COVID Protocols

According to the current CDC system of measuring COVID risk, Philadelphia has moved into the Medium risk level a few weeks ago. We are very close to the Low risk level! For this weekend (September 25), we will be allowing up to 50 people in the Sanctuary, and we will have an in-person Coffee Hour in Fellowship Hall after the worship service with coffee, tea, and a few snacks. Please mask when not eating or drinking inside and maintain distancing of 3 feet between households/pods if possible. We will soon be deciding how to do Social Hour in the future. If you have ideas or would like to help make that happen, please contact Bruce.

Who Are We?

Some of us after coffee hour on a sunny Sunday. CLICK HERE for an enlargement.

We are a religiously diverse, LGBTQ+ embracing, intentionally multiracial and multicultural Unitarian Universalist faith community. In our congregation, we journey together in Love toward restoring spiritual wholeness. We were founded as a Universalist church in central Philadelphia in 1820 and relocated to the Mount Airy neighborhood in 1938. Join us for SUNDAY SERVICES each week in our air-conditioned sanctuary at 11 am and for our coffee hour afterward. Sunday school and child care are available. Summer services are followed by a potluck coffee hour.

We welcome people from any religious background who seek personal and spiritual growth in an extended family atmosphere.

Our denomination has no creed or doctrinal tests. All who are in sympathy with our beliefs and are willing to join us in supporting the goals of this church and the principles of the Unitarian Universalist Association are welcomed into membership.

Our building is now accessible to people with disabilities! It features a ramp to the main sanctuary and a wheelchair lift to the Social Hall beneath. Two accessible restrooms have been created: one on the main level of the Hale Building and another on the lower level of the sanctuary to make our Fellowship Hall more accessible to our congregants, visitors and renters. CHECK HERE for photos.

NEW WEB ADDRESS!

We now have a new web address: www.uumtairy.org.
Please bookmark it in your browser. For the time being, both websites will work and will look the same. If you are composing an email to any of the people with a @uurestoration.us email account, please use @uumtairy.org instead but either address will work.

From our Minister, The Reverend McKinley Sims —

Welcome from all of us here at UUs of Mt. Airy, located in the historic sanctuary of the Universalist Church of the Restoration of Philadelphia! We are a proud Unitarian Universalist congregation, commited to build Beloved Community by embracing all souls and nurturing wholeness in everyone who stops by in person or online. We are always learning from our ancestors and elders like Alice Walker, Mary Oliver, Rumi, Jesus of Nazareth, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Thich Nhat Hanh. We worship every Sunday and draw from all kinds of literature and sacred scripture.

Dress is casual, but know that we are celebrating our 200th Anniversary from 2020 to 2023, and we're striving to build a better here and now, based on our progressive church's legacy of social justice activism and racial integration. We believe that many faiths can worship together under one roof, and whether you believe in God, identify as a Humanist, pray through meditation or by donating your time to nonprofits or volunteerism, you are welcome here with us.

PLEASE NOTE: Our services are currently "multiplatform", meaning there is in-person seating in our sanctuary, online attendance through Zoom, and we livestream to our public Facebook Page and homepage website ("Livestream" button on the left side of this page)!

You can attend however you'd like to, and please be mindful of our precautions as we move into multi-platform territory. We require masks and vaccinations to be in our sanctuary, and masks are required for anywhere in our buildings. We will continue to have excellent online components to our worship services and committee meetings, too. Regardless of how we're in contact with you in the coming weeks, our hope is that UUs of Mt. Airy place will be a new kind of Sanctuary in the city of brotherly love, sisterly affection, and sibling service. Amen!

The Reverend McKinley L. Sims, M.Div.
Minister, (he/him)
Play Hard. Never Stop. Have Faith

Introducing our New Intern Minister

So, a little about me! I have been a member of BuxMont Unitarian Universalist Fellowship since 2014, but my introduction to Unitarian Universalism happened in the early mid-seventies when my family joined the UU Fellowship that is now known as Thomas Paine UU Fellowship. At that time, the Fellowship met at the old Y in Norristown and I have fond memories of attending and participating in Sunday morning gatherings, and exploring what seemed like an endless number of corridors and rooms. My love for participating in gatherings and worship has never faded, and I began participating in and co-creating worship services at BuxMont before I was a member. Both of these Fellowships have greatly influenced, inspired and supported me, and I am grateful for the gifts they bestowed upon me.

My passions and interests have always guided my life, providing me with opportunities to live in different states and to meet folx from diverse backgrounds, communities, and cultures. My work experiences include theatre and television, photo researching, co-creating worship experiences, being a chaplain at a children's hospital, and bookkeeping/accounting. In 2018, I earned a Master of Divinity degree from Vanderbilt Divinity School, and I am a Candidate for UU Ministry.

As Rev. McKinley shared during August's service "A Question Box Service w/Rev. McKinley," I am going to get to do a little of everything during the years that I am with you, and I am excited to bring all the learnings and skills that I have gleaned and fostered over the years to this new experience. I am excited to have the opportunity to bring theory and theology into practice once again, and to discover what it means to be immersed in the life of a church and the soul of a house of worship.

Introducing our New Religious Educator

I was lucky enough to experience that firsthand in my own religious education classes growing up Unitarian Universalist in Westchester, NY. I grew up in a small congregation - 150 members on a good day. Compared to my large public school, the intimacy of my small church community was vibrant. Even before I knew the names of all the adults surrounding me at coffee hour, I knew I could trust the community. I grew up watching volunteer leaders who were dedicated to our congregation and modeled living your faith, including my parents. By the time I was a senior in high school, I was driving myself to church alone on the rare Sundays my parents wanted to sleep in. The same congregation helped me grow after college when I returned as their Religious Education Intern. I am forever grateful to my home congregation in New York for creating that safe place for me to grow into my authentic self.

When I started becoming interested in religious education, I wanted to recreate that kind of supportive environment for the next generation of Unitarian Universalist children and youth. I know how often a kid growing up UU can hear, "That's not a real religion," or, "That sounds like a cult." Religious education is where we can foster the confidence in our children and youth to be their authentic selves and have pride in all of who they are, including their UU faith. I've seen it happen as a youth leader at my home congregation, as Director of Lifespan Religious Education in at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady, and most recently as a religious education teacher at First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia.

I am grateful to have the opportunity to grow with you here at Mt. Airy. I think it is such a special thing when a congregation charges themselves to grow together in a community. While our spiritual paths are unique, we as Unitarian Universalists share a communal goal of finding that individual truth and meaning. It brings me to our third principle, which is runner up for my favorite- the acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations. A free and responsible search is a wonderful thing, but it is also an incredibly scary task. Having a congregation learn and grow together eases the burden and enhances the potential for growth. No matter what your role is in the religious education program- volunteer, participant, childcare, set up, etc- you are helping the growth and blooming of each child, congregant, and the congregation as a community. I am so excited to meet all of you and start our time together.