In it, Ted states part of his personal creed. Creed is word that comes from the Latin “credo” which means “I believe.” Many religions have creeds, statements you have to agree with in order to be part of that faith. Unitarian Universalism is non-creedal, for reasons deeply rooted in our history.
One of my professors in seminary, the Rev. Jeremy Taylor said that for the first three centuries of Christianity, there were many different beliefs about who Jesus was and what salvation meant. People argued about it in the market square. Was Jesus fully God or fully human? Was he of the same substance as God? Lots of questions, no general agreement.
Then the church allied itself with Rome, and through a series of councils of bishops, decided that there was only one true way to be a Christian. The councils decided which beliefs were in and which were out, and which people were in and which were out - namely, the heretics. Professor Taylor then said that after those church councils, our religious ancestors (the heretics) got together to process.
The heresy of the Universalists was that all people, of all faiths and nations, would go to heaven. They believed in universal salvation, hence “Universalist.” Universalists traced their religious thought back to a man named Origen, who was also declared a heretic by the Christian church. So yes, our religious ancestors were heretics.
The root of the word “heresy” means “to choose." Our religious ancestors, on both sides of the family, chose to believe things that put them at great risk of persecution. They stood up for what they believed (or didn’t believe), and that meant that they suffered, for centuries. Some gave their lives in the name of religious freedom. Ours is a heretical tradition. It is also a courageous tradition. It matters what we believe.
My professor, Jeremy Taylor, said that when those first courageous heretics gathered outside those councils, they could agree about what they didn’t believe, but they couldn’t agree what they did believe. So they decided that anyone who wanted to join them did not have to sign on to a set of beliefs.
That’s why we never had creed to hold us together. Instead, our parent religions held themselves together with agreements about how to be in community. In Judeo-Christian language these agreements are called “covenants.” This is our heritage. We are a heretical, courageous, and covenantal people, going way back.
Our religious ancestors in this country did periodically come up with statements that sounded suspiciously like creeds, but each included an "escape" or "liberty" clause. These clauses said you didn’t necessarily have to believe those things to be in. They said that congregations decided who belonged and who didn’t, not the mucky-mucks. We don’t have bishops. Congregations had a lot of power in both traditions and still have, in our combined tradition.
- We believe that to love the Good and to live the Good is the supreme thing in religion;
- We believe that we ought to join hands and work to make the good things better and the worst good, counting nothing good for self that is not good for all;
- We believe that this self-forgetting, loyal life awakes in (people) the sense of union, here and now, with things eternal…
In a similar way, Universalists came up with their own statements that also had escape clauses. Their 1790 “Rule of Faith” (in a conference chaired by Rev. John Murray, founder of Universalism in New England) upheld the Bible, as well as God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Unlike Unitarians, the early Universalists did believe in the trinity. The statement said God would restore all of humanity to “happiness” and that we must work to make this world better.
Over time, the trinitarian language from the 1790 statement softened, perhaps because there started be clergy who served both Unitarian and Universalist churches. One was Thomas Starr King who was ordained as a Universalist minister like his father before him.
A little biographical aside - In 1859 Thomas Starr King published a bestselling book promoting the White Mountains, making them a favorite tourist destination. The next year, Starr King was called to serve the Unitarian church in San Francisco. There he campaigned for California to remain in the Union, as a free state. He also toured Yosemite and became friends with the naturalist John Muir. With John Muir, he campaigned preserve the wilderness he loved.
There’s a story that someone once asked Thomas Starr King the difference between Unitarians and Universalists. He replied that Universalists believed God was too good to send anyone to hell, and the Unitarians believed they were too good to go to hell. I don’t know if it’s true that he said that, but it’s funny.
Anyway, perhaps because of these cross-over ministers, the trinity shows up less and less in Universalist statements. By 1935 the Universalists came up with this avowal of faith….
“we avow our faith in God as Eternal and All-Conquering Love, in the spiritual leadership in Jesus, in the supreme worth of every human personality, in the authority of truth known or to be known, and in the power of (people) of goodwill and sacrificial spirit to overcome evil and progressively establish the Kingdom of God.”
Years ago a minister who was raised Universalist told me that repeating this Avowal of Faith helped him hold himself together while serving as a soldier during World War II. It matters what we believe. Affirming love as all conquering, affirming that people of good will can overcome evil, helped him and can help us through terrible times.
Both of our parent religions were heretical, both were courageous, both were non-creedal, both were covenantal, and both were committed to making the world a better place. Despite some important differences (Unitarians being more upper class and neck up, Universalist being more working class and heart-centered) it makes sense that they started trying to merge early in the 1900s. There were some failed top-down attempts.
Since the merger in 1961 we have come up with a couple of statements of beliefs or principles as part of our religion’s national by-laws. You can see the most recent version, from nearly 40 years ago, here. There have been signs that they’re no longer working so well. Several years ago, people of color have asked congregations to adopt an 8th principle affirming our commitment to dismantle racism. That the first seven principles didn’t really do that work shows something more is needed.
That brings us up to the present moment. We are at a turning point in our history with a new statement in the works. There is a commission, called the Article 2 commission (because the principles appear in Article 2 in our by-laws). This commission has been working hard the last few years to draft a new version of what we hold dear.
They have spoken to something like ten thousand people and solicited input from many others. They have come up with a draft statement that delegates from our congregations will be voting on next summer at our General Assembly, and again in June of 2025. If adopted, that statement will be the latest in a fairly long line of statements. Our beliefs, our religion, keeps evolving.
Now I have loved the principles since I first became a Unitarian Universalist twenty seven years ago. I understand why some people are fighting this revision. I think we may have come to see the principles like the team sees the "believe" sign in Ted Lasso. We get attached and don’t want things to change. But the sign doesn’t matter. What matters is what we believe in our hearts, and heads, and guts. The seven principles, like all those other statements of our beliefs and values through the years, will never go away.
Years ago a different commission studied the diversity of our beliefs and asked what was at the center. The image they came up with was a circle with nothing in the middle. At the time I was serving a congregation whose members ended each worship service by joining hands in a circle and singing the song “Circle Round for Freedom.”
After I preached there about that former report, a congregant said, “We end our services in a circle but that circle is not empty in the middle.” He moved his fingers back and forth to indicate all the connections between the people around the circle. He said, “It’s full of all that is between us.” And much of what is between us, in beloved community, is love.
This love that sits at the center of this image is not sentimental love or romantic love. It is the love we grow in our communities, a deep and abiding love that affirms our worth no matter what we do or don’t achieve or believe. This love is a belief in ourselves and in one another that nothing can rip apart. This love affirms our interdependence.
It is a love that says we all deserve to be loved, whether we have been hurt or have hurt others. For some of us, the love at the center of this image includes a divine love that holds us tenderly and tightly. It is a fierce, protective, and liberating love.
It is a hopeful love, a love that inspires people of good will and sacrificial spirit to overcome evil and to make this earth as heavenly as possible - just and equitable, pluralistic, affirming all people of all nations, all races, and all creeds.
Ours is and always has been a heretical faith, a courageous faith, a covenantal faith, and a faith that calls us to work with that all-conquering, liberating love, to make this earth a heaven. May this love hold us in compassion and strength. May this love hold us to our deepest truths. May this love ignite in us the fire of commitment. So may it be.