At the 2025 Annual General Meeting of the NAUA we adopted a set of prinicples on an in intereim basis. After a year of discussion and possible ammendment, these principles will be voted on at the 2027 Summit.
The NAUA Board of Trustees is hosting a service of Zoom meetings (stay tuned for details) in which you can discuss these preinciples with other NAUA members. In addition, we invite you to add your comments in the threaded discussion below.
NAUA Interim Principles – Adoped at 2025 AGM
Preamble
North American Unitarian Association is a member-service organization dedicated to supporting and promoting the practice of liberal religion. Rooted in freedom of conscience, use of reason, and mutual tolerance, NAUA affirms the inherent worth and dignity of every person.
These principles and foundations are intended to guide the NAUA and our members to create better versions of ourselves and the world.
Principles
- Freedom of Conscience:
We affirm that each person is free and responsible to form and revise their own spiritual beliefs. - R espectful Relationships:
We approach each other with compassion, empathy, kindness and respect. - E xploration and Inquiry:
We continually explore truth, meaning and purpose, guided by reason and scientific inquiry. - E quity and Fairness:
We work toward an equitable, peaceful and compassionate world. - D emocratic Participation:
We share responsibility, power, and decision-making. - O ur Interdependence:
We recognize our connection with one another and the natural world. - M eaningful Human Dignity:
We acknowledge that every person deserves dignity, respect and the opportunity to flourish
(Mnemonic acronym: FREEDOM)
Foundations
We draw upon many sources, always open to new insight and deeper understanding — for inspiration, for reflection, and for the ongoing work of discovery, compassion, and justice. Among them:
- The wisdom of the world’s religious and spiritual teachings and traditions.
- The visual, performing, literary, and creative arts — as sources of truth, beauty, and challenge.
- Science and scholarship — always growing, always unfinished, always expanding our understanding.
- The lives and ideas of courageous and compassionate people whose words and actions provoke and inspire us.
- The natural world and our place within it.
- Personal experience — the particular texture of each life, the insights of reflection, and encounters with the sacred
Downloadable Version of Principles and Foundations
You have three ways in which you can provide feedback and suggestions in regard to these important documents.
- You can email the board at principles@naunitarians.org
- You can attend zoom discussion meetings (see issues of the Compass or check activities calendar)
- You can engage in the online conversation by posting a comment or reply below.
Please be considerate and respectful in your comments.
What do you ink about these principles? Any suggested edits?
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The Principles were ordered (in part) to make the FREEDOM acronym. Do you think they should be ordered by ‘most important first? If so which do you think is most important?
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