Diverse and Supportive Spirituality

Imagine a spiritual community that embraces many different beliefs...including yours! Welcome to Unitarian Universalism (UU).

UU is a liberal religion that encompasses many faith traditions. Unitarian Universalists (UUs) include people who identify as Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Taoists, Pagans, Atheists, Agnostics, Humanists, Independents, Earth-centered, Believers, Non-believers, Skeptics, and many others. As there is no official UU creed, UUs are free to search for truth on many paths.

"We uphold the free search for truth. We will not be bound by a statement of belief. We do not ask anyone to subscribe to a creed. We say ours is a non-creedal religion. Ours is a free faith."
- Rev. Marta Flanagan

UU is a caring, open-minded religion that encourages you to seek your own spiritual path. UUs are united by shared values, not by creed or dogma. UU congregations are places where people gather to nurture their spirits and put their faith into action by helping to make our communities—and the world—a better place.

Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma (UUP), a congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), is a community of religiously liberal people who gather on a weekly basis to share our values in a Sunday service setting, and who work (and play!) together to establish an atmosphere of principled seeking and ethical living on a day-to-day basis.

Founded in 2002 upon hundreds of years of UU tradition, we number around 60 members, and usually 30 to 50 will be in attendance on any given Sunday.

We gather at 10 a.m. for pre-service social time, which includes, usually, coffee, tea, juice, and bagels. Our service begins at 10:30 a.m. We provide child care for the very young during the service, and older children may attend our Religious Education classes as guests. Children stay in the service for the first 15 minutes or so, which includes a story specifically for them, and then they leave to gather in their classes.

Our services include readings, a couple of hymns or songs, brief silence, and a message of some kind, often delivered by a guest speaker, a member of UUP, or a UU minister. We are lay-led, that is, without a minister on staff (although we are proud to have a Director of Religious Education, Marlene Abel). Dress is casual; wear what makes you comfortable!

"New to UU" Visitors' Orientation: On the third Sunday of each month, we host a brief gathering immediately following the service for anyone interested in finding out more about UU or UUP. Please join us, and bring your questions!

The purpose of the UUP congregation is to provide a haven where members can share in a spiritually, culturally, and socially diverse local religious community. We envision a congregation that will be welcoming to all, that values the contributions of each member in shared ministry, and that actively promotes and models individual development of an ethical way of living. We are intentionally intergenerational, and covenant to provide religious education and spiritual growth for children and adults.

At UUP, we are committed to providing an open-minded, embracing religious presence in the Petaluma community, that examines, adopts and practices the "Seven Principles" and the "Living Tradition" of the Unitarian Universalist Association.

The Seven Principles of the UUA:

* The inherent worth and dignity of every person;

* Justice, equity, and compassion in human relations;

* Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;

* A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;

* The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;

* The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;

* Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

The Living Tradition we share draws from many sources:

* 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 women and men 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.