Who are we?

Welcome to the St. Lawrence District Website
of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.

Our mission is to serve, connect and grow new and existing Unitarian Universalist congregations in our District.

Our commitment is to increase the number of vital, healthy, growing congregations actively connected in community and in service to one another and the wider world through our District and the Unitarian Universalist movement.

The St. Lawrence District is made up of 34 chartered UU congregations in upstate New York and northern Pennsylvania.

As set forth in our bylaws, the Principles and Purposes of the St. Lawrence District are:

• To cultivate relationships among member societies and their constituencies,

• To promote the religious life of those societies,

• To promote the establishment of new societies,

• To assist member societies to carry on active and effective programs within their respective communities, and

• To cooperate with the Unitarian Universalist Association for the promotion and fulfillment of its purposes.

The St. Lawrence District offers many services to congregations through its committees, programs, staff and consultants and through its relationship with our parent organization, the Unitarian Universalist Association.

You will find descriptions and details of these services throughout this website.

We are guided in these efforts by the Principles and Purposes of the Unitarian Universalist Association, as follows:

PRINCIPLES & PURPOSES OF THE
UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST ASSOCIATION

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 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.

THE LIVING TRADITION WHICH WE SHARE DRAWS FROM MANY SOURCES:

• 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.

Grateful for the religious pluralism which enriches and ennobles our faith, we are inspired to deepen our understanding and expand our vision. As free congregations we enter into this covenant, promising to one another our mutual trust and support.

The Unitarian Universalist Association shall devote its resources to and exercise its corporate powers for religious, educational, and humanitarian purposes. The primary purpose of the Association is to serve the needs of its member congregations, organize new congregations, extend and strengthen Unitarian Universalist institutions, and implement its principles.

Unitarian Universalist Association Bylaws