No doubt you have noticed, as I have, that if someone asks you. “What does your church believe?” it is an awkward question. It’s hard for UUs to find a clear answer. Why in the world is this? We have existed for 200 years here in the US, and for 400 years in Europe, for heaven’s sake! Why can’t we give a direct answer to that simple question? It remains awkward because, unlike almost every other church, we are not identified by our shared beliefs. We have an unusual structure.

Most churches are indentified by a shared body of traditional beliefs. Our beliefs, on the other hand, are held not by the church, but by each of us individually. Our beliefs vary widely: Christian, Jewish, Humanist, theist, atheist, agnostic, mystic, etc. We are each of free to believe as our own minds and hearts dictate.

But why this insistence on individual freedom of belief? Because we have learned by experience that, in religion, the truth that matters above all, is not that which is expressed in a traditional holy book, nor in creeds or doctrines; rather, it is the truth that emerges in the minds and hearts of each living individual in community, as they share in a lifelong search for truth and meaning. Understanding is more important to us than believing.

This is why we find it awkward to answer the question “What does your church believe?” With us, it is not the church that believes, it is each individual member who believes; and the beliefs vary from one to another. We don’t as a church cherish a body of final answers; each of us individually, with the support and stimulation of a UU community, seeks always for growth in understanding and awareness.

So what can we say to others in reply to that simple question, “what does your church believe?” We can say our church is different from most others in that its people do not come together around a shared body of traditional belief. Rather they come together to share a search for growth in understanding, a search based as much on reason and contemporary knowledge, as on traditional insights from the ancient world. And we don’t limit ourselves to one tradition alone, but draw on the accumulated wisdom in all traditions.

John Alexie Crane