• Are you looking for a liberal religious community in which to seek spiritual growth?
• Would you like to consider religious questions with others who may not be certain that they have all the answers, but with whom you share many values?
• Would you like a church where people are held together by a sense of mutual concerns, rather than one tied together by religious law?
• Would you like to learn the wisdom of great moral leaders of every age and nation?
• Would you like to expand your circle of friends and join in celebration, worship, discussion, and education in an atmosphere of respect and mutual support?
• Would you like a church where your children can be helped to develop their own religious beliefs, without having any creed or dogma imposed on them?
• Would you like a community of individuals who will welcome your participation in the effort to preserve and extend the tradition of personal freedom and human dignity against the danger those elements face today? 

You may find what you are looking for at the Blue Hills Unitarian Universalist fellowship (BHUU). 
Click here to learn more about Unitarian Universalism, and read below for information about our specific fellowship.

History of the BHUU:  1981 - present  
The idea of Blue Hills UU Fellowship was born one evening at a dinner party where several parents were lamenting the fact that there was no local church that met their need for the freedom to be together as a family in a setting where their differing beliefs were respected. They were particularly concerned about the religious education of their children. They were interested in a religion that spoke to the issues of the day.

One of the women did some library research and came upon Jack Mendelson’s book Why I Am A Unitarian. After more research, correspondence, and a visit to the Madison Wisconsin UU church, a group of members decided to visit the Bloomington Minnesota Fellowship to see for themselves what Unitarian Universalism was all about. They traveled to the Minnesota Valley UU Fellowship where they met the Rev. David Phreaner and the Rev. Beth Ide who encouraged them to pursue their dream of beginning a UU Fellowship of their own. Emil Gudmundsen of the Prairie Star District Extension office helped with the particulars, and after several working meetings they came up with the following as their statement of purpose:

The following spring (1981) the Blue Hills UU Fellowship was accepted in the Unitarian Universalist Association with 12 founding members.  (What's the Unitarian Universalist Association?)  Since then, we have grown to include members from a wide geographic area. Our members come from many walks of life and many backgrounds. Some consider themselves Christians, some humanists, some agnostics, and some classify themselves in other ways, but all share a devotion to freedom, a commitment to reason, and a belief in the supreme worth and dignity of every human personality. 

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Visiting & Joining BHUU
You will be with many others in a situation where friendship and even love may be offered you, but your privacy will be respected, and if you choose to be alone, no one will beg or press you to share yourself. You will be given many opportunities to grow spiritually and otherwise, but if you wish to stay where you are, no one will push you into something undesired. Your ideas will be challenged vigorously, but your personal integrity will be revered. You will be—we hope—inspired to strive to make this world, or your part of it, a better, more wholesome place in which all people may live.

Membership in our fellowship is freely open to anyone—regardless of race, color, sex, affectional or sexual orientation, age or national origin—who signs the by-laws in the presence of a member of the congregation. While no pressure will be exerted on anyone to join, we rejoice when a guest decides to unite his or her religious quest with ours. Please feel free to contact any one of us about the privileges and responsibilities of membership, program, or Unitarian Universalism.

Is this the sort of religious community in which you can feel comfortable? If it is, then we invite you to sign our by-laws and become a part of this community. We hope that your life may be enriched by joining with us and that you may enrich our lives as well.

If you do join, you will soon receive a call and a visit from one of us inviting you to join those activities you would find rewarding and enjoyable. You will also be hearing from the chair of our Finance Committee who will ask you to make a fair-share pledge to the budget of our Fellowship. We will encourage you to get to know us—to give you as clear a picture as we can of how our Fellowship operates. This should help you learn where you can find the opportunities and challenges that best meet your desires.

We hope you will initiate many contacts yourself. You will find it easy and comfortable to share ideas and establish relationships with us.

Once every year, you will be contacted during the spring fund drive. The regular pledges of our members are the backbone of financial support for our programs, personnel, and church facility. The fund drive is conducted each year to make sure that your membership remains important to you, and to be certain you are not being taken for granted. At that time, in addition to receiving your pledge, we will be seeking your ideas about ways of meeting your changing needs and the continuing and future direction of our Fellowship.

You may have many other questions. Feel free to ask. You are part of the family now!

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BHUU Happenings
Sunday Services are held year long. From September through May, there is an Adult Forum Discussion and Children’s and Youth Religious Education held every 2nd and 4th Sunday at 9:15. Intergenerational Worship is at 10:30 followed by a coffee hour. During the summer months, there is Intergenerational Worship on the 2nd and 4th Sundays at 10:30. The youth group has additional evening meetings and other activities.  Fellowship activities for adults and families include

• occasional Sunday potlucks following worship
• child dedication ceremonies
• weddings and funerals as they are needed
• coffeehouses for talent, fun, and of course coffee
• annual service auction
• annual soup and ski
• participation in local parades
  
• various service projects, including Helping Hands dinner preparation
• plus a willingness to take advantage of each opportunity for fellowship and fun that arises throughout the year.

Our Fellowship holds an Annual Meeting in the spring where a board of directors is elected. Karen Kress is our Commissioned Lay Leader. She is available at 234-9251 for conversation and to answer any questions you may have concerning our Fellowship.