An Introduction to the Unitarian and Universalist Traditions

Description

How is a free faith expressed, organised and governed? How are diverse spiritualities and theologies made compatible? What might a religion based in reason and democracy offer today's world? This book will help the reader to understand the contemporary liberal religion of Unitarian Universalism in a historical and global context. Andrea Greenwood and Mark W. Harris challenge the view that the Unitarianism of New England is indigenous and the point from which the religion spread. Relationships between Polish radicals and the English Dissenters existed and the English radicals profoundly influenced the Unitarianism of the nascent United States. Greenwood and Harris also explore the US identity as Unitarian Universalist since a 1961 merger and its current relationship to international congregations, particularly in the context of twentieth-century expansion into Asia.

Andrea Greenwood holds degrees from Hampshire College, Brown University and Meadville-Lombard and is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Minister's Association who has served congregations in Atlanta, Georgia and Watertown, Massachusetts. She has been active in disability advocacy work in the broader community and brought her interest in special needs into subsequent work as a Director of Religious Education. Mark W. Harris is an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister, currently serving as Minister at the First Parish of Watertown and has previously served as the Director of Information at the Unitarian Universalist Association. He is also adjunct professor at Andover Newton Theological School. He is the author of the Historical Dictionary of Unitarian Universalism (2004) and Elite: Uncovering Classism in Unitarian Universalist History (2010).

'Their narrative elucidates the complex interrelationships among the many sources of both traditions, and provides a richly informative depiction of a Unitarian Universalism that is grounded in local traditions, but also the product of a continuing work of interaction and fusion among them.' Professor David M. Robinson, Oregon State University 'The scope, the depth, and the detail of this work are all impressive. Greenwood and Harris explore both the roots and the fruits of Unitarian and Universalist ideas and institutions, combining great knowledge and a touch of audacity to range successfully from Nicaea to the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Second Life.' Rev Dr Gordon D. Gibson, President of the Unitarian Universalist Historical Society