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Christians who believe in Universalism often write to us at Christian-Universalism.com asking where they should go to church. Unfortunately, we have been unable to provide much information -- nor has anyone else who maintains other Christian Universalist websites. God willing, that is about to change! Christian Universalism has a rich ecclesiastical history, but it ceased to exist as a specific denomination in 1961. In that year, the Universalist Church of America merged with the Unitarians to form the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). With this merger, the only Christian Universalist organization of churches -- what was once a large and influential denomination in the United States -- died an ignoble death and was largely forgotten. The UUA does not affirm basic Christian teachings, and Christians have been leaving this organization over the past few decades as it has drifted into secular humanism. There are no denominations of Christianity that currently teach universal reconciliation as an official part of their creed -- though a few seem to be becoming more tolerant and open-minded about the issue of salvation and may include significant numbers of ministers who privately believe that all souls will be saved, but who may be afraid to talk about this subject unless asked by a sympathetic inquirer. Therefore, finding a church to attend where a Christian Universalist can feel fully comfortable is often a difficult process of "church shopping" and discussing theology with various ministers, in the hope of finding one who is both a Christian and a Universalist. Eric Stetson, the founder and webmaster of Christian-Universalism.com, has decided that the time has come to try to create a comprehensive list of all the churches and religious meeting groups across America and around the world with leaders who believe in Christian Universalism. This will involve contacting hundreds of people active in the Christian Universalist movement and many thousands of churches from several targeted denominations; collecting information, evaluating and filtering it, and entering it into a spreadsheet; and systematically organizing and presenting relevant information about Christian Universalist congregations for the use of the general public. This is the #1 project of Eric's ministry for the year 2006. It is a massive undertaking, but one that is much needed and long overdue -- and Eric feels called to put forth a serious effort toward accomplishing it. If successful, it will be the first time this has ever been done. This groundbreaking project is called the Christian Universalist Churches Database and Directory Project. Ultimately, its goal is to resurrect Christian Universalism as an ecclesiastical identity -- not as an exclusive denomination or sect, but simply as a network or fellowship of like-minded ministers and churches from a variety of backgrounds, traditions, and types of Christianity -- and to make freely available in a searchable online database a wide range of information about hundreds of such congregations. This will enable people who agree with Christian Universalism who are looking for a place of worship in their area to find one quickly and easily, and learn what they need to know to decide if a particular congregation may be right for them. Here is an example of the kind of detailed information we hope to provide about every church in this directory. Here is another example. Making this vision into a reality will be a gradual process. We suspect it will take at least two years of diligent searching for the directory to grow to anything close to its full size. Our initial goal, by the end of 2006, is to have identified, surveyed, catalogued, and listed at least one church or meeting group led by a Christian Universalist in every major metropolitan area in the United States and Canada. This would be an excellent foundation to build upon. If we can achieve this, even greater things could be in store for 2007 and beyond. Eric Stetson cannot do this alone! He will do as much as he is able, as quickly as possible, but things will go much faster with volunteers. If you are a Christian Universalist looking for a church to attend where you live, or you simply feel called to help with this exciting and important project, we need you to volunteer today! Send an email to info@christian-universalism.com and Eric will provide you with detailed instructions for how you can assist in this effort and help us achieve our goals. Also, please send us an email if you are a minister or lay religious leader who has a congregation that should be included in this directory, or if you know of a minister or congregation that we should contact and consider for inclusion. We list not only "official" churches but also home-based groups, so let us know about those, too. If you are interested in this Churches Project and you want to stay up to date on what we are doing to search for ministers who believe in Christian Universalism, develop relationships with them and their congregations, and create a greater sense of intercongregational and interdenominational fellowship in the Christian Universalist movement, please subscribe to our new monthly newsletter, The Christian Universalist Connection. Below are links to pages listing the churches and meeting groups we have already found (91 total, as of early July). For your convenience, they are categorized by country, state or province, and metropolitan area. Congregations are only listed in this directory if their minister affirms basic Biblical Christian teachings and is a believer in universal reconciliation. The churches and groups listed here are not officially affiliated with Christian-Universalism.com, nor does this website necessarily endorse all their ideas, teachings, and activities. In most cases we have personally interviewed the minister, but in some cases we have only heard about the minister and church from reliable sources. A wide variety of types of Christian belief and worship style are represented in this directory. Please make your own decision about whether a particular church is right for you.
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Heavenly Father, please bless this ministry, lead multitudes to this website, and help them see the truth of Your love and forgiveness for all people through the power of Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the whole world. Open their eyes to Your true nature, take away their fears, and fill their hearts with the Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. |