About Us, what would you like to know?
Who Are We?
The search for truth is a personal one—unique for each individual. Each of us is different and is affected differently by life’s events. The purpose of the Unitarian Universalist Church’s services and Religious Education Program is to help adults and children explore their own religious and spiritual ideas and feelings (as well as those of others of all times) in a friendly, non-judgmental environment.
Many of our members are active in the community in a variety of service, political, human rights, peace, justice, spiritual, and other organizations. We are a diverse congregation, and we care deeply about valuing that diversity and stretching ourselves to become even more diverse. Our efforts are apparent in our becoming a UUA-recognized Welcoming Congregation.
Our name, Unitarian Universalist Church of Fargo-Moorhead, is quite long and you will often here our church referenced to as the FMUU Church. Even our email and website has those call letters fmuu@fmuu.org and www.fmuu.org.
Sunday Services
Regular Sunday services are held at 11:00 a.m. from mid August through late May, with less formal Sunday programs in the summer. In addition, the church offers childcare for infants and toddlers during services. Several Intergenerational services for adults and youth are held during the church year. Members of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fargo-Moorhead (FMUU) are people not satisfied with easy answers. Our Sunday mornings frequently are filled with lively discussion on a variety of religious and social issues. Coffee hour following the service offers the opportunity to continue the dialogue.
Religious Education
Our Children’s Religious Education program includes classes for pre-readers through high school-age students. Classes are taught by volunteers from the church community. Some of the content areas covered are world religions, diversity, and social justice.
Adult Religious Education organizes classes to meet the common interests of established as well as new members.
FMUU Church Leadership
Our church is a lay-led congregation, with leadership provided by the Board of Directors, the Worship Coordinator, the Religious Education Coordinator, committee chairs and members, and many others active in the life of the church.
FMUU Church Local History
A group of Unitarians, led by Reverend William Ballou, met in Fargo between 1889 and 1919. In 1892, they built a church at 9th Street and 2nd Avenue near the Cass County Courthouse. The group disbanded in 1919, apparently because of the unpopular pacifist stand of some members during World War I. The church reorganized in 1952. In 1997, we serendipitously purchased the original Unitarian Church building, which had been in other hands since 1919, and moved back into our historic home. In 2004, we completed a building addition that increased our community and classroom space and made the building fully accessible.
FMUU Church Membership
Membership is open to all who wish to join the church according to the bylaws of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fargo-Moorhead. A financial pledge, while not a requirement of membership, is strongly encouraged. Church programs and activities are open to members and non-members alike. An orientation class is held twice a year for those who are new to the church. Those wanting to become members are ingathered during a Sunday service. If you are interested in church membership contact the church office for a membership form.
FMUU Membership Form
Get Connected!
The FMUU Church has three sets of email lists:
Regular Church email list:
Our regular list sends out email that pertains only to the church, church committee activities and Unitarian Universalism (sends out newsletter too).
Newsletter Only email list:
This list is for those who only want the newsletter sent to them. No updates on church activities are sent to this list.
FMUU Forum email list:
This list sends out emails that are not church related, but may be of interest to others in the church.
If you would also like to be on one or all of our email lists, send an email to fmuu@fmuu.org or go to the contact page and indicate which list you would like to be added to.
Unitarian Universalist Principles and Purposes
Our church is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association, whose by-laws state, in part, these principles:
We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote:
The inherent worth and dignity of every person
Justice, equity, and compassion in human relations
Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations
A free and responsible search for truth and meaning
The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large
The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all
Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
The living tradition 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.
The Unitarian Universalist Association shall devote its resources to and exercise its corporate powers for religious, educational, and humanitarian purposes. The primary purpose of the Association is to serve the needs of its member congregations, organize new congregations, extend and strengthen Unitarian Universalist institutions, and implement its principles.
Unitarian Universalist History
European
Unitarianism and Universalism trace their roots to the Reformation, when Michael Servetus spoke out against “The Errors of the Trinity”—thus Unitarianism. Universalism derives its name from the concept of universal salvation and rejection of the concept of Hell. Joseph Priestly, a Unitarian, and John Murray, a Universalist, brought these beliefs to America while seeking to escape from religious persecution in Europe.
American
In colonial America, Unitarianism and Universalism arrived at a time when revolution was in the air and people sought to free themselves from the influence of rigid Calvinism. Thomas Jefferson thought Unitarianism would catch on in America the way Democracy did. It did with people like William Ellery Channing, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Susan B. Anthony, Horace Mann, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Adlai Stevenson, Albert Schweitzer, and Frank Lloyd Wright. And, it has with a group of area residents who are members of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fargo-Moorhead.
Unitarian Universalist Association
The Unitarian Universalist Association, of which our Church is a member, was created in 1961 from the merger of the Unitarian and Universalist Churches. Both Unitarian Universalism and Democracy have as their bases free expression and respect for the dignity of every individual.