THE UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST WAY

I am SO grateful to have found a spiritual home through my liberal faith community at UUFR. From our website the definition of our church fellowship is as follows: Unitarian Universalism is an open-minded religion which encourages people to seek their own spiritual path. We are united by shared values, not by creed or dogma. At UUFR, you can nurture your spirit and put your faith into action to create a just and compassionate world. 

OUR Mission Statement from my church UUFR is as follows: To build a Unitarian Universalist community that transforms lives and empowers people to serve the world.

The UU faith has seven principles to live by as found on our website:
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. 

Once we light the chalice {a wide mouthed stemmed cup with two overlapping circles that represent the two denominations} and begin with opening words from our minister or whom ever is leading then is when our service begins. The messages on Sunday mornings are so real and about living life with a conscious. There is a time for sharing our Joys and Sorrows where we either light a candle in silence or go in front of the congregation and share out loud what is going on with us in our lives. A burden shared is a burden lifted. 

We do many social justice programs. Right now we are working to vote on a statement of conscious in which we will begin our opposition to the proposed anti LGBT NC constitutional amendment. Our many other social justice programs are Stop Hunger Now food packaging, Walk for Hope, Angel Tree Projects in December, Red Cross Blood drives, clean up Neuse River , Urban Ministries and many others. Our fourth and fifth Sunday collections go toward some of these social justice programs or organizations.

We have a Journey Toward Wholeness anti racism team and we also are LGBT advocates and we fight for school diversity. All these programs and more is so important to me and my life. Kathy and I have found that we feel so much a part of this spiritual church community. It is our home away from home. They are welcoming and accepting of us and our family. 

We also have many different rituals.  Instead of baptism we have what we call child dedications this is part of the rites of passage for children. This is different with each pastor. The child is touched on the head with water to represent {clear thinking} on the heart with a rose for {love and compassion} on the hands with mud for {doing the work of the world}. In September we have what is called Ingathering. This is where we share the water from the places we went over the summer. It is poured in a large vases to be used later for child dedications and other rituals once it is boiled off first of course. Then in  November is when we celebrate our abundance with cider and cornbread. Easter is the flower communion. Everyone brings a flower to share. At Christmas time we have our Christmas Eve candlelight service. I tear up every single year when we sing Silent Night in the dark with only the light of our candles. It touches my heart and soul.

Unitarian Universalist of Raleigh {UUFR} is such an all inclusive, open minded, loving, welcoming and giving spiritual community. I would NOT want to share my Sunday mornings with any other fellowship. 

If you would like to have more information please look us up on our website: www.uufr.org.
Also a 10 min video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wezp1W2HKlU

These are my thoughts and feelings from Jillsville.