Catherine Robinson, secretary of Oxford Unitarian Congregation, talks about the philosophy of Unitarianism

The Unitarian Church is a liberal religious community which welcomes people of all faiths and none. It imposes no creed or dogmas on its members. Each person is free to work out his or her own set of beliefs, and the final authority on moral and ethical matters is held to be the individual’s own conscience and life experience.

We got our name because we believe in the oneness of God, and because we affirm the essential unity of all humankind and all creation.

Unitarianism as an organised faith is about 350 years old. Its historic roots are in Christianity, but its early leaders were persecuted by the state and by the established church because they believed that Jesus was a human prophet rather than a divine being.

He was divinely inspired, but not divine: man of God, not son of God. Still today, although we try to live by the moral teachings of Jesus, we don’t believe that Christianity has a monopoly on the truth, so we are free to seek inspiration from all the great world faiths, and from a wide range of poets and philosophers.

Our congregations include humanists, atheists, and agnostics as well as people with more theistic beliefs.

As a religion without a creed, we have no prescribed doctrines that everyone must accept. Doubt is encouraged, and respect for the sincerely held beliefs of other people is required.

The motto of the Oxford Unitarian congregation is proclaimed in the Pre-Raphaelite stained-glass windows in our chapel: “Elargissez Dieu” – a quotation from the 18th-century French philosopher Denis Diderot, meaning “set God free’’, or “open your mind to expand your concept of God”.

We come together every Sunday to celebrate the beauty of the Earth and the human potential for goodness; to open our minds to new insights from philosophers, poets, and all the great world faiths; to share our joys and concerns with each other; and to seek inspiration to lead better lives.

Unitarians have been at the forefront of movements for social change and civil liberty for hundreds of years. Our forebears include Thomas Jefferson, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Albert Schweitzer. A characteristic desire to overcome divisions and bring people together is symbolised by the inventions of Unitarians Samuel Morse (the Morse code) and Alexander Graham Bell (the telephone), and more recently Tim Berners-Lee (pioneer of the World Wide Web, who refused to patent his invention and thereby derive personal profit from it).

We have successfully campaigned with Quakers and Liberal Jews for a change in the law to allow same-sex couples to be legally married in a religious ceremony; and we are the first denomination in the UK to formally support the campaign to legalise suicide with the assistance of a doctor in cases of terminal illness.

Our own congregation here in Oxford supports the work of Asylum Welcome: every week we contribute food and other essential items for destitute asylum seekers who have no official means of support.

We meet on Sunday mornings from 11am to noon in the chapel of Harris Manchester College in Mansfield Road, central Oxford. We don’t have a minister or a fixed liturgy, so every service is different, but they always include periods of silent reflection, and music played on the magnificent chapel organ. After the service we often have lunch together and discuss the sermon. We welcome people of every faith and none to join us.

More details will be found on our website: www.ukunitarians.org.uk/oxford