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NOTICE: during this health crisis there will be NO services, or meetings held in our building. Church services are available on Live Stream. Just click the button with the blue arrow to the left of this notice at 11:00 on Sunday morning to watch and listen.

  • We'll live stream the service via the usual method, as well as Zoom and Facebook Live on Sunday.
  • I'm available to meet in person on 1-1 basis, unless I have confirmed contact with COVID, but I'm actively monitoring my email and voicemail and happy to chat however you feel comfortable.
  • We'll get through this together. Wash your hands, and stay home as much as possible!
Thank you!
The Reverend McKinley L. Sims, M.Div.
Minister, UU Restoration (he/him)

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.

Restoration is now accessible to people with disabilities! Restoration features a ramp to the main sanctuary and a wheelchair lift to the Social Hall beneath. An accessible restroom has been created on the lower level to make our Fellowship Hall more accessible to our congregants, visitors and renters. CHECK HERE for photos.

From our Minister, The Reverend McKinley Sims —

Read about Reverend McKinley
Welcome from all of us here at Restoration in the Mt. Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia! We commit to build Beloved Community, learning from our ancestors and elders like Alice Walker, Mary Oliver, Rumi, Jesus of Nazareth, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Thich Nhat Hanh. 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. Ours is a faith group that seeks the Holy in all things, and believes that no one tradition has a monopoly on truth. As this historic year winds down, our Spirits soar with love, social activism, and plenty of good trouble to get into. In February, we explore the theme of Beloved Community! Join us for explorations into UU Buddhism, the Humanism inherent in Lent and Ash Wednesday, and reworking how we understand our holy relationships! PLEASE NOTE: Our services will be livestreamed on our public Facebook Page and via our “Livestream” button here on this homepage! You can also watch via Zoom, which allows for more interaction from congregants. Please be mindful of these precautions as we move into uncharted territory. We aim to stay connected spiritually and emotionally, even if we can’t be together physically as much as we are used to. If you’re feeling lonely, please check us out on livestream, podcasts, our Youtube and Facebook pages, and through the new technology that helps us do “church” in a new way. Regardless of how we’re in contact in the coming weeks, our hope is that this 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, UU Restoration (he/him)
Play Hard. Never Stop. Have Faith    posted: 12/04/2020

The Greater Philly UU Cluster (GPC) represents 14 nearby UU congregations and is actively connecting these congregations to share our message, grow our faith and strengthen congregations. Check out our Annual Reports to learn more about what we've been doing. As we look ahead, GPC will play a larger role for our congregations as the UUA regionalization moves forward.

Check out our GPC google calendar to attend events at the other cluster congregations. For more information...

Restoration is a Social Justice Loving Congregation!

Social Justice is a long tradition at Restoration. Going back to the 1960s when the congregation worked with other community groups to fight "redlining" in Mt. Airy until today, as we work actively in the Black Lives Matter movement, Restoration has a strong, spiritual commitment to love and justice. Restoration recently voted to become a member of POWER Philadelphia and we have long participated in the work of UUPLAN.

If you shop at Amazon, here's a new way to give to your congregation. Amazon will now donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases when you shop at AmazonSmile (https://smile.amazon.com/) to the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Restoration.

Register at the Amazon website.

GoodSearch.com is a search engine that donates half its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. Use it just as you would any search engine, get quality search results from Yahoo, and watch the donations add up!

Use the button link on the right, or go to https://www.goodsearch.org/ and be sure to enter the "Unitarian Universalist Church of the Restoration" as the charity you want to support.

If you would like to know more about our denomination, please click on this Unitarian Universalist Organizations link.

Chalice Design by Gary Sobolow   

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