• Summer Services Begin at 9:30am. Directions

We hope you will find among us an invitation: to celebrate life together in a caring community, to welcome children in the communal experience, to honor the diverse religious backgrounds of an interfaith constituency, to engage in personal spiritual growth, to be present for others who also search, to cooperate in supporting the community centered in worship, deepened by educational and social opportunities, and to work together with others for a just world. If the journey begins with the first step, we hope it may be in our company.

We, the members of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Andover (affectionately known as the UUCiA), join with one another to create and sustain a caring community which:

• nurtures spiritual growth
• shares our Unitarian Universalist tradition
• values and celebrates diversity, and
• is a liberal beacon, grounded in hope, for a just world.

Our Mission: To Seek the Light of Truth, To Share the Warmth of Love, To Live the Energy of Action

Please read our Mission Statement and our Vision Themes & Provocative Propositions to find out more about what matters most to us.

Our congregation is free and self governing. In North America, Unitarianism and Universalism arose as alternatives to Puritanism in New England and the religious establishments in the middle and southern colonies. It reflected the same impulse in religion that the American Revolution did in political life. We are affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association to support our wider work and outreach. Within the UUA, we are a member of the Massachusetts Bay District, a group of 57 congregations in north eastern Massachusetts.

Unitarian and Universalist traditions in the western branch of human culture extend back to the time of Jesus (in practicing his Judaism, his theology was unitarian). It continued in various forms (usually persecuted as heresy by the majority faiths) until it emerged in such places as Transylvania (with the tutelage of a Unitarian king), Poland, England, and the Netherlands. Consistently we practiced freedom and tolerance, writing the first edict of religious tolerance in Europe, always with an openness to new truth. In time among us, there has emerged a truly global orientation to religious practice, finding among the many branches of world religious tradition insights into our shared humanity and guidance for the spiritual life.

Joe Zahka in the cloud forest near the equator.

Earthwatch is a non-profit with an interesting charter – to connect people to issues about their environment. It is Ecotourism with a scientific slant. Joe Zahka, physics and engineering teacher and a UUCiA member, journeyed to Ecuador’s “cloud forest” last month to work with a team of researchers for the nonprofit conservation organization Earthwatch. Joe will describe Earthwatch and its mission Sunday, August 1 at 9:30am at 6 Locke Street.  Come and share your stories of connecting with the environment. How has it changed the way you live your life in the USA.

A Water Communion is a gathering ceremony traditionally done at the UUCiA (and often used in Unitarian Universalist congregations across the country on “homecoming” Sundays). All are invited to bring a small quantity of water to the service, sharing why the water is special or representative of the summer.  As the UUA website puts it, “The combined water is symbolic of our shared faith coming from many different sources.” It will be wonderful to be together again, and to meet new friends.

At last year’s Water Service, Rev. Lara Hoke delivered the sermon, “Be Like Water.”

Let us remember to hold in our hearts the joys and sorrows of the whole company of humanity, whether they are spoken and shared or silent and solitary. May we find peace, wisdom, joy, and compassion along the way in our journeys. So may it be.

Opportunity awaits! Have you been impressed with our congregation’s volunteer speakers on Sunday mornings? Wondered if maybe you have a sermon or two in you? Now you can take the
plunge with minimal risk. Offer a summer service.

The venue is informal, the audience generally small, and there are outlines and suggested topics ready to help you out.

If this appeals to you, pick a Sunday and sign your name. The services start at 9:30am in the summer and commence on June 27, running through August 29, with no service on July 4. If you have any questions, please contact Betsy Black at betsyb01@yahoo.com, or any other member of the Worship Committee.