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Love at the Center: Unitarian Universalist Theologies
“Given everything our world faces today, having faith in love is no small thing.” —Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt
Unitarian Universalists as a progressive religious community hold a humbling expectation to periodically re-evaluate the freely chosen covenant that holds us together. While this work impacts the bylaws that define our governance structures, it also gives life to the values we express in common cause. We do this work to live into the Unitarian Universalism of the future.
In response to the Article II Study Commission and the more than 10,000 Unitarian Universalists who answered complex questions about the values that guide their faithful living, it is clear that the value most describe as central to their faith, to their living, and to the mission of their congregations is love itself. We are a people guided by, and centered in, our engagement with all that love requires.
Our pressing task now is to ask ourselves and each other how this understanding calls us forward, individually and collectively. We may agree that love is central, but what does that mean to us and what does it require of us? It is in that spirit that we asked more than two dozen leaders in our movement the question of what it means to put love at the center of our faith.
In these pages, you’ll find personal testimony to love’s power, reminders of the centrality of love throughout the long histories of Universalism and Unitarianism, and theologies of love drawn from many different expressions of Unitarian Universalism—from the natural world to the justice rally, to a loved one’s deathbed, to the quiet moment before a worship service begins. May Love at the Center serve as an invitation to deepen your own understanding and practices of love.
Unitarian Universalists as a progressive religious community hold a humbling expectation to periodically re-evaluate the freely chosen covenant that holds us together. While this work impacts the bylaws that define our governance structures, it also gives life to the values we express in common cause. We do this work to live into the Unitarian Universalism of the future.
In response to the Article II Study Commission and the more than 10,000 Unitarian Universalists who answered complex questions about the values that guide their faithful living, it is clear that the value most describe as central to their faith, to their living, and to the mission of their congregations is love itself. We are a people guided by, and centered in, our engagement with all that love requires.
Our pressing task now is to ask ourselves and each other how this understanding calls us forward, individually and collectively. We may agree that love is central, but what does that mean to us and what does it require of us? It is in that spirit that we asked more than two dozen leaders in our movement the question of what it means to put love at the center of our faith.
In these pages, you’ll find personal testimony to love’s power, reminders of the centrality of love throughout the long histories of Universalism and Unitarianism, and theologies of love drawn from many different expressions of Unitarian Universalism—from the natural world to the justice rally, to a loved one’s deathbed, to the quiet moment before a worship service begins. May Love at the Center serve as an invitation to deepen your own understanding and practices of love.
- GenresNonfiction
266 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 30, 2024
58 people are currently reading
47 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 26, 2024
A moving, thoughtful collection of essays and musings on the meaning of love and how it can and should be at the center of Unitarian Universalist theology. It is an interesting collection of insight on UUs past and present, and what a dedicated focusing on love - in its many iterations - would look like for UU-ism in the future.
It does suffer from a bit of navel gazing and humble bragging, but that's almost to be expected in a project so wide reaching yet personal.
It does suffer from a bit of navel gazing and humble bragging, but that's almost to be expected in a project so wide reaching yet personal.
September 2, 2025
Love at the Center from a variety of perspectives
I appreciated the different perspectives. It's easy to say we are beloved, but much harder to convince people, including me, that it is true. We read this book for our Conversations on our Faith book group and had some very engaging discussions.
I appreciated the different perspectives. It's easy to say we are beloved, but much harder to convince people, including me, that it is true. We read this book for our Conversations on our Faith book group and had some very engaging discussions.
July 10, 2024
This anthology is packed with evocative, thought-provoking prose and theological reflection. Respected elders mix with insightful newcomers in sharing their wisdom about a faith centered in love.
September 29, 2024
a book I’m sure I’ll return to ; well done team
February 28, 2025
Enjoyed reading the book overall, some of the writings resonated more than others.
September 21, 2025
Hearing from the different voices about their understanding of love and theology gave me a deeper understanding of Article II of the UUA By laws and deeper appreciation of Unitarian Universalism.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews