The Unitarian Universalists of the Big Bend held its first meeting at the home of Julius and Marilyne Dieckert on March 21, 2004, and has met for worship every Sunday since that day. During our first year, most meetings were held in the Rio Grande Room of the Holland Hotel, but on March 20, 2005, we moved into our permanent home at 1308 North 5^th Street in Alpine. We became a Texas nonprofit corporation on March 3, 2005 and received our charter as a member congregation of the Unitarian Universalists of Association of Congregations at the UUA General Assembly in July 2005.

We have always been lay led, while accepting occasional services from qualified ministers. Since moving into our current home, we have offered child care during services. We are now beginning a regular Sunday religious education program for elementary school age children. We currently have 33 members. Usual attendance at our services is between 25 and 30, not counting children in child care.

Our mission as adopted by our congregation is as follows:

The mission of our church is to create a welcoming community that nurtures each person’s life-long spiritual journey of faith, learning and service, strives for social justice and a healthy earth, and offers to all those who join in its endeavors a place of peace, caring and celebration.

We are a member Congregation of the Unitarian Universalist of Association of Congregations. As with other UUA congregations, we do not have any official creed and are open to a wide variety of individual religious beliefs. There are UU Christians, UU atheists and a range of beliefs and philosophies in between. We do, however, subscribe to a number of common purposes and principles, as follow:

We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalists Association covenant to affirm and promote:

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 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.

To learn more about Unitarian Universalism see the Association website at www.uua.org.

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