As a Unitarian Universalist, you can bring your whole self: your full identity, your questioning mind, and your expansive heart. You do not have to check your personal background and beliefs at the door. Together, we create a force more powerful than one person or one belief system. In fact, the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) frequently reviews our unifying principles and values, and makes changes based on changing times. Recently, the UUA voted to amend our Bylaws to adopt the values shown below, an evolution from the previous Seven Principles. Join us on a journey that both honors and rectifies our past as we progress toward a better future.

Our Values

Love is the power that holds us together and is at the center of our shared values. The values we share include all the following, which we hold as inseparable and deeply interconnected:
  • Interdependence: We honor the interdependent web of all existence and acknowledge our place in it.
  • Pluralism: We are all sacred beings, diverse in culture, experience, and theology.
  • Justice: We work to be diverse multicultural Beloved Communities where all feel welcome and can thrive.
  • Transformation: We adapt to the changing world.
  • Generosity: We cultivate a spirit of gratitude and hope.
  • Equity: We declare that every person is inherently worthy and has the right to flourish with dignity, love, and compassion.

Our Principles

Our beliefs are diverse and inclusive. We think for ourselves, and reflect together, about important issues, such as the existence of a higher power, life and death, sacred texts, and prayer and spiritual practices. 
 
We are united in:
  • the shared experiences of expressions of love, and our broad and inclusive outlook
  • inspiring worship services, religious education, and rites of passage 
  • our social justice work and a quest to include marginalized people
  • our values, as expressed in our eight Principles: 
  1. The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
  2. Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
  3. Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
  4. A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
  5. The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
  6. The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
  7. Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
  8. Covenant to affirm and promote journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse multicultural Beloved Community that by our actions accountably dismantles racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions (unanimously adopted by congregation, 2023).

Our Sources

Unitarianism and Universalism were originally separate liberal Christian traditions dating to the beginning of Christianity (in the case of Universalism) and to the 16th century (in the case of Unitarianism). In 1961, the two denominations merged to create Unitarian Universalism, an inclusive spirituality drawn from Six Sources, including scriptural wisdom, personal experience, and modern-day heroes.
 
As our Six Sources Indicate, Unitarian Universalist services pull from a variety of belief systems and viewpoints, including: 
  • Atheist/Agnostic
  • Buddhist
  • Christian
  • Hindu
  • Humanist
  • Jewish
  • Muslim
  • Pagan
  • and more.

​You can sign up for many events through links in our calendar. For others, please email the team sponsoring the event.
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First Unitarian Church of Cincinnati  | 536 Linton Street (at Reading Road) | South Avondale | Cincinnati, OH 45219 | 513-281-1564 | ​[email protected]