Outstanding Unitarians and Universalists include John Adams, Clara Barton, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Susan B. Anthony, Adlai Stevenson, Eliot Richardson, and Whitney Young. Not as famous but equally worthy are the thousands of men and women in our congregations leading vital, dedicated, and useful lives. Our congregations are self-governing. Authority and responsibility are vested in the membership of the congregation. Each local congregation, called a church, society, or fellowship, adopts its own bylaws, elects its own officers, and approves its budget.
Every member is encouraged to take part in church or fellowship activities.
The UUA grew out of the consolidation, in 1961, of two religious denominations, the Universalists, organized in 1793, and the Unitarians, organized in 1825. The UUA provides resources and offers consultations to local congregations, creates religious education curricula, spurs social action efforts, expedites the settlement of professional religious leaders, supports Beacon Press, and produces pamphlets, devotional materials, and the bimonthly journal the World. Since its early work aiding victims of Nazi oppression, the UUSC has been helping people help themselves through service and advocacy programs around the world. The Unitarian Universalist Women's Federation, an independent membership organization, represents, organizes, and acts on the concerns and issues of importance to UU women across the continent. Another related organization is the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Larger Fellowship, which provides a ministry to geographically isolated religious liberals.