“Very few of my family or friends attend church. When I was a child I rode the bus to a Baptist church. After my family moved I chose not to continue going to church, I had not really thought about it since then. I had never even heard of Unitarian Universalism.

Then a friend invited me to a four-week course at Emerson based on a parenting book we had both read. It was a good class, and once the course ended, I visited Emerson’s website. The ‘100 questions’ page blew me away because it spelled out my own personal beliefs! I was touched and it felt like home. I and my family have been here ever since.”
—Doni Hieronymus, Unitarian Universalist since 2005, Emerson member since 2005

“I was raised a strict southern Baptist. Although I was anointed, I never experienced my epiphany. This confused me. One day our preacher said ‘Do not be fooled. Some people think they are saved, yet they are not really saved.’ My teenage years were very troubled because I didn’t feel certain that I would go to heaven. After that I became disillusioned. I didn’t know what I believed, but I did know what I didn’t believe.

Once I was married we began our search for a denomination, but the search went on hold while he went overseas to war. During that time I lived in Tulsa with my parents. One day I heard a friend comment ‘What I like about Unitarians is that they teach you how to live instead of how to die.’ Well, this interested me very much.

After the war, my husband and I finally connected with Unitarianism. During our children’s youth we started a Unitarian Universalist fellowship and maintained it for about ten years. After the children had grown, we became busy and did not attend church for many years. Then when my husband died, I felt the need of an anchor and found my place here at Emerson.”
—Lyn Benton, Unitarian since 1954, Emerson member since 2005