Our Beliefs
In Unitarian Universalism, you can bring your whole self: your full identity, your questioning mind, your expansive heart.
Together, we create a force more powerful than one person or one belief system. As Unitarian Universalists, we do not have to check our personal background and beliefs at the door: we join together on a journey that honors everywhere we’ve been before.
Our beliefs are diverse and inclusive. We have no shared creed. Our shared covenant (our Eight Principles) supports “the free and responsible search for truth and meaning.” Though Unitarianism and Universalism were both liberal Christian traditions, this responsible search has led us to an inclusive spirituality drawn from six sources: from scriptural wisdom to personal experience to modern day heroes.
Unitarian Universalists believe more than one thing. We think for ourselves, and reflect together, about important questions:
- The existence of a Higher Power
- Life and Death
- Sacred Texts
- Inspiration and Guidance
- Prayer and Spiritual Practices
We are united in our broad and inclusive outlook, and in our values, as expressed in our Eight Principles. We are united in shared experience: our open and stirring worship services, religious education, and rites of passage; our work for social justice; our quest to include the marginalized; our expressions of love.
Learn more about Unitarian Universalists from a variety of beliefs and backgrounds: Atheist/Agnostic, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Humanist, Jewish, Muslim, Pagan, and more.
Support for the Black community and the dismantling of anti-Black racism
STATEMENT FROM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH OF HAMILTON
Dated June 10, 2020
The First Unitarian Church of Hamilton stands with those who call for an end to racism in the world, and specifically in our own Canadian society. The murder of George Floyd is horrendous but reflects a long-standing pattern of violence against Black people and other people of colour, notably by the police, in the United States and Canada.
Evidence of inequities and injustice permeating our culture include:
- the findings of the Truth, Healing, and Reconciliation Commission;
- the statistics about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women;
- statistics about the rates of violence against and incarceration of Black people and other people of colour, and;
- the experiences of refugees and immigrants to Canada.
Countless reports have laid out the kinds of action that need to happen, at all levels of government and all levels of society. It is time for decisive action.
When systems that affect the people of a nation are founded and administered from a framework of white supremacy, no individual is truly free, safe, or well governed.
As Unitarian Universalists, we are called to model and work towards a society that respects the worth and dignity of every person. We recognize this struggle needs to take place within our own walls, and within ourselves, as well as in the wider community.
We acknowledge that our congregation consists primarily of people with a background of white privilege and we are committed to learning more about systemic anti-Black racism in our communities. We have undertaken initiatives to support efforts to dismantle it and will continue to do so.