Universal Restoration Ministries is led by author, blogger, and former pastor Eric Stetson, teaching the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and encouraging ecumenical cross-pollination of ideas among Christians interested in diverse streams of thought in Christianity and beyond.
In particular, Eric focuses on the theology of universal reconciliation or postmortem salvation, human identity as the children of God and co-heirs with Christ, divinization or deification of human beings in God’s image, the nature of God as both our Father in Heaven and Heavenly Mother, and the church as the visible manifestation of the Kingdom of God on earth.
Eric also writes about religious history, devotional practices, the sociological benefits of religion, and the special role of America as a chosen people in modern times. This is mostly a writing ministry, but we will also produce occasional videos, such as short messages and in-depth interviews with Eric and other religious thinkers.
Our Founder and History
Eric Stetson studied Religious Studies and Philosophy at the University of Virginia and was ordained as a minister by Home Missions Church, a network of house churches and small congregations in the Latter Rain Pentecostal tradition. In 2005, he founded Hope Through Christ, an evangelistic teaching ministry focused on the unconditional love of God and the hopeful vision of universal salvation.
In 2007, Eric assembled a board of directors of twelve religious leaders from six denominations and founded the Christian Universalist Association (CUA), an ecumenical organization of individuals, ministries and churches that believe in a universalist view of the gospel. Under his leadership as executive director, the CUA grew to thousands of members around the world and developed a ministerial training and ordination program, which has ordained more than 30 people.
In 2011, Eric stepped down from his executive ministry role in the CUA and transitioned his career into information technology and the charity sector. In 2015, he founded a cryptocurrency with a charitable mission of global poverty alleviation. Through his vision and management, hundreds of thousands of dollars of the blockchain-based currency, called Manna, was given away to thousands of people in some of the world’s poorest countries, including a refugee camp in Africa.
In 2020, Eric Stetson felt called to return to religious ministry. He left Hedge for Humanity, the charitable nonprofit he had founded, and worked with a close friend to launch an online church during the Covid pandemic, called The Universal Church of the Restoration. This experimental church published weekly video sermons, held virtual small group meetings, and gained dozens of members, but was unable to raise enough funding to sustain itself as the full-time ministry Eric had intended. In 2022, the church rebranded itself as Universal Restoration Ministries and is continuing some of its mission as a part-time passion project, supplementary to the work of established churches.
Eric Stetson is the author of a 2008 book, Christian Universalism: God’s Good News for All People; the editor of A Lost History of the Baha’i Faith: The Progressive Tradition of Baha’u’llah’s Forgotten Family, an annotated compilation of controversial primary sources from that religion which was published in 2014; and the author of a new book (coming May 2023), The Long Road to Zion: A Journey of Faith Beyond Religious Deconstruction. He is also the author of another new book to be published in late 2023, Our Great Nation: The America We’ve Lost and How to Rebuild It Together.
Eric’s beliefs have been especially influenced by Latter Rain Pentecostalism, classical Christian Universalism, various forms of mysticism, neo-orthodox and Restorationist traditions (highlighting the beliefs and practices of the apostolic church and early church fathers), and most recently the Latter-day Saint movement. He considers himself to be post-fundamentalist, post-postmodern, and an advocate of both open-mindedness and devout religious practice.
Read the latest posts on our blog.
Read past articles and messages by Eric Stetson.
Subscribe to our email list for updates.