Unitarian Universalists for Polyamory Awareness (UUPA)

Wow, what a great thread! I attended a UU church for many years before some life changes moved me away. I always felt so blessed when I got to perform for the church services. I do miss the people at my old congretation and have toyed with the idea of going back to visit. This thread has inspired me to go find a UU church where I'm living now.

peace and blessings to all!
 
...I attended a UU church for many years before some life changes moved me away. ... This thread has inspired me to go find a UU church where I'm living now.

I hope you'll look us up at uupa.org

If and when you feel safe to do so, will you consider telling the minister and/or church members at your new congregation that UUPA contributed to your decision to return?
 
Been actively UU for about 7 years and attending UU churches on and off for much longer. I'd never heard of UUPA until now, but it sounds very UU, and I see no reason why UUs wouldn't support polyamorous relationships as we have same sex marriage. I flirt with going back to the United Church of Canada occasionally (many of their congregations are liberal to the point of being UU Christian in all but name) but can't quite wrap my head around giving up the diversity that I find in UU'ism. Nice to see so many other UUs and UU-curious folks around here. Will keep watching this thread.

Mendalla
 
I should have known this.

I have been a UU for almost 13 years. Served two terms as a board member. Was the volunteer Director of Religious Education for 3 years. On more committees and teams than I can count. Currently serving on the newcomers/membership team. I have also been working for over a year as the office administrator for the UU church I attend. And I NEVER knew this existed. Shame on me.:eek:
 
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Update on UUPA

In case anyone receives update notices on this thread, I thought I'd invite you to check out the new thread on the same topic. We just finished the UUA General Assembly in Charlotte NC, and UUPA had an Exhibit Hall booth again.

Jasmine
 
Thank you for sharing this. I am UU (and new here) and think this is a really great organization. Thanks!
 
WOW! I'm so glad I stumbled upon this thread!!! Hopefully this is posted in the right place!

My wife and I are and odd mix of religious beliefs, seems there's nothing strange about that these days! I have Pagan /New age leanings and though I was raised Southern Baptist I never really connected with Christianity. My wife is a "recovering" Christian with a new acceptance of the validity of other paths!

Neither of us are actively participating in any form of spiritual endeavor and we have discussed our local UU church as a possible way to pursue our spiritual lives together. However, we are in a tiny ULTRA, ULTRA CONSERVATIVE town in Pennsylvania near Gettysburg (also small/ultra conservative).

We are also considering approaching a poly relationship which compounds the problem we face! The local UU church is for all intents and purposes a Christian church. It is VERY apparent that any discussion or pursuit of poly, pagan or other alternative path knowledge/spirituality is largely frowned upon in that church!!!

It appears there are UUPA contacts "relatively" local (withing 100-150 miles) but no listing of UU churches that we might be a better "fit" with due to our interests. Does anyone know of a list that specifies a range of interests covered in each church? When we "google" it we get several hundred churches and we would have to sift through each webpage individually!!!
 
Finding a UU congregation in PA

My wife is a "recovering" Christian with a new acceptance of the validity of other paths!

Does she want to explore Christianity from this new perspective? There is an organization called UU Christian Fellowship, which will be holding a Revival near D.C. March 22-25. I highly recommend the organization and the Revival.
http://www.uuchristian.org

The local UU church is for all intents and purposes a Christian church. It is VERY apparent that any discussion or pursuit of poly, pagan or other alternative path knowledge/spirituality is largely frowned upon in that church!!!

I am confused. Are you talking about the UUs of Gettysburg congregation? They have a Pagan interest group called Spiral Paths CUUPS, as well as a Buddhist meditation group. Have you talked with anyone in Spiral Paths CUUPS?
http://www.uugettysburg.org/othergroups.htm

The Unitarian Church of Harrisburg also has a Pagan group, called Clover Grove:
http://www.harrisburguu.org/Lay-Led/clovergrove.asp

The UU Congregation of Frederick MD has both a Pagan group, called CUUPS, and a UU Christian Fellowship group.
http://www.frederickuu.org/home/index.php

We are also considering approaching a poly relationship which compounds the problem we face!

I encourage you to make an appointment with the Gettysburg minister. Tell her all your various interests and your concerns about acceptance, and ask which congregations she recommends you visit to look for a good fit. It seems she gets around to a lot of churches in the region, so there's a strong chance she'll have valuable info for you.

Worried about mentioning polyamory to a minister? Don't be. UU ministers have heard of polyamory. They don't all agree about what to do with it, but at least they've heard of it.

If you need to, you can say that Jasmine from UUPA recommended that you speak with her, or with any UU minister for that matter. And you can print this message and show it to the minister you speak with.

It appears there are UUPA contacts "relatively" local (withing 100-150 miles) but no listing of UU churches that we might be a better "fit" with due to our interests. Does anyone know of a list that specifies a range of interests covered in each church? !

Not exactly, but sort of. Visit the congregation search page on the UUA website and check the box that says:

"Show only congregations that have taken part in the UUA Welcoming Congregation Program to become more inclusive toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people."

The congregation search page is here:
http://uua.org/directory/congregations/index.php

"Welcoming Congregation" does not include polyamory. However, congregations that are recognized as Welcoming Congregations have completed an inclusion curriculum that can be helpful when it comes to talking and thinking about polyamory.

This search page shows 14 UU congregations within 50 miles of Gettysburg, 11 of which are Welcoming Congregations.

Harrisburg and Frederick are both Welcoming Congregations,

Jasmine
 
Thanks Jasmine,

Our information came from a couple of people that are by their admission former members of that congregation. We really should have gone directly to the minister and will.

We will approach her mentioning your recommendation, thanks!

We will come back here and let you/everyone know what we find out, you have been a big help!!!

John
 
Hi Jasmine,

We attended the Gettysburg UU church Sunday, it wasn't at all as described. Apparently the aforementioned former members had an axe to grind! It was however far too straight laced for us to discuss anything remotely related to poly interests. We spent over an hour after the services were over getting acquainted with several of the members. Sadly the regular minister is only in attendance only one or twice a month so our questions we have to await her return! Thanks for your info!!!

John...and Sandi
 
Sadly the regular minister is only in attendance only one or twice a month so our questions we have to await her return!

The minister's contact info is available on the the York church's website. If you make an appointment, then you won't have to try to "catch" her after the service.

Jasmine
 
The minister's contact info is available on the the York church's website. If you make an appointment, then you won't have to try to "catch" her after the service.

Jasmine

Thanks Jasmine, unfortunately about the only free time we have is on Sundays so it is probably best/most convenient to meet with her on a Sunday.

John
 
Were you able to meet with the minister yet?

Thanks Jasmine, unfortunately about the only free time we have is on Sundays so it is probably best/most convenient to meet with her on a Sunday.

All the more reason to make a Sunday appointment, so that she knows you are looking to meet with her. Otherwise, she might schedule a committee meeting or a meeting with another person.

Appointments are your friend.

Jasmine
 
Thanks Jasmine, your point is well taken. We've been a little too busy to go back more than sporadically too so an appointment would give us something to aim at!

John
 
Another UU-er here. Yes, it is pretty cool isn't it? I haven't met anyone from those groups yet, because I'm fairly closeted-(out of respect for my partners and our kids). I'm looking into seminary as well, but not for a while.
 
A long time ago I found that the the Unitarian Universalist Association Principles and Purposes resonated with me. And I was pleased to find that the Unitarian Universalist church has a pagan section called Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS).

Within the last few days to my happy shock I found that the UUs also have an organization devoted to polyamory.

Unitarian Universalists for Polyamory Awareness (UUPA)

I list this for others who might find it useful as some UUs who are also polyamorous may not know it exists. I have not participated in as many UU events as I would like but this does further increase my good feelings towards them and their efforts to include people from so many walks of life under a compassionate message.

~Raven~

I must admit that I've heard a fair amount of good things about UU. Not sure it'd ever be a religion I'd want to join, but their tolerance levels regarding different belief sets is phenomenal when compared to other religions it seems. And this bit about them having a poly and pagan wings sounds cool :)
 
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