About

Prairie Unitarian Universalist Society is a freethinking religious community in Madison Wisconsin. We aspire to be both open-hearted and open-minded. We welcome those who enter our doors with any combination of strengths and weaknesses, beliefs and doubts. Our children receive liberal religious education as we model values in our search for truth and meaning.

Prairie is a small, lay-led liberal congregation. The congregation is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association. We members hold differing religious beliefs, but our shared principles affirm the worth and dignity of all persons, the need for justice and compassion, a free and responsible search for truth and meaning, and a respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. We choose to be in a community for the development and values education of our children. As UUs, we believe that personal experience, conscience, and reason should be the final authorities in religion.

We are a Welcoming Congregation that opens our Sunday morning services with words similar to the following: “We welcome people of every ethnic and religious background, whatever your color, sexual orientation, or family structure.” For more on the history of our involvement in the Welcoming Congregation program, see our Archives.

In 2011, Prairie was Accredited through UUA’s Green Sanctuary program. For more on the history of the accreditation process, see our Archives.

Bond of Union

We, the members of Prairie, wish to associate ourselves together in a religious community which affirms that we share a common humanity, that we need one another, and that our futures are inescapably bound together. Together we would expand our intellectual horizons, enrich our sensory experiences, and deepen our emotional sensitivities. We would sharpen our ethical awareness and broaden our sense of social responsibility. We would stand tall in our quest for integrity of life, yet not at others’ expense. As the prairie stretches out until it becomes one with the sky, let us reach out to touch and be one with the natural world, and with one another.

Prairie UU Society Mission Statement

Adopted May 19, 2024
Guided by hope and kindness, we nurture a welcoming community that fosters
caring connections, open-mindedness, lifelong learning, and spiritual growth;
while championing social justice and environmental stewardship.

Our Vision of the Prairie Community

Adopted May 19, 2024
We aspire to be a community where all voices are heard and valued,
collectively acting as a catalyst for positive change,
inspiring empathy and curiosity to champion a more just, equitable, and sustainable world.

A Brief History of Our Congregation

Click here to read a brief history of our Congregation

Our Strategic Plan