The theme for our Fall 2025 UURMaPA conference (Oct. 20–22) is derived from a choir piece, “The Faith Behind Freedom” that was first presented at the United Unitarian Advance Meeting in 1943, and later in a worship service at All Souls Unitarian Church in Washington DC, in 1945.
The chorale is an amalgam of statements contributed by ordained and lay Unitarians, who were convinced that in their heritage of free religion, historically centered in the struggle for a universal, free humanity, they find the faith that meets the challenge of the present hour.
The people who drew together the source material and gave the declaration its final form are the Rev. A. Powell Davies, the Rev. Delos W. O’Brian and the Rev. Dale DeWitt. For the worship service, the Rev. Vincent Siliman arranged the declaration for a speech choir and conducted it.
These are the opening lines:
At a time of world upheaval
when all things are called in question,
it is well that we should search their hearts
and know what faith they hold
and whether it can shape the present miseries
towards a happier future.
Many beliefs, once confidently held,
have crumbled with the coming of the modern age.
Others are falling now before the fury of the storm.
To cling to these beliefs means trusting in the effectual.
We cannot build the future with a worn-out creed.
Nor can we build it out of emptiness and unbelief.
We need a faith that truly reckons
with an age of transformation;
that knows the inner meaning of events;
that sees the coming victory of humanity
within the present tragedy and loss.
In 1945, the people who arranged the chorale and produced the worship service were certainly driven by current events. World War II was a part of everyone’s daily life in those days.
We (UURMaPA conference planners) were inspired by the words and realized they apply as well to our times and to our wars. We realized that we still fight today for our freedoms.
Thus, this fall we will we present some stories of the faith behind freedom, and hope they bolster your faith as you “shape the present miseries towards a happier future” and fight for freedom in these days of “tragedy and loss.”
Here are links to four documents that have informed our theme. They are photo copies of two actual documents from the 1945 AUA meeting that inspired us and two versions of the same documents retyped to be more readable.
We offer these historical documents in photocopy and readers versions in their original form without editing for gender bias to retain their accuracy as primary source materials.
A Chorus of Living Faith OOS (original).pdf
A Chorus of Living Faith OOS (readers version).pdf