WHAT BINDS UUs

Unitarian Universalist are united in our broad and inclusive outlook, and in our values as expressed in our Eight Principles. We are united in shared experiences; open worship services; our work for social justice; our work to include the marginalized; our expressions of love.

Together we unite to create a Beloved Community.

 

UUCSF adopted the 8th principle at its June 2021annual meeting. The UU 8th Principle states:

“We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote: journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.”

We live out these Principles within a “living tradition” of wisdom and spirituality drawn from sources as diverse as science, poetry, scripture, and personal experience.  The Six Sources our congregations affirm and promote:

  • Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life;
  • Words and deeds of prophetic people which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love;
  • Wisdom from the world’s religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life;
  • Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God’s love by loving our neighbors as ourselves;
  • Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit;
  • Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.