Unitarian Universalism is a religious tradition with a history in the United States that is more than 200 years old.
Unitarianism and Universalism were two separate movements that emerged out of American Protestantism shortly before and after 1800.
Unitarians called themselves “Unitarian” because they weren’t Trinitarian. They came to believe Jesus was an important teacher, but wasn’t God.
Universalists called themselves “Universalist” because they believed that all people were worthy of love and respect. They didn’t believe in dividing the world up between “the saved” and “the damned.”
Unitarian and Universalists beliefs continued to evolve over time, and in 1961, the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America joined to become the Unitarian Universalist Association.
There are now about 1,000 congregations and 200,000 Unitarian Universalists in the United States.
The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh was formed in 1949.
It was originally a lay-led group of less than two dozen people that met in rented spaces. More than 70 years later, it is now a congregation of about 500 people from all over Wake County with ministers, a staff, and a multi-building campus on Wade Avenue.
