About Us
A Letter From Our Minister, Rev. Dr. Stephen H. Furrer
Dear Visitor,
Welcome to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation’s website. Ours is a free church. Becoming a member here requires assent to no creed nor agreement with any doctrine. We are democratic in governance, liberal in matters religious and tolerant in matters cultural. And we have been an active voice in northern New Mexico since 1952.
Unitarian Universalism in America goes back to the Pilgrims — indeed First Parish Plymouth, established by those on the Mayflower, is a Unitarian Universalist Church today. The descendants of the early Puritans, by the time they had been in America for several generations and influenced by the democratic ideals of the Revolution and the evolving insights of science, developed a more open-minded theology. Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Joseph Priestley, Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Presidents John and John Quincy Adams and Thomas Jefferson all espoused Unitarian views; views which focused on the oneness of all life — human beings included — and which understood Jesus more as a model of human possibility than as a god.
American Universalism evolved from two strains: one among the German pietists of the Delaware Valley, and a New England strain. Both rejected Calvinism, in particular its notions of predestination and of Hell as a realm of eternal torment for those not "saved." The Source of life was too loving, they believed, to damn anyone to such a condition. Ultimately, they held, all souls would be reconciled within the mind and heart of God. Prominent Universalists have included Clara Barton, Horace Greeley, P.T. Barnum, and the first woman ordained to the ministry in America, Olympia Brown. Our congregation was originally Unitarian. When the two denominations merged in 1961, we followed suit and became the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Santa Fe.
Over the decades Unitarian Universalism has been active in efforts to abolish slavery, expand voting and civil rights, encourage greater ecological awareness and in the areas of prison and mental health reform. We are welcoming to all, regardless of one’s race, economic status, past religious background or sexual orientation. Within our congregation we have people who identify themselves as Unitarian Universalist Christians, UU Humanists, UU pagans, and in a host of other ways. Most of us, however, resist labels of any kind, knowing only that we are comfortable in the company of fellow travelers on a shared journey toward more meaningful lives. We offer a wide variety of programs and activities to which you are warmly invited. Sunday morning services are held at 10:00 and 11:30am, with Religious Education at the latter service. Dress is casual.
Open-minded and free-spirited as our faith is, we realize that it doesn’t appeal to everyone. If, however, you believe that people can build a better world, that reason is not incompatible with revelation, that all people have a spark of the divine within them, and that justice and peace are worth working for, then our church may be the church for you. Welcome, look around, and feel free to come to one of our services. Or call me: I’d be happy to answer any of your questions or concerns.
Shalom,
Stephen H. Furrer
Our Covenant
We gather together to seek the truth freely,
To celebrate beauty, to ease the world’s pain.
We’re moved by compassion to service and to justice.
All life is our concern and love is our Way
Our Mission(as adopted February 24, 2002)
- We are a liberal religious community that welcomes diversity and promotes open-mindedness, the exploration of ideas and social action.
- We are dedicated to spiritual growth, education and self-empowerment for people of all ages.
- We come together to support and celebrate each other, our local and global communities and our environment.
Our Objectives
- To support one another in search for truth as a foundation of our religious community.
- To cherish and spread the wisdom taught by the great prophets and teachers of humanity in every age and tradition.
- To further personal development and help each other to reach our fullest capabilities in relationship to ourselves, the community and the world.
- To uphold the cause of liberal religion regionally, nationally and internationally.
- To unite in working for social, economic and political justice, to strengthen the bonds of kinship and promote peace among the peoples of the world.
Our UU Principles
We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote
- 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 which 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.
Grateful for the religious pluralism which enriches and ennobles our faith, we are inspired to deepen our understanding and expand our vision. As free congregations we enter into this covenant, promising to one another our mutual trust and support.
Some Famous Unitarians & Universalists
- Abigail Adams
- John Adams
- John Quincy Adams
- Jane Addams[2]
- Louisa May Alcott
- Susan B. Anthony
- Horatio Alger Jr.
- Hosea Ballou
- P.T. Barnum
- Bela Bartok
- Clara Barton
- Alexander Graham Bell
- Tim Berners-Lee
- Ambrose Bierce
- Ray Bradbury
- T. Berry Brazelton
- Olympia Brown
- Luther Burbank
- John C. Calhoun
- William Ellery Channing
- William S. Cohen
- Norman Cousins
- e. e. cummings
- Clarence Darrow
- Charles Darwin
- Charles Dickens
- Dorothea Dix
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Fannie Farmer
- Millard Fillmore
- Benjamin Franklin
- Robert Fulghum
- Margaret Fuller
- Horace Greeley
- Edward Everett Hale
- Edmund Halley
- Bret Harte
- Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
- Mark Hopkins
- Julia Ward Howe
- Thomas Jefferson
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Samuel Longfellow
- Amy Lowell
- James Madison
- Horace Mann
- John Milton
- Herman Melville
- Samuel Morse
- John Murray
- Paul Newman
- Isaac Newton
- Florence Nightingale
- Thomas Paine
- Theodore Parker
- Linus Pauling[2]
- Beatrix Potter
- Joseph Priestley
- Malvina Reynolds
- Elliot Richardson
- Benjamin Rush
- Adlai Stevenson
- Carl Sandberg
- Albert Schweitzer[2]
- Pete Seeger
- Rod Serling
- Robert Shaw
- Lucy Stone
- William Howard Taft
- Henry David Thoreau
- Clyde Tombaugh
- Kurt Vonnegut
- Daniel Webster
- Frank Lloyd Wright
- Whitney Young
