While officially there are seven principles that guide the lives and faith of Unitarian Universalists worldwide, a movement to add an eighth principle to fully adopt a stance of racial equity and justice has bloomed in the last few years – bolstered by the Black Lives Matter movement and held up by groups within the Unitarian Universalist Association such as BLUU (Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism). First UU has held community conversations about the eight principles as we work to more firmly communicate our mission through dedication to toppling racism and other systems of oppression within ourselves, our community, and our world.

The UU Principles:

  • 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;
  • (Proposed New Principle) 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.

Unitarian Universalism draws from our six 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-entered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.

These principles and sources of faith are the backbones of our religious community.