Welcome Visitors!
On behalf of the congregation we hope this site will help you get acquainted with the First Unitarian Society and serve as a guide to finding your way,
should you decide to explore the Society further. We've provided a few special links for visitors in the menu on the upper right of the screen to help you. We cordially invite you to visit us and attend one or more of our many worship services and programs. There really is no better way to get to know about us.
Meanwhile, here are answers to a few questions we're guessing
you might be asking about First Unitarian Society, and Unitarian Universalism
in
general.
• Guided tours of our National Historic Landmark building are available
Please check the current tour schedule for up to date information.
• How should I dress
if I visit your church?
Dress as you feel comfortable. In comparison with many churches
we are
pretty casual dressers. We do ask you not to wear scents
(perfume, aftershave,
hairspray, other scented personal care products)
to our services, however.
We have several chemically sensitive members.
• Can I bring my children?
Both you and your children are very welcome to our services (please see
our home page for times) and to our church school
and child care areas. Kids usually enjoy our classes and enjoy visiting. If
you would like your children to visit Church School it is helpful to come
a half-hour before the service and visit our Religious Education office, or
make advance arrangements. If
you do bring a young child or baby to the service and he or she becomes uncomfortable,
we have areas you can move to where you can hear the service but not disturb
others.
• How do I find you?
We are located at 900 University Bay Drive in Madison. We are very near
the West edge of the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, and just across
the street from University Hospital Emergency entrance.
Click
here for a map to our location.
• Can I get married
at First Unitarian?
Even if I'm not a member?
Yes. Many many folks, members or not, are married at our church.
Here is more information on weddings at FUS.
• Tell me about your
Religious Education Programs for children.
Our religious education program is very special, and is often why people
first come to our Society. Its goal is to "facilitate ethical and spiritual
development in our children so that they will be empowered to become free-thinking
individuals who know and respect themselves and others, contribute to their
human and natural communities, and make informed decisions regarding their
spiritual paths." More...
• I'm interested, but need more. How can I find out more about the Society? Glad you asked! Our Society has a special introductory course we call "New UU" just for such a question. The class is held quarterly and usually meets four weeks in a row. The cost is $7 per person. Contact Alice Delaquess for more information.
• Do you provide child-care?
Yes, we have an excellent, professionally staffed child care facility
for both infants and toddlers so parents can attend services, New UU classes,
and other meetings. More… (link to information to be provided.)
• How large is your congregation? Ours is the largest UU church in the United States, with 1,300- plus members, many "friends", and 400-plus children and youth in our Religious Education Programs. In order to make sure everyone is welcomed and included, we have several opportunities available for people to connect with smaller groups.
• Is First Unitarian
a "Gay Church?"
Our church is very supportive of the Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgendered
communities and the struggle against homophobia and heterosexism. In addition,
our Society is a Welcoming
Congregation, indicating that we have made special efforts to welcome
the GLBT community among us. Are some of us GLBT? Yes. But not all of
us, by any means.
• What do Unitarian
Universalists believe?
Unitarian Universalism is a liberal religion born of the Jewish and Christian
traditions. We keep our minds open to the religious questions people have
struggled with in all times and places. We believe that personal experience,
conscience, and reason should be the final authorities in religion. In the
end religious authority lies not in a book, person, or institution, but in
ourselves. We put religious insights to the test of our hearts and minds.
More...
Is your church Christian?
Although the roots of both Unitarianism and Universalism are
Christian, we are not now considered Christian. Our members are Christians,
as well as Jews, Buddhists, humanists, Pagan, Hindu, agnostic, and many whose
beliefs are informed by more than one faith tradition. In this church our
common bond is not a set of beliefs all must hold, but a community of respect
and support for personal religious and spiritual searching. Contrary to the
many Unitarian jokes, we do have a set of Principles and Purposes that guide
and inform all our activities.They are:
We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to 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.
- Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life;
- Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love;
- Wisdom from the world's religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life;
- Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God's love by loving our neighbors as ourselves;
- Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit.
- Spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.
Thanks for visiting our web site. Do you have a specific question that we have not answered? Please feel free to call us! Our telephone number is (608)233-9774 or you can e-mail our Coordinator of Member Programs, Jeanne Sears. If you have a specific program or area of interest, please visit the contact page for the e-mail address and telephone number of the lay or staff person who can help you.
