First Unitarian Congregational Society, in Brooklyn, is a Unitarian Universalist congregation in Brooklyn, NY. The Society was established in 1833, and is celebrating its 175th anniversary in 2008. It is one of the earliest Unitarian congregations established in the United States, established just 8 years after the American Unitarian Association was formed in 1825.
First Unitarian has a thriving and growing community of members and offers religious education and numerous social justice programs and initiatives. It also features a highly regarded music program, including weekly music presentations during services that range from traditional hymns and choral arrangements to jazz improvisations and special guest musicians. First Unitarian is also the home of an acoustic music festival, First Acoustics, featuring live folk and jazz concerts during the fall and spring.
The Congregation holds weekly services on Sundays at 11am in its historic Brooklyn Heights sanctuary, at the corner of Pierrepont Street and Monroe Place. The current Senior Minister is Rev. Dr. Patrick O'Neill.
Today, the church is a declared Peace Site as well as a Welcoming Congregation, affirming its support for Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian and Transgender people. First Unitarian is also a part of the Heights & Hill Council, serving the elder population of Brooklyn, and a founding member of the Brooklyn Interfaith for Action.
Read more about First Unitarian Congregational Society: History
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“I am so much a Unitarian as this: that I believe the human mind can admit but one God, and that every effort to pay religious homage to more than one being goes to take away all right ideas.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
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