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Beacon Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Summit

Our Mission is to be a radically inclusive religious community that feeds the human spirit and heals the world.

We are committed to being by a Beacon in our world by ministering to our members and friends, reaching out to those in need, partnering with allies and advocates for transformation and joining our voices and actions in the chorus of justice. We are a regional congregation of about 450 adult members and 150 children who live in Summit and some 50 other area communities. Our building combines an elegant and intimate sanctuary that dates back to 1913 with modern classroom and meeting spaces completed just a few years ago.

Our Vision is a Welcome Table

We are a religious community that values each individual’s spiritual journey, and offers joy and inspiration for living with purpose.  At Beacon, our ‘Welcome Table’ offers diverse theologies, as well as a mix of generations, sexual orientations, cultures, classes, ethnicities and races. Our Table is rich in love, and inspires us to commit to:

  • Satisfy the human yearning for beauty, connectedness and awe; giving voice to a rich, religious pluralism.

  • Encourage deep searching of life’s unanswerable questions, while honoring the mysteries of life.

  • Be renewed by the gifts of one another and the sustenance we each offer. We celebrate that which connects us.

  • Grow through acts of generosity and leadership, for those who are here now, and for future generations to come.  We were all once strangers at the table, and we see it as our duty to prepare a place for others.

  • Prioritize, in our lives, the challenges of justice, peace making and sustainable living.

Our ‘Welcome Table’ draws us to be in deeper touch with what it means to be human as we engage with and learn from one another.

Beacon’s Congregational Covenant

Love guides this congregation. Love calls us daily to acts of liberation grounded in antiracism. We affirm that we live in the complexity of intersectionality and that building healthy and loving relationships is a spiritual practice, requiring both inward and outward focus. Thus, we covenant to listen deeply, speak compassionately, express gratitude, and embrace our unique diversity. We endeavor to communicate honestly and with compassion, particularly when we are in conflict. When we hurt one another, we will try to make amends, forgive and reconnect with an intent to repair, change and grow. Our purpose is to be radically inclusive, feed the human spirit and heal the world. In celebration of the common purpose that unites us and with the aspiration of Beloved Community before us, we will do our best to abide by this covenant.

As a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association, Beacon affirms and promotes the following eight Principles:

  • 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.

  • Journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.