The International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU) is a world council bringing together Unitarians, Universalists and Unitarian Universalists. The original initiative for its establishment was contained in a resolution of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches of the United Kingdom in 1987. This led to the establishment of the "Advocates for the Establishment of an International Organization of Unitarians" (AEIOU), which worked towards the establishment of the council. Rev. David Usher, a British Unitarian minister of Australian origin, proposed the 1987 resolution. However, the General Assembly resolution provided no funding. Historic Unitarianism believed in the oneness of God as opposed to traditional Christian belief in the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). ... In comparative religion, a universalist religion is one that holds itself true for all people; it thus allows all to join, regardless of ethnicity. ... The flaming chalice is the universally recognized symbol for Unitarian Universalism. ... The General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches is the umbrella organisation for Unitarian, Free Christian and other liberal religious congregations in the United Kingdom. ...

The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) became particularly interested in the establishment of a council when it had to deal with an increasing number of applications for membership from congregations outside North America. It had already granted membership to congregations in Adelaide, Auckland, the Philippines and Pakistan, and congregations in Sydney, Russia and Spain had applied for membership. Rather than admit congregations from all over the world, the UUA hoped that they would join a world council instead. The UUA thus became willing to provide funding for the council's establishment. Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), in full the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in North America, is a liberal religious denomination of Unitarian Universalist congregations formed by the consolidation in 1961 of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church in America. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America North America is a continent in the northern hemisphere bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the... Adelaide is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian state of South Australia. ... Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest urban area in New Zealand. ... Sydney is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian state of New South Wales, as well as Australias largest and oldest city (founded in 1788). ...

As a result, the council was finally established at a meeting in Essex, Massachusetts on March 23-26, 1995. Rev. David Usher became the ICUU's first President. Essex is a town located in Essex County, Massachusetts, 26 miles north of Boston. ... March 23 is the 82nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (83rd in Leap years). ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The size of the member organizations varies widely. Some member groups have only a few hundred members; while the largest, the Unitarian Universalist Association, has over 200,000 members and is larger than all the other member groups put together.

Members

Full Members

• Australia and New Zealand Unitarian Association (ANZUA)
• Canadian Unitarian Council
• Deutsche Unitarier Religionsgemeinschaft, Germany
• European Unitarian Universalists
• First Unitarian Church of Nigeria
• General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, United Kingdom & Ireland
• Ijo Isokan Gbogbo Eda (Unitarian Brotherhood Church), Nigeria
• Khasi Unitarian Union, India
• Kosciol Unitarianski (Unitarian Church in Poland)
• Nabozenska spolecnost ceskych unitaru (Religious Society of Czech Unitarians)
• The Unitarian Christian Church of Madras, India
• The Unitarian Church in Hungary
• The Unitarian Church of Romania (Transylvania)
• Unitarian Church of South Africa
• Unitarian Universalist Association, USA
• Unitarian Universalist Association of Sri Lanka
• Unitarian Universalist Church of the Philippines
• Unitarian Universalists of Russia
• Unitarian Universalist Society of Finland
• Unitarians and Universalists, Pakistan
• Unitarisk Kirkesamfund, Denmark

The Australia and New Zealand Unitarian Association or ANZUA is the organising body for Unitarian and Universalist congregations in Australia and New Zealand. ... The Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC) is the national body for Unitarian Universalists in Canada. ... Deutsche Unitarier Religionsgemeinschaft (German Unitarian Religious Community) was founded in was formed in 1876 in Germanys Rheinhessen region under the name Religionsgemeinschaft Freier Protestanten (Religious Community of Free Protestants). In 1911 their newspaper took on the subtitle deutsch-unitarische Blätter (German Unitarian Gazette) because leader Rudolf Walbaum wanted... The General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches is the umbrella organisation for Unitarian, Free Christian and other liberal religious congregations in the United Kingdom. ... Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), in full the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in North America, is a liberal religious denomination of Unitarian Universalist congregations formed by the consolidation in 1961 of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church in America. ... Unitarisk Kirkesamfund is the Danish Unitarian Church, founded in 1900 as Det fri Kirkesamfund (literally, The Free Congregation) by a group of liberal Christians. ...

Emerging Groups

• Argentina
• Brazil
• Bolivia
• Latvia
• Puerto Rico

Other Associates

• Doojin Christian Church (Japan)
• Church of Iceland
• Indonesia Global Church of God
• Italy
• Kenya
• L'Assemblees Fraternelles des Chretiens Unitariens de France
• L'Association Unitarienne Francophone et Eglise Unitarienne de France
• Unitarkirken (The Unitarian Christian Church in Norway)

The Church of Iceland is the state church in Iceland. ...

Principles and Purposes

PREAMBLE TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF UNITARIANS AND UNIVERSALISTS

We, the member groups of the International Council of Unitarians and Universalists, affirming our belief in religious community based on:

• liberty of conscience and individual thought in matters of faith,
• the inherent worth and dignity of every person.
• justice and compassion in human relations,
• responsible stewardship in human relations,
• and our commitment to democratic principles,

declare our purposes to be:

• to serve the Infinite Spirit of Life and the human community by strengthening the worldwide Unitarian and Universalist faith,
• to affirm the variety and richness of our living traditions,
• to facilitate mutual support among member organizations,
• to promote our ideals and principles around the world,
• to provide models of liberal religious response to the human condition which upholds our common values.

External link

• International Council of Unitarians and Universalists