Are you looking for a new Church?
One where you are free to be spiritual in your own way?
A church where Buddhists, Christians, Muslims and Atheists can find their own spiritual centre?
A church where how you live your life in community is what is important?
A church where your individual spiritual path is something sacred?
Find out more about Unitarian churches in London and Southeast England.

 
 

Unitarianism Explained



What do Unitarians Offer?

Unitarian churches offer a liberal religion that draws from many faith traditions. Unitarians are people who identify as Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Pagans, Atheists, and others. Unitarians are encouraged to search for truth on their own spiritual path. It is the only religion to come together in a blessed community with such a wide range of beliefs.

What do Unitarians do in the world?

Unitarians have historically had an impact on social and political reform far greater than our small numbers would suggest. Many Unitarians have been pioneers in numerous fields, based on our declared commitment to social justice and equality. We were the first denomination to ordain women as ministers, and also the first to ordain openly gay men and women. Individual Unitarians have their own particular causes, but among the issues which the denomination continues to take the lead on are gay and lesbian rights, animal welfare and penal reform.

Unitarians in London and the South East

Unitarians have been in London and the South East since 1774, though many of our congregations date back more than a hundred years before that. For all of that time we have been in the forefront of radical liberal religious thought, promoting the primacy of individual conscience in matters of faith.

There are 28 Unitarian congregations in London and the South East. See the map for locations. You might wonder "If Unitarians promote the primacy of individual conscience, why do they gather in community?" We do so for two main reasons. The first is that, although we might each be on our own spiritual journey, we need each other for encouragement, guidance and inspiration. We gather to learn from each other, but we also gather to celebrate and worship together, to share life's joys and sorrows, and to know that we are not alone in our spiritual quest. But we also gather so that, together, we can be an influence for good in the world. We place a high value on serving the wider community, not just ourselves.

What We Believe

    Unitarian churches offer a liberal religion that draws from many faith traditions. Unitarians are people who identify as Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Pagans, Atheists, and others. Unitarians are encouraged to search for truth on their own spiritual path. It is the only religion to come together in a blessed community with such a wide range of beliefs.
 
 
 

"We did not weave the web of life. We are merely a strand in it." - Chief Seattle

"The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao;
The name that can be named is not the eternal Name.
The unnamable is the eternally real.
Naming is the origin of all particular things.
Free from desire, you realize the mystery.
Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.
Yet mystery and manifestations arise from the same source.
This source is called Mystery.
Mystery within Mystery,
The gateway to all understanding."

-Chapter 1, Tao Te Ching, written by Lao-tzu
Modified from a translation by S. Mitchell


"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." - Mahatma Gandhi

"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment." - Buddha

"The world is a rose; smell it and pass it to your friends." - Persian Proverb

"At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another." - Albert Schweitzer

"The strongest principle of growth lies in human choice." - George Eliot

"Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul." - Mahatma Gandhi

"Religions are many and diverse, but reason and goodness are one. " - Elbert Hubbard

"Without the human community one single human being cannot survive." - The Dalai Lama

"Church is a place where you get to practice what it means to be human." - James Luther Adams

"Difference of opinion is helpful in religion." - Thomas Jefferson

"We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same." - Anne Frank

"You need not think alike to love alike." - Francis David

"Life is just a chance to grow a soul." - A. Powell Davies

"Before we can forgive one another, we must understand one another" - Emma Goldman

"You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty." - Mohandas K. Gandhi

"Every human heart is human." -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'" - Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Hatred stirreth up strifes, but love covereth all sins." - The Book of Proverbs

"True peace is not merely the absence of tension, it is the presence of Justice." - Martin Luther King

"There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest." - Elie Wiesel