ostracism, violence, and even murder
as they moved through history down the separate paths to Unitarianism and
Universalism.
The Unitarian and Universalist
movements both germinated in specific religious issues. Both grew to encompass
religious doubters of many views, and both eventually welcomed to their ranks
all thoughtful men and women who would accept the right of others to have
different views.
Though Jesus had been dead
several hundred years before the word "Unitarian" came into use, the
movement that eventually acquired that label began shortly after his death.
Then, many who knew Jesus talked of his humanity and his teachings, while others
who had only heard of him touted his divinity and began to construct a religion
that was more about him than of him.
Philosophical differences begin with trinity
The issue that polarized the
inheritors of these philosophical differences was the doctrine of the trinity,
adopted in 325 A.D. by means more political than religious. The Trinitarians,
who believed in, "God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost"
said that those who stressed the unity of God (later known as Unitarians) were
heretics. Many of the Unitarians were executed for their beliefs. Best known of
these martyrs is Michael Servetus, who was burned at the stake in 1553 for
writing "On The Errors of the Trinity."
More than a hundred years
before the affirmation of the trinity the seeds of Universalism were being
planted by the articulate and prolific intellectual, Origen. Origen, who, like
the Unitarians, stressed the humanity of Jesus, produced the issue on which this
liberal religious movement would be built. He argued that there was no hell and
talked of a benevolent God who would offer salvation to all people.
The same century that saw the
Unitarian Servetus murdered also saw Unitarian beliefs under a variety of names
gain a tenuous foothold in Switzerland, Britain, Hungary and Italy. This
stubborn movement produced its own dynamic ministers. Literature was
distributed. In many cases entire congregations broke away from the orthodox
church. In1638 the first Unitarian church to use that name was established in
Transylvania, which had become fertile ground for religious doubt eighty years
earlier under its Unitarian king Sigismund
In 17th and 18th century
England, though anti-Trinitarians were still outcasts, their numbers grew. Often
they there men and women who found their way into the history books for reasons
other than their religious activities. John Milton, Isaac Newton, John Locke,
and Florence Nightingale were all people who fought for religious tolerance. By
the first decade of the 19th century 20 Unitarian churches had been established
in England and many others had taken on a Unitarian character.
In the 17th and 18th centuries
the Universalist view also made great strides. In Germany many Universalist
groups expanded and further defined the Universalist doctrine. In 1759 in
England James Relly published "Union" which denied the Calvinistic
doctrine of salvation for the few and claimed that all would be saved.
Universalism comes to
America
John Murray, a follower of Relly, helped deliver the Universalist movement
safely to the shores of America. In 1779 Murray occupied the pulpit of the
Independent Christian Church of Gloucester, Massachusetts, which was the first
organized Universalist church in America. Twenty-six years later the movement's
greatest exponent, Hosea Ballou, articulated Universalist doctrine in his book,
"A Treatise on Atonement," which sought to prove the doctrine of the
trinity was unscriptural, and argued against miracles and the view of men and
women as depraved creatures who would burn in hell.
One of those who carried the torch of Unitarianism to America was Joseph
Priestley, a Unitarian minister better known as the discoverer of oxygen. After
being harassed and nearly killed in England by those of a less liberal bent,
Priestley established the first openly Unitarian church in America in
Philadelphia in 1796. Soon many well established American churches acquired
Unitarian ministers or Unitarian views. By now the day was long gone when an
aversion to Trinitarian doctrine was sufficient to define these religious
liberals. In Unitarianism and Universalism virtually every aspect of religion
was fair game for doubt and debate. Many smaller liberal movements began, later
to be reabsorbed into the Unitarian Universalist movement as it learned greater
and greater tolerance.
In the 19th century both
Unitarianism and Universalism look on an association with the causes of social
justice that has endured this day. Often led by women, like Julia Ward Howe,
Susan B. Anthony and Clara Barton the liberal religious movement became the
champion of the abolition of slavery, women rights, and penal reform. Though
these issues sometimes divided the religious liberals, the gap was often greater
between members of the same movement than it was between Unitarians and
Universalists. As the two movements grew and acquired great definition in the
sermons of Ballou, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Ellery Channing Theodore Parker
and others, the two path of religious liberalism grew ever closer.
Both movements became more organized. In 1785 a Universalist convention adopted
a Charter of Compact, which eventually evolved into the Universalist Church of
America. In May of 1825 the America Unitarian Association was formed. In 1842
the first Unitarian church in Canada was founded in Montreal.
Denominations join in 1961
The Unitarians and Universalists shared first a philosophy of religious
tolerance and religious questioning. Later they shared resources such as
religious education materials, a joint hymnal, and finally on May 11,1961 they
combined their organizational strength by becoming the Unitarian Universalist
Association of Congregations in North America. However, nothing stopped on that
day. There are still questions to be asked, views to be heard, a journey to be
shared. The paths have merged but the road goes on.
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