Last year we launched the UUHA Ambassador program. The purpose of the program is to strengthen the connection between the UUHA board and congregations. We hope to identify at least one person in each congregation to be an Ambassador. The role of the Ambassadors is to inform their congregations about UUHA and to increase membership in UUHA and thereby help strengthen humanism in Unitarian Universalism. Below you will find information about some of these Ambassadors

If you would like to apply to be an Ambassador, you can learn more about the program and apply online.

Eric Townson

UU of Winston-Salem Read more about Get to Know Some of Our UUHA Ambassadors »

We humanists love to talk and explain (and then sum up, before adding footnotes!) …but brevity can sometimes be better. The Journal of Religious Humanism challenges you to be creatively brief. If you were asked, upon entering an elevator: “Hey, what is Humanism, anyway?” And you had to reply before exiting, what would you say?

In one floor? A dozen words or fewer? Example: “Wonder, imagination, fulfillment, creativity, meaning: available to everyone – religious or not.” Marilyn Westfall

In four floors? No more than 50 words? Example: “Humanism tells me human life is … worthy of respect and care. Environmentalism tells me: to be human is to be part of an interdependent circle of all life. Environmental Humanism compels me to … reduce human practices that threaten the survival of life on earth.” Carol Hepokoski

In twelve floors? 100 words, tops? Read more about Submissions Sought: Humanist Elevator Speeches »

President of the UUHA...believe it or not, that title opens a lot of doors! I wanted to share a little bit of what it means to serve as President of our organization, and especially to share some of the conversations I get to be part of in this role.

Although we are relatively small, the UUHA is *the* UU group dedicated to humanism, which means we are often invited to represent UU humanism in different settings. The Secular Coalition for America includes the UUHA as one of their member organizations, and I try to make as many member meetings and lobby events as possible (and if YOU want to be involved, please let me know!).

I also serve on the Steering Committee of the Humanist Special Collection at Meadville Lombard--not precisely because I am UUHA President, but I think the role didn't hurt! The Humanist Special Collection "houses archival materials that document the growth and impact of humanism within both Unitarian Universalism and the larger world," and the Steering Committee helps to set direction for the Collection and to work for funding so that the Collection can grow and continue to serve the movement. Read more about An Update from the UUHA Board President »

Happy humanist new year!

What's a humanist new year, you ask? Any year where you are part of connecting the human family and honoring human worth, of course. We are grateful for the end of year gifts we have received from many of you, investing in the work we share and in the future of humanism within the UUA and beyond it.

If you haven't made a gift and you'd like to, please click below or send a check. And you can give us an additional gift, by sharing with a friend why you support the UUHA and inviting them to become a member.

Help Us Here!

Thank you for all you do to support the UUHA!

The Rev. Amanda Poppei

President, UU Humanist Association Read more about Happy Humanist New Year! »

Dear UUHA members,

Happy humanist holidays!

I love the holiday season—even with all the potential challenge for a humanist in sorting through family religious obligations, one’s own relationship to the Christmas story, or how to schedule both a HumanLight celebration and a solstice party on the same day. At the congregation that I serve, the Washington Ethical Society, we start the holiday season with a Stone Soup service and then have a totally over-the-top, elaborate, cookie-and-music-filled Winter Festival the second or third weekend in December. And when all that wraps up, I turn my attention to my family’s holiday plans!

Your own holiday season may be busy or calm, at home or away...but I hope that whatever it is, it gives you time to reflect on what is most important to you. And I hope that supporting UU humanists and spreading humanism far and wide are among those values!

We are thinking about that spreading part especially, even imagining (dare we say it?!) what humanist evangelism might look like. Keep an eye out for our next journal, which will feature “elevator pitches” about UU humanism and humanism in general. Read more about A Letter from UUHA President Amanda Poppei »

Not even a month remains until General Assembly 2019, the annual meeting of the Unitarian Universalist Association, convenes in Spokane Washington. GA continually ranks among the year’s most vital gatherings of members within the UU religious community.

And the UU Humanist Association cannot wait to be there.

The UUHA plans to offer attendees a series of exciting programs and exhibitions, each of them demonstrating the value of Humanism within the UU tradition. If you plan to be in Spokane between June 19 and June 23, we would love to meet you! Here’s where you can find us:

PANEL: “Whose Humanism Anyway? Answers from the Humanist Collaboratory”

When: Thursday, June 20; 4:30pm - 5:30pm
Where: Davenport Grand — Ballroom A Read more about Join the UUHA at This Year’s UUA General Assembly! »

The Unitarian Universalist Humanist Association is pleased to announce the 2019 recipient of the UUHA Person of the Year Award. This year the UUHA has chosen to award Vanessa Gomez Brake, Associate Dean of Religious Life at the University of Southern California.

Vanessa receives this award with the distinction of being the first Humanist chaplain at an American university to serve as an Associate Dean. As her USC profile details, Vanessa “works to support and promote university religious and spiritual life broadly conceived, and helps oversee more than ninety student religious groups and fifty religious directors on campus.” Read more about Vanessa Gomez Brake to Receive UU Humanist Person of the Year Award »

Dear UU Humanist Members and Friends, 

Happy December!

I'm so honored to be the incoming president of the Unitarian Universalist Humanist Association Board, and I'm excited to share with you a little bit of my vision. But I have to start with thanks‐‐to outgoing president David Breeden, who suggested that I move into this position; to the previous president John Hooper, who recruited me for the Board in the first place; and to all my fellow Board members. You can see their names listed at the bottom of this letter‐‐they represent different parts of the country, they are lay and ordained, they are longtime UU Humanists and new to the movement, and every one of them is fantastic. Read more about Help Us Fulfill Our Vision! A Message from our New President »

Dear Unitarian Universalist Humanists:

It was great meeting so many of you at our Black Humanism panel, our booth, and our Annual Meeting at General Assembly. Mandisa Thomas, founder of Black Nonbelievers and our Person of the Year, was an inspiring speaker.

Our General Assembly 2018 session on Black Humanism not only demonstrated the centrality of Humanism in the African American experience, but also the centrality of Black Humanism as Unitarian Universalists strive toward the liberation of all people.

I think that Rev. Dr. William R. Jones will someday soon be recognized as the central UU theologian of the twentieth century. His message harkened back to the deepest commitment of the Humanists who signed the first Humanist Manifesto, dedicating themselves to striving for “a shared life in a shared world.” Read more about A Message from the President on GA and Board Elections »

Dear UU Humanists:

The Unitarian Universalist Humanist Association (UUHA) Board of Directors appreciates the work that you do to promote humanism within your congregation. As the number of non-theists continues to rapidly increase in the US, we believe Unitarian Universalist congregations will thrive in the future only if programs that appeal to humanists, atheists, agnostics and religious naturalists expand. In order to facilitate this, we are initiating a new Ambassador Program.

What We Do Read more about Apply to be a UUHA Ambassador »