Most people– some 60% of Americans– according to my understanding, have never heard of Unitarian Universalism. In fact, we get a lot of visitors at my church (Eliot Unitarian Chapel, in Kirkwood), who discover we are here by taking an internet quiz, say the “belief-o-matic” quiz on beliefnet.com who then discover they are “95% Unitarian Universalist.”

They have no idea what that means, so after a few clicks through, perhaps visiting the www.uua.org website, and then wondering if there might be a congregation in St. Louis, they click away and voila! They find us in downtown Kirkwood. Of all places!

The truth is that Unitarianism is inextricably wound up with St Louis’ history. It begins with William Greenleaf Eliot.  You can read about him on Wikipedia here. He has a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame because of his accomplishments.

This year marks the 175th anniversary of Mr. Eliot’s arrival in St. Louis,…

Okay, this may seem pretty obscure, but I’m often asked by visitors to the Ethical Society of St. Louis how Ethical Culture compares to Unitarian Universalism. So last month I gave a Sunday-morning talk on the similarities and differences between the two movements, which are both at the liberal end of the religious spectrum, and which share roots in free-thinking history, but which grew out of different traditions (Reform Judaism for Ethical Culure and liberal Christianity for Unitarian Universalism) and have different emphases and relationships to humanism. For those interested, you can hear my talk here. (Just click on the MP3 box to the right of the title–it’s about a half-hour.) If you’ve had experience in a Unitarian congregation and have a different experience to offer, please share it.