Manatee Unitarian Universalist Fellowship marks 50 years in Manatee

For the past 50 years, the Manatee Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at 322 15th St. W. in Bradenton has celebrated being a place where people can embrace their spirituality regardless of race, gender or religious belief.

“It’s about spiritual and moral freedom with respect,” said the Rev. Dr. Bonnie Devlin, the first minister in the 50 years of the fellowship. “We all try to make it work under one roof.”

Unitarianism is not something new. It has been around since the Protestant Reformation of the 1500s, according to Devlin. The Puritans embraced Unitarian principles when they fled to the United States in the 1600s in search of religious freedom. It was officially recognized in the United States in 1825, she said.

Unitarianism believes in the “Unity of God,” and embraces other faith traditions, said Devlin, who graduated from the Harvard School of Divinity. Universalists follow the tradition of “working to serve the common good,” she said.

“People think we can believe in anything we can, but we don’t,” said Devlin.

Unitarian Universalism preaches “a vision of religious freedom, tolerance and social justice” and follows principles advocating “inherent worth and dignity of every person, justice, equity and compassion in human relations, acceptance of one another, encouragement of spiritual growth, the use of the democratic process within congregations and society, and respect for all existence.”

The Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations was formed in 1961 through the consolidation of the Universalist Church of America and the American Unitarian Association. Today the religion has more than 1,000 congregations worldwide.

Unitarian Universalist has sometimes been called the “social activist” denomination, said Devlin. They marched for civil rights and women’s rights. The Beacon Press, publisher of the Unitarian Universalist Association, published portions of the Pentagon Papers, top secret U.S. Department of Defense information about the Vietnam War.

“That’s the kind of thing you find out when you become a Universalist and you become proud,” said Lorraine Berry, who has been a member for the past six years.

Unitarian Universalists have been known as “the first” to support a number of social issues, said Devlin. They were the first to respect reason and science alongside religion. They were the first to ordain women. They were the first to become a “welcoming congregation,” and to accept anyone in their fellowship regardless of race, religious belief or gender, including gays, lesbians and transgenders.

“Diversity; that’s such a big part of who we are,” said Leslie Roell, a member since 1966.

But being an open-minded fellowship in Bradenton hasn’t always been comfortable for a congregation that often embraces divisive social issues, said Roell. During the 1960s, three of the congregation’s teens faced suspension from school for having longer hair than allowed by public school dress codes.