We are a family of individuals joined together to seek enlightenment, growth, warmth, love, friendship, and spirit.
We believe in the freedom to be yourself as well as the freedom to believe either in god or no-god, based on an open, intelligent search of feelings, history and facts.
Our members come from backgrounds as diversified as their numbers. Past members of the Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, Unitarian and other faiths are represented, as well as individuals with no formal religious background. Yet, in common, we value a belief in the brotherhood of humanity.
SBUF began in 1966, when a small group of people decided to form a Fellowship in this area and were granted membership in the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA).
We are a lay led Fellowship. Members may volunteer to be on our Board of Directors, which is elected annually in May or June to serve from July 1 to June 30. At that time, the Board then selects its president, vice president, treasurer and legal secretary.
We hold weekly Sunday morning meetings with a variety of speakers and programs. Past programs have included ministers, psychologists, college and university professors, community leaders, travelogues, and our special "sharing" Sundays where we collage our own program with reading, music, thoughts and feelings on various pre-announced subjects.
Our other activities have included community involvement, social concerns, pot luck dinners, social parties, mountain retreats and workshops.
Membership cards are available every Sunday. To become a member, all you have to do is complete the card and sign it. As a member, you are expected to support the Fellowship financially and also with your talents and energy to the extent you choose. However, whether you choose to join or not, you will be welcome at our meetings and activities.
Our monthly newsletter lists future programs and ongoing activities. The best way to feel you are part of our Fellowship "family" is to share your energy by participating with us.
If you tend to be open-minded toward religion, then you may like our church. While our heritage is of the Judeo-Christian tradition, we do not require any belief in any certain religious dogma. We encourage our members to cultivate their own personal beliefs.
We're a warm, supportive fellowship that comes together in a loving spirit to be of help to one another and to our community.
In some ways we're like many churches. At our Sunday service we have an interesting sermon or program and often we sing. We have social activities and programs for everyone. We welcome people from all walks of life.
The Unitarian Universalist Church has a rich history. The Unitarian and Universalist churches were both founded over 200 years ago and joined together in 1961. We now have over 4,500 churches worldwide. UU membership has included Thomas Jefferson and four other United States Presidents. Other notable UU members were Henry David Thoreau, Alexander Graham Bell, Susan B. Anthony, Dr. Albert Schweitzer, Charles Darwin, Beatrix Potter, Whitney Young and William Cohen.
SBUF is a full member of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) and the Pacific Southwest District (PSWD). About 40 percent of our members attended the 2004 UUA General Assembly in Long Beach, California. SBUF contributed more that our fair share to the UUA, as shown by the gold star on the UUA GA Churches and Fellowships Status Board. To see a photo of part of the UUA Status Board taken in June 2004, click here . More than 50 percent of our members have joined the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC), so SBUF is a Justice Banner Society. In addition, there is a line item in the SBUF budget for UUSC, so SBUF receives the UUSC John Luther Adams Award.
SBUF is an IRS 501(c)3 non-profit and tax-exempt organization.
This page was last updated on October 8, 2005.
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