International Council of Unitarians and Universalists

The International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU) is a world council bringing together Unitarians, Universalists and Unitarian Universalists. The original initative for its establishment was contained in a resolution of the General Assembly of British Unitarian and Free Christian Churches in 1987. This lead 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.

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.

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.

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.

The members of the ICUU, including associate and provisional members, are:

• 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
• 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)
• Sociedad Unitaria Universalista de España (Unitarian Universalist Society of Spain)
• 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
• 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

These are the Principles and Purposes of the ICUU as they were passed in 1995:

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.

Website: http://www.icuu.org.uk/