We all breathe the same air, drink the same water, and eat food grown on the same earth. These fundamental facts transcend religions and beliefs, and can be used as a means to promote peace, love, and understanding in our congregants and in the world. Because the future of our congregation and all life on earth depends on finding sustainable solutions to environmental problems, we pledge to educate and involve the congregation and the larger community in environmental actions as an integral part of a spiritual practice. 

Our congregation became an accredited Green Sanctuary with the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) in April 2013. The process is designed to involve multiple facets of congregational life, including Worship and Celebration, Religious Education for adults and children, Environmental Justice, and Sustainable Living—which include grounds, parking lot, transportation, facilities, kitchen, food, recycling/reusables, office and cleaning supplies, energy use, investment policies, congregation policies, congregation committees, etc. To learn more about the UUA’s Climate & Environmental Justice programs visit their website.

Activities of the Green Sanctuary Team have included campus recycling, installing a rainwater catchment system, installing a bike rack on campus, and purchasing forty solar panels through Big Sun Community Solar. We have also felt the importance of reaching out to learn more about the original peoples of our area, which have included the Estok Gna / Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas in the Rio Grande Delta, and the Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation in Bexar County. We strive to encourage more green building practices and provide workshops for the church community, raising awareness through concerts and films. Recently, our congregation has endorsed the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, which was introduced to Congress in April 2021. 

We also participate in San Antonio’s annual riverbank clean up – the Basura Bash. This intergenerational activity provides the opportunity to witness the San Antonio River ecosystem and the waterways that feed into the San Antonio River, while cleaning up debris from the riverbanks.

For more information about the Green Sanctuary Team, contact [email protected]. 

The First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Antonio values the inherent worth and dignity of all people. RJ-BLMG recognizes that the United States was built on a legacy of slavery, racism, and oppression that continues to take new, ever-changing forms that serve to perpetuate the status quo. We will not succumb to the temptation to ignore the racial realities of our country and are dedicated to learning and sharing knowledge about racial inequality and injustices as they exist today, especially among Black Americans. We engage in active support with local, national, online, and UUA sponsored groups, to help break the tyrannical systemic oppression of people of color.

To say that “Black Lives Matter” does not mean that Black lives are more important than other lives, or that all lives do not matter. Instead, the systemic devaluing of Black lives calls us to bear witness, even as we acknowledge that oppression takes many intersecting forms. 

The RJ-BLMG works within the church and with community partners to educate and organize antiracism efforts. Please review “Before You Go to a Protest” if you are considering attending a community event. For more information about the Racial Justice-Black Lives Matter Group, contact [email protected]. 

Click here to learn more.

Rainbow Inclusion is a committee that plans actions related to LGBTQ concerns and interacts with the church staff and leadership. It is also a social group that gathers for lunch, outings, and various social activities. Newcomers are welcome!

Details on upcoming events will be announced on the events section of this website, on the weekly “What’s Happening” email, on the Church’s Facebook and Twitter pages, and the Yahoo group announcements. Also, visit and like the Rainbow Inclusion Facebook page.

Our congregation is proud to have been recognized as a Welcoming Congregation by the Unitarian Universalist Association since 2002.

For more information, click here or email us at [email protected]. 

San Anto Gente Engaged with Unitarian Universalism is our local Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) group. It was inspired and formed as First UU hosted the Diverse Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries, or DRUUMM’s, Family Reunion in the Fall of 2018. This call was answered by the BIPOC members of our congregation, as well as white allies. 

The mission of SAGE-UU is threefold: to provide fellowship to BIPOC friends and members of First UU, to promote leadership locally and nationally from within our BIPOC communities, and to develop and lead culturally relevant worship. Since the formation, we have had our members join the First UU Board of Trustees, as well as our Worship Committee. We have successfully lobbied as a group to rename our buildings to remove the honoring of slavers, and to bring more BIPOC perspectives to the pulpit. We have also developed worship services by us, for us, and to the betterment of our entire congregation

For more information about SAGE-UU, visit their Facebook page.

First, UU awards scholarships to exceptional youth who have been a member of and actively involved in the congregation's life.

Youths may apply for both awards but can only be awarded one. Applications are due each year on the last Sunday of April, and recipients will be notified by mid-May. First, UU reserves the right not to award any scholarships or awards if no qualified candidate exists.

Wade Richmond Memorial Scholarship

The Wade Richmond Memorial Scholarship is awarded to a high school senior with solid academic potential who shares qualities for which Wade Richmond was known: helpfulness, compassion, and thoughtfulness. 

The scholarship is administered through the San Antonio Area Foundation. The scholarship amount varies yearly and is renewable for four years of study, contingent upon full-time enrollment and a satisfactory grade point average. 

Wade Richmond Memorial Scholarship

Liz Garrison Memorial Bridging Award

The Liz Garrison Memorial Bridging Award is for a bridging youth to help them launch into young adulthood. The recipient will possess the essential personal qualities that Liz Garrison had and admired: compassion with an interest in furthering causes of social justice, including LGBTQ+ rights. 

A bridging youth is a high school senior or a youth who turns 18 in the calendar year the award is made. This is a one-time award; the amount varies each year.

Liz Garrison Memorial Bridging Award

The Social Justice Committee coordinates the social justice activities and projects of First UU, both within the church and in the larger community. These activities are largely determined by the interests of our members and include advocacy, support of community organizations, and hands-on volunteer opportunities. These initiatives can range from once annual events to ongoing organizational activities.

The Committee promotes and participates in numerous activities and communicates with other First UU Justice groups such as the Racial Justice-Black Lives Matter Work Group, the Rainbow Inclusion Committee, and the Green Sanctuary Team.

In the larger community, the Committee works with many active groups and organizations and participates in events throughout the city, such as the Martin Luther King Jr. Day March, the International Women’s Day March, the Cesar Chavez March, Gay Pride Celebration, CROP Hunger Walk, and events promoting peace and justice, reproductive rights, concerts raising awareness about the death penalty and the environment, and more. Please review “Before You Go to a Protest” if you are considering attending such an event.

Throughout the year, members of our congregation also serve those in need in the local community by preparing meals at Haven for Hope for unhoused residents and preparing or distributing food for the hungry at the San Antonio Food Bank.

Since 2014, the Social Justice Committee has presented the Courageous Love Award to San Antonio area social justice heroes.

For more information about the Social Justice Committee, contact [email protected]. 

Join us in person or watch live online here.

Click here to watch past services.

Click here to learn more about our ministries.

Click here for the latest updates on our upcoming events.

We are an Open and Welcoming Congregation.

TANG, Trans and Non-binary Group, is a peer-facilitated group. TANG’s support meetings for transgender, non-binary, and gender-questioning individuals provide a safe place to talk and share stories.

The group welcomes transgender, non-binary, and gender-questioning individuals, as well as their immediate family and significant others.

In order to attend, you must be at least 18 years old. You can be a church members or a church guest.

For more information about TANG, visit the TANG website, Facebook page, or email [email protected].