Unitarian Universalism is better described in terms of themes or strands than a bunch of names and dates. Although one or more of them have been dominant in certain periods, all are still present in our liberal religious DNA. These are, in my view at least, Liberal Christianity, Transcendentalism, Progressivism, Universalism, and Humanism.

Reverend Dr. Barry Andrews is Minister Emeritus of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock, Manhasset, New York. He has written numerous books on Transcendentalism and Transcendentalist authors, most recently “The Gospel According to This Moment: The Spiritual Message of Henry David Thoreau,” published by the University of Massachusetts Press. Since retiring in 2011, he and his wife, Linda, have lived on Bainbridge Island.

Topics: Being UU