Unitarian Christian Church of America
We warmly welcome you to the UCCA. We believe we are a “faith whose time has come, indeed a faith for today.” Our aim is not to impose a specific belief but to unite with others to promote, educate, and improve a “way of living” in harmony and peace with everyone.
The world we live in is not what God intended for it to be. The old ways no longer work, nor are they relevant; it is time for an “awakening.” Our spiritual needs are unmet as we have evolved, creating a growing spiritual and moral void that must be addressed.
We invite you to join us in becoming the revival that awakens humanity into the next century and beyond. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us. The time is right, the need is clear, and the answer is waiting.
The UCCA teaches that life should be lived with love, humility, compassion, spiritual openness, and a commitment to personal and communal flourishing.
"First, liberty, freedom of the individual to think, think as he will or think as he must; but not liberty for the sake of itself. Liberty for the sake of finding the truth"
- Minot J. Savage, Our Unitarian Gospel (p. 9).
A FAITH WHOSE TIME HAS COME
A FAITH FOR TODAY
A Message for Today's World
We sincerely hope you'll find a comfortable and welcoming environment and new home here with us. When we come together, our goal is not to impose personal faith or judge honest individual differences. Instead, we strive to unite through our love for God and to live in truth, peace, and love for all humankind and all of God’s creation.
As our Platform may be unfamiliar to you, we invite you to take this opportunity to learn more about who we are and what we believe. The UCCA is genuinely committed to a “faith whose time has come, indeed, a faith for today.”
We welcome everyone who chooses to participate in living our Platform. Those who actively practice our Universal Principle embodied within our Foundational Beliefs and to the best of their abilities, live the faith we share as a way of life, not just a statement made when convenient or appropriate.
The Pastor's Weekly Sermon
POPULARITY CONTEST
May 17, 2026
“Avoid popularity; it has many snares, and no real benefit.” – William Penn, Quaker theologian, religious freedom advocate, and founder of Pennsylvania.
What a statement from a man who was expelled from Oxford for protesting compulsory chapel attendance and arrested for practicing Quakerism and speaking against the doctrine of the trinity. He spent his life advocating for freedom of conscience and the dignity of the individual soul, and he suffered much for his unpopular ideas. His contemporaries, on the other hand, didn’t suffer for their popular ones.
We now live in a culture even more fascinated with popularity. Social media teaches us to measure value in likes, shares, followers, and applause. The louder voice is often treated as the truer one. The more popular opinion is framed as the better opinion. Even small things become battlegrounds for approval. Mention liking an unpopular movie, book, or perspective online, and you’re apt to see some ridicule following quickly. Many people learn to remain silent to avoid becoming targets, or find themselves changing their views, maybe unconsciously, to match the ones being pushed on them.
But popularity has never been a reliable measure for truth or goodness.
History reminds us of this constantly, even outside of Penn’s story. Harmful ideas have often become popular because they were backed by power, fear, wealth, or coercion. So many religious movements have spread, not through love or understanding, but through force and intimidation. Look at the pattern of conquest, crusade, and suppressive legislation! Even today, some voices maintain influence by warning people what will happen if they leave, question, or disagree, or indeed if they do not accept and join. Fear has a way of gathering crowds. Condemnation has a way of creating conformity. But neither necessarily produces goodness or truth.
The early Christians pointed us toward something different.
In the First Epistle of John, we read, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” Fear and love are entirely in contrast, according to the early followers of Jesus. Fear may control people for a time, even a long time, but love is what transforms them. Fear narrows the soul. Love opens it.
Jesus himself even warned about the dangers of universal approval and popularity. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is quoted as saying, “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.” What a statement by our teacher! It reminds us that popularity and righteousness are quite often not companions at all. Sometimes, the voices most celebrated are simply the voices telling people what they already want to hear, “tickling their ears” as it were.
The call of faith is not to chase approval, dominance, or influence. It is not to win popularity contests. It is not to abandon our goodness when the world demands fear, hate, and harshness in the name of our teacher Jesus. The call of faith is to love God and love our neighbors. Period.
Sometimes that path may be applauded, it’s true. But that will not consistently be the case. I’d venture to say that most times, this path may seem quiet, overlooked, or even downright unpopular. But kindness does not become less true simply because it is unfashionable. Compassion does not become less sacred or less of a calling because it lacks a crowd. Freedom of conscience does not become less holy because others mock it.
The measure of faith not in how loud it can shout, nor in how many people it can pressure into agreement. The measure of faith is whether it produces love, peace, humility, and freedom in the heart.
Those are not things that need to be forced upon anyone. They simply need the ice around them to melt away.
“The fear of others lays a snare, but one who trusts in the LORD is secure.” – Proverbs 29:25
Rev. Dr. Brian J. Kelley
Executive Pastor, Unitarian Christian Church of America (UCCA)
A Layman's Perspective
A TRINITARIAN NO LONGER—Article X in a series
May 15, 2026
A TRINITARIAN NO LONGER
So, I had found that my religious beliefs were not at all orthodox or Trinitarian Christian:
I do not believe in exclusive “salvation” through Jesus, but that we all can be “put right with God” by following His will;
I do not believe in the literal, physical Resurrection, but in a spiritual resurrection from death to “eternal life” in the spirit;
I am skeptical of the miracles attributed to Jesus, particularly those which challenge our understanding of science and nature;
I do not believe that the Bible is “the infallible word of God,” rather a sacred but fallible text full of spiritual inspiration, particularly the teachings of Jesus found in the New Testament;
I do not believe that Jesus is God, but that he is a Godsend to humanity—not “God incarnate” but the “spirit of God” incarnate.
If not a Trinitarian, then what am I?
From some time in the past, I remember hearing something about “Unitarian.” Only knowing that it was different from “Trinitarian,” I decided to check it out.
My wife and I attended a few services at a “Unitarian” church in our hometown but did not hear God or Jesus mentioned once—I was at least looking for a church which was theistic and which considered Jesus to be a spiritual light. It turned out that this church was Unitarian Universalist (UU) which is not necessarily oriented toward Jesus or even theistic. And at this time, most Unitarian churches are UU.
Alas, what to do now?
Carroll “Chip” Fossett
UCCA General Council
