First, they honored the imam who's in the middle of plans to build an Islamic center near ground zero. Then they rallied in uptown Charlotte to support gays, lesbians and same-sex marriage.

And that was just in the first 48 hours or so after they got to town.

Today, the 50th annual General Assembly of Unitarian Universalists will, among other things, spotlight a human rights activist who rescues immigrants illegally crossing the border by giving them water and getting them to hospitals.

The country's most liberal collection of congregations - with no creed, but a long history of social activism - is meeting this weekend in the Bible Belt, better known for a Christian church on nearly every corner.

The 4,000-plus UUs, as they often call themselves, are in Charlotte from around the country to attend workshops, mingle with fellow delegates, listen to nationally renowned speakers.

And stand up for their causes - especially the controversial ones.

It's something members of their church have always done. Susan B. Anthony pushed women's suffrage in the 19th century, when it was unpopular. In the 1960s, when some wished the civil rights movement would just go away, two UUs - Viola Liuzzo and the Rev. James Reeb - were murdered by white supremacists in Alabama.

Other spiritual ancestors of this weekend's delegates have worked for prison reform and education, and against slavery, capital punishment and war.

"We've always been a people who believe that part of our being faithful religiously is to act with compassion in this world," said the Rev. Peter Morales, president of the Unitarian Universalist Association, which has 221,797 members worldwide. "That means acting for justice and standing on the side of love for those society is marginalizing."

Topping that list these days, he said, are Muslims, undocumented immigrants, and gays and lesbians.

Unitarian Universalists have been welcoming homosexuals - and blessing their unions - since the mid-1970s.

There are more than a few gay and lesbian UU ministers. The Rev. Robin Tanner, pastor of Piedmont Unitarian Universalist in Charlotte, is a lesbian. On Friday, she was among the speakers at the rally at Marshall Park, where participants - wearing T-shirts that spelled out "LOVE" - also registered their opposition to a proposed N.C. constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

"We see it as a civil rights issue," Morales said about the issue, which has divided many other religious denominations.

Everyone welcome

This year's gathering in Charlotte is also a birthday celebration. It was 50 years ago, in 1961, that the new denomination was born with the merger of two distinguished religions: the Universalist Church of America (founded in 1793) and the American Unitarian Association (founded in 1825).

Those groups - claiming four U.S. presidents, and such historical figures as essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson and mental health reformer Dorothea Dix - were identified with mainstream Christianity in the 19th century.

Today, Unitarian Universalist churches still hold Sunday services and have a minister and usually a choir. They have a congregational polity, or form of government, which means individual churches are autonomous.

But membership in most UU churches now includes Christians, atheists and everybody in between.

"We're like the U.N. of religions - everybody with their religion is welcome," said Bette LaCombe, 65, of Las Vegas, who is attending her 15th General Assembly with her husband, Paul, 73 - both agnostics.

UUs pride themselves on being open to new ideas and ever eager to learn.

"We celebrate the wisdom in all the great religious heritages, not just Christianity," said the Rev. William Schulz, who was president of the Unitarian Universalist Association when it last met in Charlotte, in 1993. "Much as we respect Christianity, we try to find wisdom in all the world's faiths."

With no creed of their own, UU churches are considered rudderless by many other religious bodies.

That can make being a Unitarian Universalist difficult. Especially when Charlotteans' favorite question - Do you have a church home? - comes up, said Barbara Busey, a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Charlotte.

"If you don't go to the church, you feel like an outcast," she said. "And when you say 'Unitarian Universalist,' there are all kinds of assumptions made - probably none of them right."

Some may think you're a member of a cult, Busey said, while others mistake you for a member of Unity, which is a different denomination.

"And then there are those who say, 'You're what?'"

But being a liberal Unitarian in the South can also lead to strong UU churches, said the Rev. Elizabeth Kerman, a retired minister who now attends the Unitarian Universalist Church of Charlotte.

"Some of our strongest churches have been in conservative areas," she said. "If you are liberally religious, you need to find other people who are religiously liberal."

'A rare breed'

Among the other General Assembly attendees Friday was the Rev. Chris Antal, one of four UU chaplains in the Army.

He serves at a time when some conservative religious denominations are opposing the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," saying allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly will put their chaplains, who consider homosexuality a sin, in impossible situations.

Antal, who hails from New York, said he fully supports the repeal, and considers it "an integrity issue."

But Antal, who wore his fatigues to the convention, said being a UU chaplain in the military makes him stand out.

"I got the nickname as the 'Catch-all Chaplain,'" he said. "We're a rare breed. But in my view, that's exactly what the military needs."