Our Mission Statement
Live Oak is an open, welcoming, and inclusive community, grounded in love, providing opportunities for spiritual growth for seekers of all ages and stages. We actively live our values of diversity, compassion and justice to humanity and the earth.
Our Core Values
In 2009, Live Oak adopted the following statement of our Core Values and Covenant of Good Relations.
We, the members and friends of this congregation, value:
- Inclusivity, opening our hearts and minds to those who have traveled journeys unlike ours, whose strengths and challenges may be different from ours, remembering that we are all precious, with our own special gifts to offer.
- Relationships with others of all ages, and the gifts that each generation brings to our community.
- A safe place to make mistakes.
- A welcoming space for all to speak their truth respectfully.
- The importance of deep listening and respect for each other.
- The democratic process, through which we give voice to concerns and offer our time and energy to arrive at solutions.
Our Covenant of Good Relations
In my interactions with others in this congregation, through all forms of communication and in all situations, I will:
- Welcome with an open heart and mind those who wish to call LOUUC their spiritual home, seeking their own path to truth and meaning.
- Express opinions on congregational issues with the intention of helping to make this congregation a better place for myself, Live Oak members and friends, and those who have yet to cross the threshold into our beloved community.
- Value and learn from divergent beliefs and opinions and remain in respectful dialogue.
- Speak honestly and directly to everyone using thoughtful, compassionate language.
- Assume good intentions in those with whom I disagree. If possible, listen deeply to and seek resolution with them before engaging the Good Relations Ministry in conflict mediation. I understand that I may call on the members of the Good Relations Ministry for advice and assistance as needed.
- Forgive the errors and shortcomings of myself and others who contribute to our shared ministry and express gratitude for the many gifts we bring.
What we believe
Our national association of Unitarian Universalist congregations, located in Boston, Massachusetts, recently conducted a study (2021-2023) and review of our Seven Principles, resulting in a recommendation to revise Article II: Purposes & Covenant, integrating the principles into a set of interrelated values, centered around love. At the 2024 General Assembly in June, this revision passed. The button below includes both the current Article and its previous iteration, passed in 1985 by the same democratic process used this June.
Values & Covenant. As Unitarian Universalists, we covenant, congregation-to-congregation and through our association, to support and assist one another in our ministries. We draw from our heritages of freedom, reason, hope, and courage, building on the foundation of love. Love is the power that holds us together and is at the center of our shared values. We are account-able to one another for doing the work of living our shared values through the spiritual discipline of Love:
- Interdependence. We honor the interdependent web of all existence. With reverence for the great web of life and with humility, we acknowledge our place in it. We covenant to protect Earth and all beings from exploitation. We will create and nurture sustainable relationships of care and respect, mutuality and justice. We will work to repair harm and damaged relationships.
- Pluralism. We celebrate that we are all sacred beings diverse in culture, experience, and theology. We covenant to learn from one another in our free and responsible search for truth and meaning. We embrace our differences and commonalities with Love, curiosity, and respect.
- Justice. We work to be diverse multicultural Beloved Communities where all thrive. We covenant to dismantle racism and all forms of systemic oppression. We support the use of inclusive democratic processes to make decisions within our congregations, our Association, and society at large.
- Transformation. We adapt to the changing world. We covenant to collectively transform and grow spiritually and ethically. Openness to change is fundamental to our Unitarian and Universalist heritages, never complete and never perfect.
- Generosity. We cultivate a spirit of gratitude and hope. We covenant to freely and compassionately share our faith, presence, and resources. Our generosity connects us to one another in relationships of interdependence and mutuality.
- Equity. We declare that every person has the right to flourish with inherent dignity and worthiness. We covenant to use our time, wisdom, attention, and money to build and sustain fully accessible and inclusive communities.
The Principles are not dogma or doctrine, but rather a guide for those of us who choose to join and participate in Unitarian Universalist religious communities.
- Rev. Dr. Barbara ten Hove
Unitarian Universalist congregations affirm and promote seven principles, which we hold as strong values and moral guides. We live out these Principles within a “living tradition” of wisdom and spirituality, drawn from six sources as diverse as science, poetry, scripture, and personal experience.
1st Principle: The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
2nd Principle: Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
3rd Principle: Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
4th Principle: A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
5th Principle: The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
6th Principle: The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
7th Principle: Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
The seven Principles and six Sources of the Unitarian Universalist Association grew out of the grassroots of our communities, were affirmed democratically, and are part of who we are. On April 5, 2021, the Black Lives of UU (BLUU) Organizing Collective encouraged all Unitarian Universalists to advocate for the formal adoption of an 8th Principle, articulating a commitment to the dismantling of white supremacy, with the stated principles of our faith.
“We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote: 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.”