Home / Departments / Ideas
Recent Stories
A new ethos
How the UUA is promoting Beloved Community today.
What do we mean when we say ‘religious experience’?
The answer depends on whom you ask, of course.
Access to water is a human right
Improved water management is essential to climate change adaptation.
UU scholars exchange ideas at San Diego gathering
The UU Scholars and Friends group meets at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion and the Society for Biblical Literature.
Selma at the cinema
An important film introduces Unitarian Universalists Reeb and Liuzzo, but doesn't mention their faith.
Books to buy for Unitarian Universalists 2014
Gift ideas for Unitarian Universalists.
The boots worked either way
Be aware of the tensions in your life and the awareness can be an ally.
Suffering on trial
Three liberal theologians take on the problem of suffering.
Hearing others' stories reveals their humanity
We affirm women's dignity, yet UUs still wrestle with the systemic undercurrents of misogyny.
#YesAllWomen and the continuum of aggression
The brilliance of #YesAllWomen is that it sidesteps the objection 'Not all men are like that.'
Unbottled
We've bottled everything from water to religion.
I don't 'believe in' the Seven Principles
I don’t think of them as beliefs at all.
Fly less, for the earth's sake
One mode of transportation causes particular ethical angst among folks concerned about climate change.
St. Vincent, UU hipster?
St. Vincent performs in the Unitarian Universalist church she attended as a teen.
Steampunk's creative reinvention
In the place of the historical, Steampunk imagines an adventurous, equitable, even multicultural alternative.
Religious community is not enough
Unitarian Universalism's purpose is much bigger than gathering with like-minded people for mutual support.
Unitarian Universalist authors capture young adult imaginations
'I'm not trying to be dark. I'm trying to tell the stories that need to be told.'
Political empathy
Demonizing your political opponents doesn't change anyone's mind, but empathy can.
Frank Lloyd Wright's 'Beautiful' book
The famous architect designed a rare book by the Unitarian minister William Channing Gannett.
Greta Gerwig, Unitarian Universalist film star
Greta Gerwig stars in the new black and white film 'Frances Ha,' which features the UU congregation she grew up in.
Playing with fire on social media
Am I using social media in ways that affirm people's inherent worth and strengthen the interdependent web?
Living your faith online
How do you use social media as part of your religious life?
What is the nature of nature?
Three Unitarian Universalist perspectives.
The boys next door
To stop rape culture we need to start by talking to our boys.
Fossil fuel divestment is not the answer
We need a rising tide of pressure pushing for a sustainable future.
Fossil fuel divestment is moral, strategic
Money is an instrument of moral choice.
Becoming fluent in faith
We need to embrace the challenge of using religious language with comfort and integrity.
Discussion guide helps readers explore 'The New Jim Crow'
How you and your congregation can start talking about mass incarceration.
How to meet the climate crisis
A carbon fee might be the key to breaking our fossil-fuel addiction.
Once a rarity, UU military chaplains increasing
The growing number of UU chaplains reflects sea change in UUA’s relationship to the military.
Seeing ourselves in 'The Hunger Games'
Dystopian novels have inspired UUs of all ages to think deeply about our society's values.
Voices: What comes next?
What do you think happens after you die?
Barack Obama's Unitarian Universalist connection
Where to learn more about President Obama's family history with Unitarian Universalism.
Obama's religious roots
Despite his childhood exposure to Unitarian Universalism, Barack Obama found his religious home elsewhere.
We should be more countercultural
UUs should experience tension between our religious values and those of the secular world.
Hold up those lights: 2012 Justice General Assembly
The Unitarian Universalist Association gathers in Phoenix to challenge the treatment of immigrants.
Getting over dualism
Many UUs reject the separation of the spiritual and the material.
Weighty lessons
It is time for us to rethink our attitudes about weight and health.
May Sarton, 'our poet,' at 100
May Sarton felt a strong affinity for Unitarians, who continue to revere her work.
Common elements in Unitarian Universalist congregational names
The ten most common elements of a Unitarian Universalist congregation's name.
Historical inspirations
UU World asked: What historical Unitarian, Universalist, or UU most speaks to you?
How old are Unitarian Universalist congregations?
Some date back to the 1600s, but 59 percent were founded in the last sixty years.
A candid welcome to Unitarian Universalism
Top 10 reasons you may not feel comfortable here.
If we don't invest in our youth, others will
Totalitarians put their resources into building youth programs. Pluralists don't.
What size are Unitarian Universalist congregations?
Most congregations have fewer than 100 members, but most UUs belong to larger churches.
Grace to the rescue
Unitarian Universalist ideas about what saves us.
Unitarian Universalist congregations by state
Map showing number of UUA congregations by state and the relative number of congregations to each state's population.
'Unitarian Universalist' characters on the screen
What character in a film or TV show best demonstrates UU values, and why?
The end of religion?
Is religion being 'driven toward extinction'?
Social media, 'the heretic's tool'
'If we do not embrace social media we're essentially putting a nail in our own coffin.'
UUA membership growth, 2001 to 2011
Over the past decade, Unitarian Universalism has grown in 33 states and D.C.
Different UU ideas about God
You're definitely in good company when it comes to God-turning and God-thinking.
Great trees of life
We need old people to be our trees.
Heritage and history groups sponsor conference together
'History and Heritage Convocation' unites four independent organizations.
Nature's tough love
How the prairie challenges the ego.
Good for nothing
In the study of grasshoppers, an entomologist discovers the value of simply 'being.'
