Recent Stories
Though Jesus did not rise from the dead
Jesus died and decomposed, and yet he was right: Nothing is utterly lost.
Early Christians emphasized paradise, not crucifixion
How we can reclaim a theology of earthly paradise.
Love and death
Facing cancer with lessons learned from my parishioners.
The Sources of Unitarian Universalism
Adopted by the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1984.
Our congregationalist heritage
Unitarian Universalists have held fast to one aspect of their Puritan roots: congregational polity.
Unfinished with Christianity
Most Unitarian Universalists live in tension with Christianity. I wish we talked about this more.
Prophetic nonviolence
Toward a Unitarian Universalist theology of war and peace.
What is sacred?
The relationship of all living things.
What is evil?
A view of human nature grounded in human possibility rather than pathology.
A Unitarian Universalist view of 'The Secret'
Despite the silly 'science' and fake experts on the hit DVD, some of The Secret's advice actually helped me.
Pete Stark's untroubled humanism
A Unitarian Congressman can't fathom why his nontheism is causing such a fuss.
Liberal theology, vibrant but hidden
Unitarian Universalism was liberal theology's first home, but we have neglected it lately.
Liberal religion and the working class
Unitarian Universalism has a class problem.
Jesus for UU children
New book offers a Unitarian Universalist view.
The death of li'l Anthrax
A more vicious little creature you could hardly imagine.
Passionate, unfiltered voices about ministry
New book about congregations and ministers working together.
Love the contradictions
The world needs people who can love it in its contradiction and complexity.
Does humanism need to be new?
A Harvard conference offers a ‘new humanism,’ but how does it differ from the old?
What is Unitarian Universalist Buddhism?
The history of UU engagement with Buddhism and its growing significance.
Buddhist basics
Central concepts in Buddhism.
Did James Luther Adams really predict 'Christian fascists'?
Chris Hedges invokes UU theologian James Luther Adams in his new book, 'American Fascists,' but gets Adams only half-right.
What membership means
Our covenant is open to all who will enter it with us.
How Jesus claimed me
One Unitarian Universalist's religious journey.
A theology of gratitude
Gratitude should be the center of Unitarian Universalist theology.
The emerging religious humanism
What is humanistic religious naturalism?
What demythologizers tell their children
Stories are for everyone.
Straight to Jesus
Inside the Evangelical gay-conversion movement.
What torture has taught me
My twelve years at the helm of Amnesty International.
Can Unitarian Universalists talk about failure?
Original Sin isn't a good idea. Expecting perfection isn't, either.
Sam Harris challenges liberal religious tolerance
Sam Harris has good news and bad news for Unitarian Universalists.
Why Unitarian Universalists need a language of reverence
The language of reverence is the language of humanity.
Love as a way of life
Love your neighbor, even before disaster strikes.
Harvard announces professorship in Unitarian Universalist studies
Ralph Waldo Emerson Professor will focus on liberal religious traditions.
Counterculture and liberal religion
20th-century transformations of liberal religion.
The difference between peaceful and violent religions
What does it mean to talk about 'peaceful' or 'violent' religions?
Free speech doesn't justify incendiary speech
When religion is involved, hate speech kills.
The wonder of evolution
Science and religion stand together.
'Great Story' religious education
Science and religion in the Sunday school.
Many religions, but only one earth
Can reverence for the earth bring us together across religious differences?
Martin Luther King Jr.’s demanding God
King's God breaks down our divisions.
Learning to see more than meets the eye
Look for the divine in the world as it is.
Taming the resolution bully
My resolutions are not cheerful things.
What do Unitarian Universalists believe?
Unitarian Universalists hold many beliefs in common.
Do UUs have theological common ground?
Two books look for liberal religion's theological foundations.
Halloween's ritual roots
Even in its secular and commercial form, Halloween ritualizes our inescapable destination.
Why liberal religion offers a better way
Liberal religious people need to reclaim the moral agenda.
New songbook explores new music styles
A review of Singing the Journey.
Liberal theology's commitments
The spiritual in science fiction
A Unitarian Universalist take on science fiction and fantasy.
Hosea Ballou's Universalist manifesto
The pioneering theologian Hosea Ballou challenged the doctrine of damnation.
Book collects key texts in UU reverence debate
Documentary history of the 'vocabulary of reverence' debate.
James Luther Adams's examined faith
Faith is not fundamentally about one's beliefs but about one's commitments.
Small group ministry creates sacred time
A time when the stories of our lives are heard.
The ceremony of innocence
A ceremony of innocence is a statement of faith and an act of hope.
Was Thomas Jefferson really a Unitarian?
What makes someone 'one of us'?
The pages of sin
Greed, envy, gluttony, and lust reconsidered.
A religion of exile and personal choice
Unitarian Universalists aren't strangers to exile.
Jesus and the modern seeker
It may take an act of great will to see past the relics of tradition to something new.
Science and its metaphors
How far does the authority of science go?
Unitarian Universalism's humanist legacy
Seventy years of religious humanism.
We are all part of God
God is a reality that includes all of us but is bigger than any one of us.
Ralph Waldo Emerson's Unitarian legacy
What do we see in Ralph Waldo Emerson on his 200th birthday?
Emerson's shadow
The shadow side to Emerson's influence.
Why Martin Luther King Jr. wasn't a UU
A reflection on race and theology.
Against vengeance
Witness for the things that make for peace.
Interview with Rita Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Parker
What to do when experience challenges tradition.
Suffering does not redeem us
Two feminist theologians say suffering redeems nothing.
Can violence save?
Challenging the theology of redemptive suffering.
Unshakable foundations
What endures in a time of terror: A sermon from the week of 9/11.
Has terrorism shaken our religious principles?
9/11 challenges Unitarian Universalists to think about evil.
Universalism: A theology for the 21st century
To the Universalist, truth in religion is like truth in poetry.
Claiming and reclaiming Universalism
Reflecting on the Unitarian and Universalist merger.
Stories from Universalist history
Stories of Universalists.
