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Our Church History
Our congregation was initially formed
under the auspices of the American Unitarian Association Fellowship
Movement. The first organizational meeting for what would become the
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (later Church) of Columbia was held
January 28, 1951.
We surveyed our 60-year history in a
"history wall" project in Fall 2010, which culminated in a summary of key
dates in church history, a detailed timeline of church history, and a sermon
marking the 60th anniversary of the organizational meeting. See
"History Wall" Project below for links.
The January 1951 organizational meeting resulted from a desire to have a group in
which liberal religious ideas could be explored. The fellowship began with a
close connection to the University of Missouri, actually meeting on the
campus for nearly 20 years. The University's intellectual atmosphere
animated the fledgling fellowship, and its lay leadership and exploration of
liberal religious ideas became key parts of what made us who we are today.
As often happens with families as well as churches, the
arrival of children added new priorities and provided the impetus to obtain
our own facility and ultimately to call a minister. The move to a new church
home coincided with a broadening of our identity, which became less
faculty-oriented and included increasing numbers from other segments of the
community.
Our present site was selected in 1965, and we had our
first ground-breaking in 1969. In 1970 we held the first services in our
beautifully designed church, with services continuing to be lay led. We
called our first minister, Gertrude Lindener-Stawski, in 1980, and she
served until her retirement in 1986.
The Rev. Gertrude Lindener-Stawski
We then called George Brooks as an
interim minister to do the important work of getting us ready to work well
with our next professional religious leader, the Rev. William Haney, who was
called in 1989. Rev. Haney resigned in 2010 to begin a period of interim
ministry before final retirement.
The Rev. Bill Haney at his
going-away party in
Spring 2010
We continued to change and develop
during Rev. Haney's tenure. In 1992 we hired our Music Director, Desi Long,
and our Church Administrator, Kathie Bergman,. We hired our first Director
of Religious Education in 1996, and our current DRE, Lisa Fritsche, was
hired in 2004. In 1998 our physical facilities were expanded to nearly
double their original size.
In the period from Rev. Haney's
arrival in 1989 until the building expansion in 1998, the church experienced
a great period of growth, increasing from 130 members to about 200, or about
7% a year. Since then membership has remained relatively stable, and membership
was 217 as of September 2011.
The Rev. Dr. Suzanne Redfern-Campbell is
now serving as our interim minister. On April 29, 2012, our members
unanimously voted to call the Rev. Molly Housh Gordon
as the third settled minister in our history.
"History Wall"
Project
In Fall 2010, church members and
friends participated in a "history wall" project, writing their
recollections of church history on timeline sheets posted on the wall of the
Sanctuary. This project resulted in a summary of key dates in church
history, a detailed timeline, and a sermon by Rev. Spencer marking the 60th
anniversary of the church's first organizational meeting, all of which are
available in PDF format:
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