Newbie land of confusion (ritual, Kingdom, tradition, America, churches)

[diemjay]

Newbie land of confusion...

After a bit of checking it seems that I've found the closest 'church' in my area. I have to admit that I almost missed finding it since it wasn't listed on the UUA.org website (a link to the CUC was provided and it was listed there). The role of the ICUU in relation to the other groups is a point of confusion to me. I'm going to paste some of the information just in case any other newbies run into the same 'problem'. Depending on where you live (UUA, CUC, EUU & ICUU):

http://www.uua.org/CONG/results.php?...&submit4=GO%21

http://www.cuc.ca/

http://bob.swe.uni-linz.ac.at/euu/

http://www.icuu.net/


Prince Edward Island
Charlottetown

• UNITARIAN FELLOWSHIP OF PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
  P.O. Box 1292
  Charlottetown, PE C1A 7M8
  Phone: (902) 651-3612
  E-mail: bunty@isn.net

http://www.cuc.ca/


From UUA.org:
"Congregations Search Results

Your search returned 19 result(s).The following results represent only those congregations which are affiliated directly with the UUA. There are many congregations in Canada and elsewhere which are not UUA members. To find congregations which are located outside the United States, please visit: Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC) , European Unitarian Universalists or International Council of Unitarians & Universalists ."

http://www.uua.org/CONG/results.php?...&submit4=GO%21


From Wiki:

"The Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC) is the national body for Unitarian Universalists in Canada.
The CUC is a member of the International Council of Unitarians and Universalists...



Relationship to the Unitarian Universalist Association

Up until July 2002, almost all member congregations of CUC were also members of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). In the past, most services to CUC member congregations were provided by the UUA. However, with an agreement in 2001 between the UUA and CUC, from July 2002 onwards most services have been provided by the CUC to its own member congregations.
The UUA continues to provide services relating to ministerial settlement, youth (14-20) and young adult(18-35) programming.



Unitarians and Universalists

While the name of the organisation is the Canadian Unitarian Council, the CUC includes congregations with Unitarian, Universalist, Unitarian Univeralist and Universalist Unitarian in their names. Changing the name of the CUC has occasionally been debated, but there have been no successful motions. To recognise the diversity, the abbreviation is often written as U*U (and playfully read as "You star, you"). Note, not all CUC members like this playful reading and so when these people write the abbreviation they leave out the star(*), just writing UU instead."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Unitarian_Council




I am going to make email contact later tonight or tomorrow. I am very interested in visiting. My first impression of UU literature has been very good. I've felt as if a very large puzzle piece has been sliding into place. I'll be sure to drop a line once I've completed my first visit. It may take a while since I'll have to take a bus (or get a ride) into Charlottetown. I'll get there at some point though.

Cheers

P.s. Here's a video to watch. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEONfGP1aYE

[diemjay]

International Council of Unitarians and Universalists

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


The International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU) is a world council bringing together Unitarians, Universalists and Unitarian Universalists. The original initiative for its establishment was contained in a resolution of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches of the United Kingdom in 1987. This led to the establishment of the "Advocates for the Establishment of an International Organization of Unitarians" (AEIOU), which worked towards the establishment of the council. Rev. David Usher, a British Unitarian minister of Australian origin, proposed the 1987 resolution. However, the General Assembly resolution provided no funding.
The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) became particularly interested in the establishment of a council when it had to deal with an increasing number of applications for membership from congregations outside North America. It had already granted membership to congregations in Adelaide, Auckland, the Philippines and Pakistan, and congregations in Sydney, Russia and Spain had applied for membership. Rather than admit congregations from all over the world, the UUA hoped that they would join a world council instead. The UUA thus became willing to provide funding for the council's establishment.
As a result, the council was finally established at a meeting in Essex, Massachusetts on March 23-26, 1995. Rev. David Usher became the ICUU's first President.
The size of the member organizations varies widely. Some member groups have only a few hundred members; while the largest, the Unitarian Universalist Association, has over 200,000 members and is larger than all the other member groups put together.

Full Members

• Australia and New Zealand Unitarian Association (ANZUA)
• Canadian Unitarian Council
• Deutsche Unitarier Religionsgemeinschaft, Germany
• European Unitarian Universalists
• First Unitarian Church of Nigeria
• General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, United Kingdom & Ireland
• Ijo Isokan Gbogbo Eda (Unitarian Brotherhood Church), Nigeria
• Khasi Unitarian Union, India
• Kosciol Unitarianski (Unitarian Church in Poland)
• Nabozenska spolecnost ceskych unitaru (Religious Society of Czech Unitarians)
• The Unitarian Christian Church of Madras, India
• The Unitarian Church in Hungary
• The Unitarian Church of Romania (Transylvania)
• Unitarian Church of South Africa
• Unitarian Universalist Association, USA
• Unitarian Universalist Association of Sri Lanka
• Unitarian Universalist Church of the Philippines
• Unitarian Universalists of Russia (inactive)
• Unitarian Universalist Society of Finland
• Unitarian Universalist Society of Spain
• Unitarians and Universalists, Pakistan
• Unitarisk Kirkesamfund, Denmark

Provisional Members

• Indonesia Global Church of God

Emerging Groups

• Burundi
• Congo
• Cuba (2)
• France (Association Fraternelle des Chrétiens Unitariens de France)
• Italian Unitarians
• Latvia (inactive)
• Mexico

Associates

• Ulster Christian Unitarian Fellowship
• Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office (UU-UNO)
• Norwegian Unitarians (Unitarforbundet Bét Dávid)

Unitarian groups which are in contact but with no formal link to the ICUU

• Peace and Harmony Center -- Argentina
• Berlin Unitarian Church (Germany)
• Brazilian Unitarians
• Bolivian Unitarians
• Costa Rican Unitarians (apparently inactive)
• Croatia (UU Section of the Humanitas association)
• Icelandic Unitarians within the National Church of Iceland
• Doojin Christian Church (Japan)
• Free Unitarian Fellowship, Frankfurt-am-Main (Germany)
• Kenyan Unitarians
• Eglise Unitarienne de France
• Spiritual Seekers Society -- Hong-Kong (China)
• UU Fellowship of Puerto Rico

Principles and Purposes

PREAMBLE TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF UNITARIANS AND UNIVERSALISTS
We, the member groups of the International Council of Unitarians and Universalists, affirming our belief in religious community based on:

• liberty of conscience and individual thought in matters of faith,
• the inherent worth and dignity of every person.
• justice and compassion in human relations,
• responsible stewardship in human relations,
• and our commitment to democratic principles,

declare our purposes to be:

• to serve the Infinite Spirit of Life and the human community by strengthening the worldwide Unitarian and Universalist faith,
• to affirm the variety and richness of our living traditions,
• to facilitate mutual support among member organizations,
• to promote our ideals and principles around the world,
• to provide models of liberal religious response to the human condition which upholds our common values.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Council_of_Unitarians_and_Universali sts

[lilithu]

Sounds like controlled chaos. Yup, sounds like us.