What Do UUs Believe?

Wy'east is a member of the Pacific Northwest District of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA).

There are seven ethical principles which Unitarian Universalist congregations affirm and promote:

• The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
• Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
• Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
• A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
• The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
• The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
• Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

Unitarian Universalism invites everyone to search for themselves to discover the source of wisdom. We hold up these principles of ethical living, while each of us must decide for ourselves why they are good.

What's worship at Wy'east Like?

Here's what our minister, Susan Maginn, told one person who asked about worship at Wy'east:

Every week we come to together to step out of the headlong tumble of the world to reflect together and to honor that which is worthy of our devotion and love. I would not say that we are there to worship a mythological figure, but I do approach worship services with the assumption that we are there to lift up our deepest yearnings and dreams for our lives and for the world that we live in, so that we do not carry these yearnings and dreams alone.

We lift up these yearnings and dreams - some people will lift them up toward others in the congregation, others will lift them up toward the source of love, and some may imagine lifting them up toward the spirit of God.

There is no one right way to worship here - everyone goes to the quiet of their being and sees different things - but worship we do.

• Each and every person is important.
• All people should be treated fairly and kindly.
• We should accept one another and keep on learning together.
• Each person should be free to search for what is true and right in life.
• All people have the right to speak out and vote about things that concern them.
• We should work for a peaceful, free, and fair world.
• We need to take care of our planet, Earth, the home we share with all living things.

The Flaming Chalice

Worship services and Religious Education classes at Wy'east begin with the ritual lighting of the flame inside a chalice. The Flaming Chalice has become a well-known symbol of our denomination. It unites our members in worship and symbolizes the spirit of our work.

Hans Deutsch, an Austrian artist, designed the Flaming Chalice as a symbol for the Unitarian Service Committee (USC) during World War II. After escaping the Nazis, Deutsch found help in the form of food, medicine and clothing from the USC. He was so grateful for the help that he went to work for the USC and designed the symbol that was put on official documents, buildings, and trucks so that those individuals needing to escape Nazis persecution would recognize the symbol and know help was available.

The flaming chalice originally stood for a life of service. People who were willing to risk all for others in a time of urgent need.

In our services today, the chalice symbol takes many forms and has a variety of meanings. Interpretations of the flame include: the warmth of love, the light of truth, a beacon of service to humankind, the divine light within each one of us. The two overlapping circles surrounding the chalice in the UUA symbol represent the merger of Unitarianism and Universalism.

For more information about Unitarian Universalism, visit the Unitarian Universalist Association website and 100 Questions that Non-Members Ask about Unitarian Universalism.

The UUA has created this video to try to explain what Unitarian Universalism is about: