The Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara was founded in 1876 as a beacon of progressive religion in Santa Barbara.

Today, we are a thriving community of all ages that engages the mind, heart and spirit. We strive to live with integrity, nurture wonder, and inspire action.

We gather on Sunday for worship services, and we connect afterward during our social hour with a cup of coffee, tea, and good conversation. Our worship services are also available online. But we are not just a Sunday-morning community! We have regular events all throughout the week, so take a look at our calendar of events. We work for justice in the world with many outreach and volunteer opportunities, and we have smaller groups that meet where people can form deep connections with one another. We have classes for children as well as adults, and our campus is used by many groups in the wider community.

If you are seeking a religion that speaks to your mind as well as your heart, a spiritual community with doors wide open to the world, you are welcome here. Meet our minister and staff.

Community. Courage. Love. Diversity. Generosity. Joy.

These are the cornerstones of our congregation.

What Is Unitarian Universalism?

• Although our historical roots are in the Christian and Jewish traditions, we have become a faith that welcomes insights from many sources, including world religions and philosophies as well as the arts and sciences.
• Unitarian Universalism is a liberal religion — that is, a religion that keeps an open mind to the religious questions people have struggled with in all times and places.
• We believe that personal experience, conscience, and reason should be the final authorities in religion, and that in the end, religious authority is not found in a book or person, but within ourselves.
• We are a “non-creedal” religion: we do not ask anyone to subscribe to a creed or statement of faith.
• However, we do strongly affirm and promote seven ethical statements that constitute our Unitarian Universalist Principles (see below).

Unitarian Universalism references: Unitarian Universalist Origins: Our Historic Faith By Mark W. Harris

Shared Values 

As Unitarian Universalists, we covenant, congregation-to-congregation and through our Association, to support and assist one another in our ministries. We draw from our heritages of freedom, reason, hope, and courage, building on the foundation of love.

Love is the power that holds us together and is at the center of our shared values. We are accountable to one another for doing the work of living our shared values through the spiritual discipline of Love.

Inseparable from one another, these shared values are:

• Interdependence. We honor the interdependent web of all existence. With reverence for the great web of life and with humility, we acknowledge our place in it.
  • We covenant to protect Earth and all beings from exploitation. We will create and nurture sustainable relationships of care and respect, mutuality and justice. We will work to repair harm and damaged relationships.
• Pluralism. We celebrate that we are all sacred beings, diverse in culture, experience, and theology.
  • We covenant to learn from one another in our free and responsible search for truth and meaning. We embrace our differences and commonalities with Love, curiosity, and respect.
• Justice. We work to be diverse multicultural Beloved Communities where all thrive.
  • We covenant to dismantle racism and all forms of systemic oppression. We support the use of inclusive democratic processes to make decisions within our congregations, our Association, and society at large.
• Transformation. We adapt to the changing world.
  • We covenant to collectively transform and grow spiritually and ethically. Openness to change is fundamental to our Unitarian and Universalist heritages, never complete and never perfect.
• Generosity. We cultivate a spirit of gratitude and hope.
  • We covenant to freely and compassionately share our faith, presence, and resources. Our generosity connects us to one another in relationships of interdependence and mutuality.
• Equity. We declare that every person is inherently worthy and has the right to flourish with dignity, love, and compassion.
  • We covenant to use our time, wisdom, attention, and money to build and sustain fully accessible and inclusive communities.

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.