Love is the doctrine of this church.
The quest of truth is its sacrament
And service is its prayer.
To dwell together in peace,
To seek knowledge in freedom,
To serve human need,
To the end that all souls shall grow into harmony with the Divine.
This is our great covenant,
One with another.
Who are we?
The Unitarian Universalist Congregational Society of Westborough is part of a religious organization that is hundreds of years old in North America and twice that in Europe. We are a mid-sized, multi-generational congregation offering a host of interesting and enjoyable programs and activities that inspire and inform our spiritual, intellectual and emotional growth. Our members, drawn from Westborough and surrounding communities, support our church both financially and as volunteers.
Our society is committed to accepting and celebrating the diversity of beliefs among us. We recognize the value of religious education for both children and adults. We encourage involvement in community service and other social action projects. And we share the joy and fun that being part of a growing and flourishing congregation affords.
What do Unitarian Universalists believe?
Unitarian Universalism is a liberal religion with roots in the Jewish and Christian traditions, inspired by all of the world’s great thinkers, religious and otherwise. UUs believe in the importance of each individual’s search for truth and meaning. Unitarian Universalists are not bound by a statement of belief or creed. Rather, our members support each other in our individual efforts to define our own.
Our organization grew out of the 1961 consolidation of two religious denominations — the Universalists (organized in 1793) and the Unitarians (organized in 1825). Currently, more than 1,000 congregations make up the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA).
UU Principles
The member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association affirm and promote seven guiding principles:
1) The inherent worth and dignity of every person
2) Justice, equity and compassion in human relations
3) Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations
4) A free and responsible search for truth and meaning
5) The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large
6) The goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all
7) Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part
The living tradition we share draws upon inspiration from many sources:
- Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forced which create and uphold life
- Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion and the transforming power of love
- Wisdom from the world’s religions which have inspired us in our ethical and spiritual life
- Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God’s love by loving our neighbors as ourselves
- Humanist teachings that counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit.
Mission statement
To build an active, engaging spiritual home in which the diversity of belief, being and opinion is supported, respected and realized, and to create and participate in activities that celebrate and uniquely reflect our UU principles to the larger community.
Famous UUs
UUs trace their history to a long heritage of courageous people who have struggled for freedom in thought and faith. in the United States, including Massachusetts settlers and the founders of the Republic.
Outstanding Unitarians and Universalists include: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Louisa May Alcott, Clara Barton, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Susan B. Anthony, Adlai Stevenson, Frank Lloyd-Wright and Buckminster Fuller.
Local church history
1717 – Westborough was established as the 100th town in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The town included a Puritan Congregational meeting house, as required by law. Located on Lyman Street, it was the site of both town meetings and all-day church services on Sundays. Since it took many parishioners a long time to get to town, they brought their lunch to eat at what was called a “noon house” between morning and afternoon services. The historical records of the town of Westborough and this early congregation are intertwined.
1724 — The second minister was chosen and “ecclesiastically settled.” Rev. Ebenezer Parkman, for whom Parkman Street is named, stayed for 58 years. The diaries he kept were so thorough that U.S. medical authorities use them today to study disease in pre-Revolutionary New England life.
1755 – A new meeting house was built where the Arcade Building now sits at the rotary in downtown Westborough. The building was intentionally designed without a steeple or a bell. Later, Rev. Parkman’s son, who had become a successful Boston merchant, gave the congregation a Paul Revere bell so a steeple was built to house it. A parsonage was also added for the minister’s convenience.
1825 — Fifty years after the idea of a Constitutional separation of church and state was adopted, Westborough built a separate town hall for non-religious meetings.
1833 – The religious atmosphere was changing all over new England. Those who believed themselves to be more orthodox Christians were separating from those who held more liberal beliefs. In Westborough, those who leaned toward a belief in God as three persons as defined in traditional Christian teaching withdrew from the town’s original congregation and established their own church, leaving the meeting house to the Unitarians. The Paul Revere bell was sold to the Baptist church, where it remains to this day.
1834 – With membership at an all-time low, and with the railroad now frequently disturbing church services as it rumbled through town right outside the meeting house, the Unitarian church was closed. Members continued to meet in each other’s homes.
1848 – A lot was purchased at the corner of Ruggles Street and West Main Street to build a new church.
1849 – The present church building was completed. Until cars became the usual means of transportation, parishioners could hear their horses neighing in their stalls under the sanctuary during church services.
1920 — The church steeple was declared structurally unsound and was taken down. Its bell was given to the federated church in Berlin, MA.
1930 — The Forbes family, who did so much to support the town of Westborough, paid for a new steeple to be built. A new bell, which is still housed in the steeple today, was purchased from a church in nearby Woodville, MA.
1960 – Unitarians and Universalists nationwide united, forming the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA).
1997 – The Rev. Cynthia A. Frado was called to become the newest full-time minister of the Unitarian Universalist Congregational Society of Westborough.
