The mission of the South Nassau Unitarian Universalist Congregation is to support our spiritual journeys, embrace our common needs and serve the greater community. This mission has arisen from our hearts through reflection and dialogue about who we are and why we exist in the world.

Support Our Spiritual Journeys

Consistent with our third and fourth principles, we accept one another and encourage the individual search for truth and meaning. We understand that we are on a journey both as individuals and as a community. We provide a haven for liberal religious spirituality and thinking. We highly value the asking of questions. We create a safe space where people can be themselves and realize their greatest potential.

Embrace Our Common Needs

Consistent with our third and fourth principles, we accept one another and encourage the individual search for truth and meaning. We understand that we are on a journey both as individuals and as a community. We provide a haven for liberal religious spirituality and thinking. We highly value the asking of questions. We create a safe space where people can be themselves and realize their greatest potential.

Serve the Greater Community

We are a positive force in the lives of others, particularly those who are marginalized. We contribute to the realization of a more just, peaceful and compassionate world. Through kindness, generosity and touching the hearts of others, we transform the world around us. We connect our beliefs to action and take what we learn out into the world.

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How we agree to be in community

South Nassau Unitarian Universalist Congregation
Covenant of Right Relations

Understanding that the promises we make to one another form the foundation of congregational life, we, the members of the South Nassau Unitarian Universalist Congregation, enter into covenant with one another to ensure the well-being of all members as we live out our Unitarian Universalist principles.

We promise to:
• Exercise compassion and sensitivity in understanding and supporting the needs, opinions and views of others.
• Assume good intentions and ask for clarity when in doubt.
• Participate as fully as possible in the life of the congregation, recognizing that our greatest potential is realized when we are all involved.
• Listen deeply to one another with an open heart and an open mind.
• Address concerns directly with the person or persons with whom there is an issue or, secondarily, seek mediation to resolve the issue.
• Approach each interaction as an opportunity to learn from one another.
• Honor and embrace diversity in all its manifestations, within a safe, positive and nurturing environment.
• Respect the democratic process by abiding by the decisions of the majority of the congregation.
• Keep confidences.
• Ensure thoughtfulness and respect in oral and written communications.
• Appropriately address behaviors which threaten the safety and well-being of individuals and our community.

Approved by the Board of Trustees
on May 18, 2019; adopted on May 19, 2019,
at the Biannual Congregational Meeting

A few more thoughts on what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist

Every religious tradition requires sacrifice of its adherents. To be religious is to do what you sometimes don't want to do, because you know that it is the right thing to do. Some religious traditions require adherence to strict rules about what foods to eat and what prayers to say. Other religious traditions require adherence to certain statements about God or about those who are seen as God's representatives on earth.

Unitarian Universalism, as a liberal religious tradition, allows for each individual to come to their own conclusions about religious doctrine and creed. But our tradition does require a certain way of being in the world which is challenging and even sacrificial. The religiously liberal way of life requires a degree of humility that is hard to live out. We must subject ourselves to constantly considering opinions that we don't currently agree with or understand. In this way, we sacrifice some of our natural individualism in the service of community. Simply having your own opinions about God, the universe and everything doesn't make you a Unitarian Universalist. What makes one a UU is a commitment to sharing your thoughts and beliefs with your community of faith, in the most humble way possible. And as difficult as that is, the more difficult part is to have the humility to listen with love to what others think and believe, no matter how different they are from yours.

As a part of this liberal religious life, we find a way to worship together even though we are atheists and Christians, humanists and Jews, agnostics and spiritualists all mixed together. This is a difficult and continuous challenge. The rewards are integrity, community, and joyful engagement with all of life's most important questions.

Still have questions? So do we!
Click here for answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) from the UUA
The seven principles which Unitarian Universalist congregations affirm and promote

UU-Tube (i.e., YouTube) Clips
Voices of a Liberal Faith - Unitarian Universalists
Why I Am Unitarian Universalist