Unitarian Universalists today love to talk about covenant as if it has a long history. I’m arguing that covenant was a mid-twentieth century invention by Conrad Wright and James Luther Adams. It does not have a long history. And that’s a good thing. The history that Conrad Wright invented for covenant has too many negatives for me to feel comfortable.
When we deconstruct in the Conrad Wright conception of covenant, here are some of the things that we begin to understand: — Historically, covenant was designed to promote theocracy; — it was dependent on patriarchy; — it was rooted in enslavement of Africans and Natives; — and it supported British imperialism and colonialism. Plus the Wrightian history of covenant ignores our Universalist heritage.
These are some of the things that Wright either wasn’t aware of or ignored. I don’t think we can remain unaware of these things, or ignore them, any longer. We have to deconstruct “covenant” so we can reconstruct it without quite so many negative aspects.
Since the time of Wright and Adams, others have tried to articulate a vision for Unitarian Universalist covenant, most notably Alice Blair Wesley in her Minns Lectures from the year 2000. But all these visions for covenant start with the assumptions laid out by Conrad Wright and James Luther Adams, and don’t really question those assumptions. I feel that none of these new visions for covenant adequately addresses theocracy, patriarchy, enslavement, or colonialism. And in my opinion, none of the visions for covenant takes Universalism seriously enough. To put it succinctly — none of these new visions of covenant adequately deconstructs the underlying assumptions of “covenant.”
Deconstructing “covenant” in this way has helped me to understand why I’ve been feeling increasingly uncomfortable when Unitarian Universalists talk about “covenant.” When we talk about “being in covenant,” we have to start listening for echoes of patriarchy, colonialism, enslavement, and so on. When we accuse others of “breaking covenant,” we have to start have to listening for echoes of the old Puritan practice of public shaming of church members. When we think of covenant as an organizing principle, we have to ask ourselves why we are ignoring the Universalist tradition.
If we’re unwilling to deconstruct “covenant” — how are we going to reconstruct “covenant” to remove the lingering taint of sexism, enslavement, anti-democratic theocracy, and colonialism? Perhaps deconstructing and then reconstructing “covenant” would allow us to make some much-needed progress in our anti-racism work, our ongoing efforts to get rid of patriarchal structures, and our beginning efforts to understand the role of religion in colonialism
If we’re unwilling to deconstruct “covenant” — how are we going to include Universalism once again in our central organizing principles? I’m afraid the answer here might well be that most of us don’t care about Universalism any more. Perhaps it would be better if we’d openly acknowledge this, because we’re “sitting on the franchise,” getting in the way of other groups trying to spread the happy religion of universal salvation. Or perhaps it would be best if we re-engaged with our Universalist heritage, with its incredible diversity of belief and practice; perhaps that would help us more than an attempt to unify ourselves with a tainted vision of “covenant.”
Unitarian Universalists talk a lot about “covenant.” We didn’t used to talk about covenant. As near as I can tell, our mild obsession with covenant came about during the merger of the Unitarians and the Universalists, a process which began in the 1950s and continued for years after the legal consolidation of the two groups in 1961. We were thrashing about trying to find something that held us together. The Universalist professions of faith weren’t acceptable to the Unitarians, and the Unitarian affirmations of faith (like James Freeman Clarke’s Five Points of the New Theology) weren’t acceptable to the Universalists.
Two Unitarian scholars, James Luther Adams and Conrad Wright, had long been talking about the importance of covenant to their Unitarian tradition. Wright was a historian who interpreted the entire history of Unitarianism in the United States as centering around covenant. This was a problematic interpretation, since by the early twentieth century many Unitarian congregations didn’t have written covenants. I’m not sure, but Wright may have felt that the Unitarians kind of forgot covenant, and that forgetfulness led to the decline of Unitarianism in the 1930s. In any case, he saw the re-establishment of covenant as central to the revitalization of Unitarianism in the mid to late twentieth century.
Wright continued to trumpet covenant after consolidation with the Universalists. While his primary area of expertise was in Unitarian history, he dipped into Universalist history and claimed to find that the Universalists were pretty much like the Unitarians when it came to congregational polity and the centrality of covenant.
I don’t find Wright’s interpretation of the historical facts to be terribly convincing. Covenant was in fact central to most Unitarian congregations that began life as Puritan churches in New England. Covenant was also important to some nineteenth century Unitarian churches which had been founded by New England settlers moving west. But in my research in the archives of local congregations, covenant becomes less important as an organizing principle beginning in the nineteenth century and through the early to mid-twentieth century.
In many eighteenth century New England congregations, there were two parallel organizations, the church and the society. The society owned the real property and managed the finances; the church consisted of the people who signed the church covenant and stood up in front of the congregation and confessed their sins. Membership in the society was typically through buying a pew and contributing annual rental for your pew (often restricted to males, since there were legal limitations about females owning property), and generally speaking only males could take on leadership roles in the society. It appears that on average significantly more women than men signed the covenant to become a part of the church. People of African or Native descent could join the church, but may have been barred from owning pews or serving in leadership roles in the society.
Thus the entire system of covenant was bound up with discriminatory distinctions between males and females, and between persons of European descent as opposed to persons of African or Native descent. Nor is this an accident. Covenant in the New England Puritan tradition was a means for upholding a theocracy that placed white males at the top of the social hierarchy (note that I’m being sloppy here by including the Pilgrims in the umbrella term “Puritan”). Today, some might call this racism or white supremacy, though some historians would argue that these are anachronistic concepts when applied to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; a better way to put this is to simply say that the New England Puritan tradition was inextricably linked to enslaving people of African and Native descent. On the other hand, we can say with some certainty that this Puritan social hierarchy was patriarchal and sexist. In addition, Puritan theocracy was also tied in with the larger project of British colonialism; not quite as blatantly as in the resource-extraction economies of the southern plantation colonies, but the British empire clearly say the value of exporting religious dissidents to “tame the wilderness” thus opening up the area to somewhat “softer” economic exploitation by the empire.
In short, covenant was bound up with patriarchy, colonialism, and slavery. This is not to say that covenant is forever tainted by its origins. But these are parts of the story that Conrad Wright passes over. If we’re going to put covenant at the center of our religious tradition, at the very least we need to acknowledge that covenants were part of a theocratic political structure that was rooted in the oppression of the majority of people in the society.
During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the distinction between society and church seems to have slowly been forgotten; along the way, covenants often seem to have disappeared as well. So, for example, when I was doing research for the 300th anniversary of the Unitarian church in New Bedford, Mass., I found evidence for the existence of a covenant in the congregation’s eighteenth century archives, now stored at the New Bedford Whaling Museum. By the late nineteenth century, during the long ministry of William Potter, one of the leaders of the Free Religious Association, I found no evidence for the existence of a covenant. The distinction between society and church continued into the 1940s, since the ministers were not allowed to attend the annual meeting of the congregation — it appears that in the eighteenth century the minister was charged with oversight of the church, the lay leaders with oversight of the society — but with the end of pew ownership in the 1940s, that distinction finally dissolved. By the early twenty-first century, there was no distinction between church and society, or more precisely the church withered away leaving only the society.
In another congregation I researched, the Unitarian church in Palo Alto, Calif., which existed from 1905 to 1934, I found no evidence at all for the existence of a covenant. From the research I’ve done in local congregational archives, I’ve mostly found no evidence for a covenant in the early twentieth century. The only exception is the Unitarian Society of Geneva, Ill., which still maintains the covenant originally written and signed by the founders of that church — who were all emigrants from New England to what was then the frontier. That covenant was substantially revised circa 1900, to shorten it, and to remove all mentions of God or the Bible. The church almost went moribund in the early twentieth century, until Charles Lyttle, professor of church history at Meadville Lombard Theological School, stepped in to rebuild the church for use as a training congregation for his Unitarian theological students. Perhaps it is due in part to Lyttle’s academic influence that the Geneva covenant remained active (and one wonders if the historian Charles Lyttle helped draw the attention of the later historian Conrad Wright to covenant).
Thus covenant appears to have mostly disappeared from Unitarian congregations in the nineteenth century. But Conrad Wright also argued that Unitarian churches were bound to each other through congregational polity, which was another sort of covenant. The most important document here was the Cambridge Platform, a seventeenth century Puritan document that outlined how Puritan churches were supposed to relate to one another. The Cambridge Platform looked to the Bible as revealed scripture (the Word of God) to determine how churches related one to another. The Cambridge Platform was outdated almost as soon as it was written — it called for every church to support both a preaching minister and a teaching minister, which proved to be economically impossible — but it also simply didn’t apply to some Unitarian congregations.
Take, for example, King’s Chapel in Boston, which became Unitarian in 1785. It was originally affiliated with the Church of England, but became independent during the American Revolution; at which point, it removed all references to the trinity from its Book of Common Prayer, and became Unitarian in theology. King’s Chapel came from a tradition of episcopal polity, and the Cambridge Platform formed no part of its history until, at the earliest, it affiliated with the American Unitarian Association sometime after 1825. Or take the Icelandic Unitarian churches of Canada, which came out of Lutheranism, another religious tradition based on episcopal polity. Perhaps we could argue that the Unitarian tradition of covenant in North America is syncretic, taking in various influences, and transmogrifying them.
But I think it’s more accurate to say that twentieth century Unitarian covenant was something that Conrad Wright made up, using historical materials. Covenant is not an old tradition among us, it’s a newly made-up tradition. That being the case, I’m not sure I want to use a made-up kind of covenant based on Puritan theocratic patriarchal concepts rooted in colonialism and slavery.
Furthermore, as someone who thinks of myself as more of a Universalist than a Unitarian, I’m trying to figure out why we should use a made-up kind of covenant that pretty much ignores Universalism. Conrad Wright did extensive research in Unitarian covenant, but it’s clear from his writings that his knowledge of Universalist history was not very deep. James Luther Adams, the other co-creator of twentieth century Unitarian covenant, knew his Unitarian tradition quite well but did not know Universalism nearly as well.
Whether or not the Unitarians were always actually unified by covenant (or if it was something that Adams and Wright invented in the mid-twentieth century), it’s quite obvious that the Universalists were not unified by covenant. The Universalists were unified by a common theology of universal salvation, which was expressed in affirmations of faith. Because the Universalists differed so radically in the details of their universalist theologies, their affirmations of faith had to be very broad, and mostly were quite brief. Unitarian documents, such as church covenants and the Cambridge Platform, tended to be quite wordy — the Cambridge Platform fills up a small book — but the Universalists’ “Winchester Profession” of 1803 comes in at fewer than 100 words. Not that the Winchester Profession, or any later profession of faith, actually served to unify the Universalists; they’ve been an almost anarchistic group from the start; the point is that they did not have covenants in the way Unitarians had covenants. Thus the concept of covenant, as promoted by Adams and Wright, was a Unitarian thing, but it was not important to Universalism.
For the 75th anniversary of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto
Religious professionals
Ministers
1947-49 — Rev. Nat Lauriat*, minister of First Unitarian Church in San Jose, spends a few hours each week in Palo Alto April-June, 1949 — Rev. Lon Ray Call*, extension minister from the American Unitarian Association 1949-72 — Rev. Felix Danford “Dan” Lion*, minister 1961-1962 — Rev. Darrall Roen “Bud” Repp*, assistant minister 1965-1968 — Rev. Mike Young, assistant minister 1971-1977 — Rev. Dr. Ron Hargis*, minister of religious education 1972-1973 — Rev. Sidney Peterman*, interim minister 1973-1990 — Rev. William R. “BJ” Jacobsen*, parish minister 1990-1991 — Rev. Sam Wright,* interim minister 1991-2001 — Rev. Ken Collier, minister 1998-2000 — Rev. Dr. Til Evans*, interim minister of religious education 2000-2007 — Rev. Darcey Laine, minister of religious education 2001-2003 — Rev. Kurt Kuhwald, interim minister 2003-present — Rev. Amy Zucker Morgenstern 2007-2009 — Rev. Eva Ceskava, interim minister of religious education 2009-present — Rev. Dan Harper, assistant/associate minister of religious education * Deceased
Religious Educators
1948-1949 — Religious Education Committee run program in cooperation with Palo Alto Friends Meeting 1950/51 — John Durr, Superintendent of Religious Education 1951/52 — Robert Harrison 1952/53 — Evelyn Borthwick, Supervisor of Church School 1953-1955 — Religious Education Committee is in charge of the Sunday school 1955/56 — Eve Wilder volunteers as Superintendent of Religious Education 1956/57 — Religious Education Committee is in charge of the Sunday school (no one volunteers to be Superintendent) 1957/58 — Marion Murphy, Superintendent of Religious Education (first paid religious educator, part-time) 1959/59 — C. Sargent Hearn, Director of Religious Education (DRE) (first F/T paid religious educator) 1959-1965 — Florence Sund, DRE 1965/66 — Meredith Whitaker, Acting DRE 1966-1969 — Clarice Gault, DRE 1969-1971 — Virginia Stephens and Ellen Thacher, Co-DREs 1971-1977 — Rev. Dr. Ron Hargis, Minister of Religious Education (MRE) 1977-1979 — Dr. Robert Donmoyer and June Yennie-Donmoyer, Co-DREs 1979-1983 — Mary Brau, DRE 1982/1983 — Sandy Price, (Interim) DRE 1983-1985 — Mary Katherine Haynes, DRE 1985 — Donna Bookbinder, “temporary DRE” 1985-1988 — Jean Blackburn Conner, DRE 1988-1998 — Edith Parker, DRE 1998-2000 — Rev. Dr. Til Evans, Interim MRE 2000-2007 — Rev. Darcey Laine, MRE 2007-2009 — Rev. Eva Ceskava, Interim MRE 2009-present — Rev. Dan Harper, Assistant/Associate MRE
Music Directors
1951 — “Mrs. Harry Lewis” is choir director 1952 — Marion Conley is choir director 1955 — In December, Emma Lou “Timmy” Allen becomes choir director 1963 — Stanford professor Dr. Arthur P. Barnes becomes choir director 1965 — Miriam Wain is choir director 1966 — Arthur P. Barnes returns as choir director 1976 — Colleen Magee Snyder become choir director 1982 — Joan McMillen becomes choir director 1985 — Karl R. Schmidt becomes choir director 1989 — Sheridan Schroeter becomes music director 1992 — Alva Henderson becomes music director 2001 — Michael Gibson becomes music director 2004/05 — Choir members Kathy Parmentier and Mayo Tsuzuki direct the choir 2005 — Henry Mollicone becomes choir director 2011 — Bruce Olstad becomes music director
Children and Youth Religious Education Programs
1940s-1950s
1947 — In April, congregation begins holding Sunday evening meetings
1948 — Congregation moves meeting time to Sunday mornings 1948 — In the spring, “Mrs. Cleaveland provided child care for the very young in her yard and different mothers took turns as sitters.” 1948 — In the fall, first Sunday school classes held jointly with the Friends (Quakers). “There are three Friends and three Unitarians, all mothers of the children, who take turns [as teachers] for a month at a time. The children range in age from two and a half to ten and are divided into three groups for instruction.”
1949 — Religious education (RE) enrollment is 25 children
1950 — Services are held at the Palo Alto Community Center 1950 — RE enrollment is 40 1950/51 — John Durr is Superintendent of Religious Education; he volunteers while in his last year of theological school
1951/52 — Robert Harrison runs the Sunday school as a volunteer
1952 — Due to growth there are two sessions of Sunday school 1952/53 — Evelyn Borthwick is volunteer Supervisor of Church School; Marion Conley is Superintendent of the 11:00 a.m. church school 1952 — RE enrollment is 150
1953/54 — Religious Education Committee is in charge of the Sunday school 1953 — RE enrollment is 180
1954/55 — Religious Education Committee is in charge of the Sunday school 1954 — RE enrollment is 215
1955/56 — Eve Wilder volunteers as Superintendent of Religious Education 1955 — RE enrollment is 310
1956/57 — Religious Education Committee is in charge of the Sunday school 1956 — RE enrollment is 400+, with waiting lists for gr. 6 and under 1956 — 7th, 8th, and 9th grade classes meet in five nearby homes
1957/58 — Marion Murphy is part-time paid Superintendent of Religious Education 1957 — RE enrollment is 530 1957 — Rae Bell begins serving as children’s choir director
1958 — C. Sargent Hearn becomes the first full-time paid religious educator, assisted by his wife Virginia 1958 — RE enrollment is 461 1958 — First Sunday services are held in new building
1959 — Florence Sund becomes the Director of Religious Education; from 1955-1959 she was DRE in Rockford, Ill. 1959 — RE enrollment is 500+ 1959 — A spin-off group from PAUC becomes the Unitarian Fellowship of Redwood City
1960s
1960 — RE enrollment is 561 1960 — “Attendance has dropped off a bit, partially because of the Redwood City Fellowship exodus”; 25 PAUC members plus a number of PAUC children transferred to Redwood City 1960 — The Student Council, elected from the Sunday school, disburses $1,100 [$9,750 in 2020 dollars] collected from the Sunday school collection, including funding for the patio installation
1961 — RE enrollment is 600
1962 — RE enrollment peaks at over 600 1962 — There are three Sunday sessions to accommodate the Sunday school — the 8:45 early morning forum, and the regular 10:00 and 11:30 services — plus a Wednesday evening session with a family service 1962 — Sunnyvale UU Fellowship is spun off from PAUC
1963 — This year and next, some children transfer to the Sunnyvale Fellowship, relieving some pressure on PAUC’s Sunday school 1963 — Due to lack of classroom space, 5 classes are held in nearby homes 1963 — For the second straight year, PAUC membership “is at a standstill” 1963 — Programs for children and teens include 3 sessions of Sunday school, midweek family service, Junior Unitarian Youth (gr. 7-9), Liberal Religious Youth (gr. 10-12), children’s choir, youth choir; committees and staff include DRE, Youth Director, Religious Education Committee, Youth Activities Committee, and Student Council
1964 — Ernee Chester becomes Youth Choir Director 1964 — Continued growth of Sunnyvale and Redwood City UU Fellowships means no waiting list to get into PAUC’s Sunday school 1964 — Liberal Religious Youth stage “Our Town,” give $50 of the proceeds [$425 in 2020 dollars] to oppose California Proposition 14, which would legalize racial discrimination in housing
1965/66 — PAUC member Meredith Whitaker is “acting DRE” 1965 — In addition to fun activities, Junior Unitarian Youth (gr. 7-9) have discussions on “Death and the Hereafter” and “Does Unitarianism Promote High Moral Standards?” 1965 — Nationwide, Unitarian Universalism stops growing and begins declining around about 1965
1966 — RE enrollment is 480 1966 — Junior Unitarian Youth (gr. 7-9) sell UNICEF cards, raising $1,000 [$8,900 in 2020 dollars] for UNICEF 1966 — Clarice Gault hired as new Director of Religious Education, indicates she will stay no more than 3 years
1967 — RE enrollment is 575 1967 — Former DRE Meredith Whitaker is chair of RE Committee 1967 — RE committee and the DRE see “a need for in our church educational programing” 1967 — An experimental Thursday night mid-week service provides innovative programming for children
1968 — RE enrollment is 409 1968 — Liberal Religious Youth or LRY (gr. 10-12) stage Jean-Paul Sartre’s play “No Exit” 1968 — “LRY membership has soared” up to 80 people on the mailing list, up to 35 attending meetings
1969 — RE enrollment is 260 1969 — Due to falling adult attendance and religious education enrollment, congregation goes down to two services per Sunday 1969 — Clarice Gault resigns, indicates she sees problems withe PAUC 1969 — Virginia Stephens and Ellen Thacher become co-DREs
Sunday school class c. 1968
1970s
1970 — PAUC hosts an alternative high school, called “Lothlorien High School” 1970 — Congregation votes to form a nonprofit corporation to run Lothlorien; in the mean time, Lothlorien is run by PAUC 1970 — Ron Garrison, a Stanford student, hired as “Youth Minister” 1970 — Rae Bell resigns as children’s choir director, after 13 years 1970 — Room 8 is a ceramics room, with potter’s wheels 1970 — Program is “based on a freer, experience-centered situation” which children and teachers like, but parents want more”content”
1971 — Congregation establishes Ellen Thacher Children’s Center, a day care center for ages 2.9 to 7 years, named after the recently deceased Ellen Thacher; 1/4 of the children receive financial assistance 1971 — Congregation hires Rev. Dr. Ron Hargis as minister of religious education, on a two-year contract basis 1971 — Two types of Sunday school programs are offered, “one experience-oriented, one subject-oriented” 1971? — Nonprofit corporation to run Lothlorien is formed
1972 — Playground built for Thacher Center, with help from PAUC members, Lothlorien students, and Thacher parents 1972 — Dan Lion resigns; Ron Hargis becomes sole minister until Rev. Sidney Peterman arrives in the fall as interim minister 1972 — Ron Garrison resigns after congregation declines to make his position full time, with youth and community education responsiblities 1972 — RE enrollment is 250
1973 — The RE Committee brings in Til Evans of the Starr King School for the Ministry to lead an all-day workshop 1973 — PAUC offers About Your Sexuality course (precursor to the current Our Whole Lives comprehensive sexuality education course for gr. 7-9) 1973 — A grant from Samuel Untermeyer makes it possible for 6th and 7th graders to talk with astronaut Edgar Mitchell
1974 — “Baby Bust” means fewer children, and RE enrollment continues to drop 1974 — A grant from Samuel Untermeyer makes it possible for 6th and 7th graders to participate in an art project for an afternoon with innovative artist Ruth Asawa 1974 — “Nursery leader Cindy Cray noted that the decline in the birth rate has certainly affected the number of children in the nursery”
1975 — Ernee Chester, Youth Choir Director, resigns 1975 — Sargent Hearn, former DRE, is serving on the Religious Education Committee
1976 — A Junior High class is reactivated this year 1976 — Monthly intergenerational potlucks are held
1977 — Ron Hargis resigns at the end of the year 1977 — RE enrollment drops to about 50 1977 — Children are in the Main Hall service several times this year 1977 — June Yennie-Donmoyer and Bob Donmoyer become co-DREs in September
1978 — Religious education enrollment rises to 100 1978 — LRY (the youth group) has 30 members 1978 — First annual “mini-vacation” at Bass Lake 1978 — Monthly “All Church Community Activities” include a square dance, a picnic, and a dinner with Mexican cuisine
1979 — PAUC again offers a preschool class in Sunday school 1979 — Mary Brau becomes DRE 1979 — RE enrollment is 92, with 70 in Sunday school, and 12 in LRY (Liberal Religious Youth, the youth group) 1979 — For the hour before Sunday school, children may go to the Clay Room, the Reading Room, or the Games and Crafts Room
Sunday school class, 1978
1980s
1980 — DRE Mary Brau adds “executive officer” of the entire church to her duties 1980 — Nationwide, after a decade and a half of decline, Unitarian Universalism begins to grow at about 1% per year 1980 — RE enrollment drops to 75
1981 — An intergenerational breakfast is held on Easter Sunday
1982 — Sandy Price, an experienced DRE from Oak Park, Ill., becomes DRE for one school year while temporarily living in the area 1982 — Clay room activities at 10:00 a.m. (before Sunday school and the service) continue to be popular 1982 — Junior Choir is revived, sings once a month when children are in the first part of the service
1983 — Mary Katherine Haynes becomes DRE 1983 — Small but active youth group with paid part-time youth advisor
1984 — Intergenerational activities include two family potluck breakfasts, “Trick or Treat for UNICEF,” and Christmas carol party
1985 — Donna Bookbinder is temporary DRE 1985 — Jean Blackburn Conner becomes DRE in November 1985 — No program for teens this year
1986 — RE enrollment is 54 1986 — Child care is available year-round on Sundays; one paid staffer assisted by teen and parent volunteers
1987 — Educational goals developed in a fall retreat: increase involvement of kids in church, religious literacy, plant the seed of lifelong UUs 1987 — Easter breakfast and egg hunt
1988 — RE enrollment is 80 1988 — Edith Parker becomes Director of Religious Education 1988 — RE Committee seeks ways to encourage more participation by high school aged teens
1989 — Senior High teens host an all-church supper and some after-church lunches 1989 — RE brochure lists the Halloween Parade
Halloween party, 1986
1990s
1990 — RE enrollment is 125 1990 — Children continue to attend the first part of the worship service once a month before leaving for their classes 1990 — Both the senior high group and the junior high group are active
1991 — RE enrollment is 90 1991 — Main Hall is often 80-90% full on Sunday mornings; Ken Collier first proposes double sessions
1992 — Three paid child care workers provide care each Sunday 1992 — Intergenerational activities include a Seder Summer Solstice sunrise celebration, and a Winter Solstice celebration
1993 — Enrollment is 120, classrooms are crowded 1993 — After a hiatus, a Junior Choir starts up again 1993 — DRE Edith Parker serves as resource person for the new UU congregation forming in Fremont
1994 — The Religious Education Committee for children and youth, and the Adult Religious Education Committee merge to form a Lifespan Religious Education Committe
1995 — RE enrollment is 140, with growth in youngest ages, infants through preschoolers: the peak of the Millennial generation 1995 — UUCPA provides financial and moral support to the new UU congregation in Fremont, with no apparent effect on RE enrollment
1996 — Intergenerational events include folk singer Jim Stevens, 4:30 p.m. Christmas Eve service, Easter egg hunt for gr. preK-2 1996 — RE enrollment is 147
1997 — RE enrollment drops to 125 1997 — Congregation sees enough growth in adult membership to consider adding a second minister 1997 — New safety policy requires two adults in each classroom, though implementation was difficult at first
1998 — Edith Parker completes ministerial training, under UUA rules is not allowed to continue serving as inister at UUCPA, and so resigns 1998 — UUCPA hires Rev. Til Evans as interim minister of religious education, to serve with Ken Collier 1998 — Ellen Thacher Preschool is now part of Palo Alto Community Child Care 1998 — Intergenerational events include a games program in September 1998 — Til Evans reports that the lack of dependable and consistent space for religious education programs is the greatest lack facing the program
1999 — RE enrollment is 135 1999 — Behavioral problems in classrooms lead to the development of a behavioral covenant 1999 — Inspired by Til Evans, the Lifespan RE Committee marshals support in the congregation for adding a second permanent minister
Senior high youth on a ski trip, 1997
2000s
2000 — In January, UUCPA adds a second worship service on Sunday morning 2000 — Rev. Darcey Laine is called as minister of religious education; Rev. Ken Collier announces his resignation a few months later 2000 — RE enrollment is 64
2001 — Sunday school begins to include regular social justice projects 2001 — Rev. Darcey Laine spends significant time “supporting the parish ministry transition”
2002 — Capital campaign includes renovation of classrooms
2003 — Board of Trustees implements a child protection policy
2004 — The Senior High Youth Group and Rev. Darcey Laine, along with youth from the Redwood City UU Fellowship, install the first labyrinth at UUCPA
2005 — Time of children’s classes is changed from 11:00 to 9:30 a.m. 2005 — With Rev. Amy Zucker settled in as the new parish minister, Rev. Darcey Laine is able to re-focus her attention on children and youth
2006 — Family Chapel Services are held, led by volunteers
2007 — Darcey Laine resigns, as her family wants to relocate to upstate New York 2007 — Rev. Eva Ceskava becomes interim minister of religious education
2008 —
2009 — Congregation hires Rev. Dan Harper as assistant minister of religious education 2009 — Joe Chee, doctoral candidate in educational technology, starts CYRE blog for teacher engagement and training 2009 — Children and Youth Religious Education Committee moves key documents to the cloud 2009 — Nationwide, Unitarian Universalism begins small annual decline that continues to the present
2010s
2010 — With the help of church consultant Alice Mann, UUCPA sets goal of “adding the next 50 people” as measured by average annual attendance 2010 — Second Sunday Lunch begins, children and teens welcomed from the beginning 2010 — Joe Chee produces Sunday school teacher podcasts 2010 — Youth group makes a service trip to New Orleans
2011 — New fenced-in play area installed in front of Thacher School’s playground 2011 — Coming of Age class cooks, serves, and eats dinner with Hotel de Zink for the first time
2012 — UUCPA’s “OWL” comprehensive sexuality education program welcomes non-UU families, as a community outreach program 2012 — Navigators program is organized at UUCPA, a scouting program welcoming all genders and LGBTQIA+ persons 2012 — UUCPA begins publishing Sunday school curriculums online
2013 — Children are invited to participate in planning the new front garden
Children helping to plan the front garden, 2013 (faces blurred to preserve privacy)
2014 — Religious education enrollment peaks at 135 (highest since 1999) 2014 — Sunday school “Ecojustice class” installs first rain barrel at UUCPA
2015 — First year of Ecojustice Camp day camp 2015 — Youth group makes a service trip to Belize, under the direction of Anne Frahn
2016 — RE enrollment is 116 2016 — Membership and Growth Committee reports that UUCPA is halfway to the goal of adding 50 people, as measured by average annual attendance
2017 — RE enrollment is 105
2018 — RE enrollment is 105 2018 — Congregation considers removing the word “Church” from its name, with strong support from high school students who become members so they can vote on this issue 2018 — Mr. Barb Greve becomes religious educator while Dan Harper is on sabbatical; Greve is also volunteering as co-moderator of the UUA
2019 — About 30% of enrolled children and youth are non-white
2020s
2020 — COVID cause state-wide shutdown, on March 15 youth group and all classes move online 2020 — In September, two small in-person classes begin (Ecojustice class and OWL gr. 7-9), outdoors, masked, and physically distanced 2020 — In late November, another lockdown closes in-person classes
2021 — In February, the two in-person classes are able to resume once again 2021 — In June, three-week COVID-safe Ecojustice Camp welcomes 16 campers, makes $12,000 for the congregation 2021 — In September, in-person classes resume for preschool and up, with online options available
For the 75th anniversary of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto
1949 — Our congregation protests “the assumption that war is inevitable and an A-bomb justified…. We urge positive program negotiations to avoid war.”
1950 — Congregation gives sizable contributions to help Spanish refugees who had been living in France since 1938 1950 — Congregation sponsors and settles a Displaced Persons family from Latvia
1952 — Congregation refuses to sign California’s “Loyalty Oath,” and has to pay state tax even though it’s a nonprofit 1952 — Congregation collects 155 pounds of clothing for Spanish refugee children
1953 — Our congregation, the San Jose Unitarian church, and the Los Gatos Unitarian Fellowship form a dental loan fund to aid children of migrant workers
1956 — Congregation assists a displaced persons family from East Germany
1958-66 — With a group of 5 Bay Area Unitarian churches, our congregation helps found Stevenson House, Palo Alto’s first nonprofit housing for low-income seniors
1958 — Over 200 members sign a pledge of open housing, agreeing to welcome all persons to their neighborhood regardless of race, creed, or national origin
1959 — Congregation supports a Displaced Persons family from East Germany
1960 — Congregation assists a displaced persons family, plus four children from Indonesia 1960 — Congregation approves a resolution calling for the dissolution of the House Un-American Activities Commission
1962 — The Women’s Alliance sends six cartons of clothing to Spanish refugees in Toulouse, France 1962 — The Sunday school packs food baskets for prisoner’s families at Christmas
1964 — Rev. Dan Lion participates in the Mississippi Summer Project (a.k.a. Freedom Summer), and is supported by our congregation 1964 — Congregation votes overwhelmingly to oppose the Becker Amendment, Resolution 693, that would allow prayer in public schools 1964 — Congregation votes to oppose California Proposition 14, which would allow open racial discrimination when selling or renting housing
1965 — Congregation supports Rev. Dan Lion’s trip to Selma, Ala. 1965 — Sunday school students give $90 [$800 in 2020 dollars] to sponsor a foster child in Greece
1966 — Activism against the Vietnam War 1966 — Congregation sells 2.2 acres to Stevenson House elderly housing community at $30,000 below market rates [$240,000 in 202 dollars], then gives Stevenson House a $5,000 donation [$405,000 in 2020 dollars]
1967 — The congregation’s newsletter carries a series of letters over several months from congregation members both opposing and supporting the Vietnam War 1967 — Senior minister Rev. Dan Lion and Assistant Minister Rev. Mike Young provide counseling to conscientious objectors
1968 — Congregation votes to not build a new church building, and instead votes to spend the money raised on “human rights” programs
1969 — Rev. Dan Lion and other Unitarians participate in anti-war march in downtown Palo Alto
1970 — Congregation forms a nonprofit corporation to start an alternative high school, called “Lothlorien High School”
1971 — Congregation establishes Ellen Thacher Children’s Center, a day care center named after the recently deceased Ellen Thacher; 1/4 of the children receive scholarships
1972 — Congregation grants the use of the church as sanctuary for those “acting according to the dictates of their conscience in opposition to civil or military actions” [i.e., for conscientious objectors]
1975 — The Social Concerns Committee supports the United Farm Workers boycott of Gallo 1975 — After its sixth year, Lothlorien High School ceases operations
1977 — Gail Hamaker and other women from our congregation are active in getting the Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly to adopt the groundbreaking Women and Religion resolution
1981 — The World Concerns Committee presented non-partisan lectures on various topics of social concern
1982 — Congregation votes in December to join South Bay Sanctuary Covenant to provide protection and advocacy for Central American refugees
1984 — The Sanctuary Committee raises $100 a month to support South Bay Sanctuary Covenant [$250 in 2020 dollars] 1984 — The Stevenson House Committee helps raise funds to renovate Stevenson House, arranges activities to “enliven the environment” of residents
1987 — Congregation votes to join the Mid-Peninsula Peace Center 1987 — Congregation votes to make our congregation a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone 1987 — Congregation votes to join the Urban Ministry of Palo Alto, to address homelessness
1988 — Congregation is a founding member of Hotel de Zink, a short-term homeless shelter
1989 — 1st annual Undie Sunday collection of donations of new underwear for unhoused people
1992 — Congregation gives over 3% of its annual budget to the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
1994 — Congregations begins Welcoming Congregation process, to become more welcoming to LGBTQIA+ people
1997 — Congregation joins with other churches to form Peninsula Interfaith Action; began work on education and housing
2008 — Task force on ridding the world of nuclear weapons is formed 2008 — Welcoming Congregation Committee organizes congregation to attempt to defeat Prop 8, a ballot measure to ban same-sex marriage
2009 — Congregation receives Green Sanctuary Congregation certification from the Unitarian Universalist Association for good congregational environmental practices
2010 — 1st annual sale of fair trade chocolate for Halloween 2010 — Fair Elections task force is formed
2012 — Congregation endorses SB 52, the California Clean Money Act, to require financial disclosure of campaign contributions; holds CA DISCLOSE Act rally at the church 2012 — Our Whole Lives comprehensive sexuality education classes are open to the wider community
2013 — Immigration Task Force is formed; adult class is offered on “Immigration as A Moral Issue” 2013 — Music Director Bruce Olstad launches Bodhi Tree North concert series to raise money for charitable causes
2014 — Installation of native plant garden in front of the church is completed
2015 — Congregation gives authority to the Green Sanctuary Committee to advocate on behalf of UUCPA for environmental issues
2016 — Rev. Amy Zucker Morgenstern leads first Beloved Conversations anti-racism class
2017 — Congregation endorses SB 31, California Religious Freedom Act 2017 — Congregation co-sponsors Unity Rally to counter rally by Anti-Sharia proponents 2017 — More solar panels added to Main Hall roof, which now satisfy all the congregation’s electrical needs
2018 — Congregation approves fast-track process for endorsements on behalf of the congregation, and for approvals to carry a UUCPA banner in public rallies and vigils 2018 — Parking lot solar panels, erected by a solar energy company leasing from the congregation, begin operation 2018 — Congregation becomes a host of the year-old Heart & Home Collaborative women’s homeless shelter 2018 —Native plant garden in front of the church is expanded
2019 — Signed a Statement of Support for people arrested and charged for leaving food and water in the desert for immigrants 2019 — Congregation organizes phone banks for Reclaim our Vote, reaching out to voters of color 2019 — Rev. Amy Zucker Morgenstern begins “White Folks Dismantling White Supremacy” anti-racism class 2019 — In cooperation with Grassroots Ecology, congregation becomes a rain barrel demonstration site, with over 500 gallon capacity
2020 — Congregation participates in the Unitarian Universalist Association’s UU the Vote campaign 2020 — Members of the congregation write thousands of postcards and made hundreds of phone calls to encourage people of color in southern states to register and vote in the 2020 election 2020 — Due to COVID lockdown, Heart & Home Collaborative homeless shelter remains at UUCPA for 3 months, 24/7 2020 — Board approves carbon-neutral policy 2020 — “White Folks Dismantling White Supremacy” class expanded to twice monthly
2021 — Congregation endorses the California Ballot DISCLOSE Act 2021 — Congregation receives final approval and launches UUCPA Safe Parking Program, hosting four passenger vehicles in our parking lot, in conjunction with Move Mountain View 2021 — Board approves plastics reduction policy 2021 — First all-electric heat pump HVAC system is installed in church office 2021 — Congregation begins work on proposed 8th Principle on addressing racism and other oppressions 2021 — Core group takes online Beloved Conversations class from Meadville Lombard Theological School 2021 — Congregation renews their commitment to being a Welcoming Congregation 2021 — Congregation adds Showing Up for Racial Justice at Sacred Heart as a monthly Justice Partner
Update, 11/18/21: Errors corrected, new items added
The seventy-fifth anniversary of the organization of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto is in 2022. So I’ve been working on the history of the congregation, starting with a basic timeline.
Sources for this timeline: Rae Bell’s timeline for the 60th anniversary of the congregation; Annual Reports from 2009-2020; documents in the UUCPA archives; personal reminiscences; denominational sources.
Now Deborah Pope-Lance has gotten permission to host this paper on her Web site, here — you’ll have to scroll down past some other papers and essays on clergy sexual misconduct to find the link.
Highly recommended reading for anyone who wants to know more about the history of U.S. Unitarian Universalism in the past 25 years, or for anyone interested in the recent history of feminism in religion. If you think Unitarian Universalism has made lots of progress in becoming a feminist movement, you’ll be depressed by this paper. On the other hand, if you’re one of those who (like me) has been incredibly frustrated at how little attention has been paid to the intertwined issues of sexism, patriarchy, and clergy misconduct with Unitarian Universalism, you’ll be relieved to read this exposé of the abuse of power by male clergy and how influential and powerful people within Unitarian Universalism have covered it up.
I’d even say I was delighted to read this paper, not because I’m delighted by clergy misconduct, but because I’m delighted that this subject is finally getting the attention it deserves from historians and others. Thank you, Loré Stevens. Thank you, UUHHS. Thank you, Deborah Pope-Lance for hosting this paper online.
Amy Morgenstern, the senior minister, and I have been talking about child dedications recently. As we talked, I realized that one of the results of the social process known as “secularization” (which in the U.S. is more of an adjustment away from communal religious organizations to individualized religious practices) is that fewer and fewer people know that there are established communal practices to welcome babies. Even if they do know about such practices as Unitarian Universalist child dedications, they may find it difficult to understand why they would want to have a communal ceremony, within a religious community, rather than something more individualistic.
This realization has led me to rethink the entire concept of child dedications. After I was born in 1960, I was christened (not dedicated) in a Unitarian church — but what was a Unitarian christening, and was there then a distinctive way of thinking about this naming ceremony? What about Universalist understandings of naming ceremonies? How have Unitarian and Universalist naming ceremonies combined and evolved into Unitarian Universalist naming ceremonies?
I don’t yet have answers to these questions, but I’ve been collecting relevant historical documents. Without further ado, here are documents from the 20th century that relate to Universalist, Unitarian, and Unitarian Universalist naming ceremonies.
Yesterday would have been Pete Seeger’s one hundredth birthday, had he not died in 2014. In preparation for a Pete Seeger sing-along at church tomorrow, I’ve been reading through the songs in his books “The Bells of Rhymney” and “Where Have All the Flowers Gone, listening to some of his recordings, and reflecting on his legacy.
He is often remembered as a songwriter, but as a song writer he was at his best when he collaborated with others. “The Hammer Song,” one of his most notable songs, was co-written with Lee Hays, who recalled that the song was written “in the course of a long executive committee meeting of People’s Songs” during which “Pete and I passed manuscript notes back and forth until I finally nodded at him and agreed that we had the thing down” (quoted in Doris Willens, Lonesome Traveler: The Life of Lee Hays [New York: W. W. Norton, 1988], p. 88) — then several years later, the melody of “The Hammer Song” was modified to its most recognizable version when it was recorded by Peter, Paul, and Mary. “Where Have All the Flowers Gone,” while it was written solely by Seeger, has lyrics which are derived from a Cossack folk song. “The Bells of Rhymney” gets lyrics from a poem by Idris Davies. “Turn, Turn, Turn” takes its lyrics from the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes.
Of the songs which Seeger wrote entirely by himself, both words and music, the best is “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy”; though written about the Vietnam War, the song holds up today (especially if you leave out the sixth verse in which Seeger claims he’s “not going to point any moral,” then does so with a heavy hand). Most of the rest of Seeger’s songs are either forgettable, like “Maple Syrup Time,” a folk music pastorale with sentiments as sickly sweet as the title suggests — or hard to sing, like “Precious Friend” with its awkward rhythm and high notes reachable only by tenors and sopranos.
Seeger was better as an interpreter and transmitter of traditional songs, as well as songs written in a folk style. He was not impressed by the tradition of Western classical music, and instead dedicated himself to the folk tradition, the tradition of “people’s songs.” As he recalled in his memoir Where Have All the Flowers Gone: A Singalong Memoir:
“My violinist mother once said, ‘The three Bs are Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms.’ I retorted, ‘For me, they are ballads, blues, and breakdowns.'” (p. 205)
He loved the folk tradition, and had an encyclopedic knowledge of traditional and traditional-sounding songs — mostly from the Anglo-American and African-American folk song traditions, but he also knew a lot of songs from other traditions. There are many instances where he helped transmit an obscure song into wide popularity. “Wimoweh” is a perfect example of this. In 1948, Alan Lomax gave Seeger a hit record from South Africa titled “Mbube,” written by a Zulu sheepherder named Solomon Linda. Seeger transcribed the music from the recording, misunderstanding the Zulu word “mbube” as “Hey yup boy,” taught it to a newly-formed quartet called The Weavers, and their recording of it hit no 6 on the Hit Parade. Then in 1958, another group, The Tokens, adapted the song further, calling it “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”
Seeger particularly liked folk songs, or folk-like songs, with a political message. The one solo recording of his that made it onto the charts was his version of his friend Malvina Reynolds’ song “Little Boxes,” a song that protested the conformity of suburbia. Reynolds included the song in her collection of children’s songs, and for me “Little Boxes” is at its best as a silly sing-along kids’ song. Seeger’s interpretation of the song has a harsher bite to it. I suspect Tom Lehrer had Seeger’s interpretation of the song in mind when Lehrer called “Little Boxes” “the most sanctimonious song ever written” (quoted in Christopher Hitchens, “Suburbs of Our Discontent,” The Atlantic, December, 2008). Seeger was an angry man: angry as the way the Hudson River had been polluted and exploited, angry at the way workers and union members were exploited, angry at the way Congressman Joe McCarthy used red-baiting to silence leftists, angry at the maltreatment of African Americans, angry at all kinds of injustice. He sang songs that helped channel his anger into changing the world for the better. Seeger identified with the poor and down-trodden; yet at the same time he never managed to lose his upper-class accent, though he tried to obscure it by pronouncing “-ing” as “-in,” and frequently dropping the first-person singular pronoun.
That combination of affected upper-class accent and an identification with the working class still grates on me, and sometimes makes me want to call Seeger sanctimonious. He was a little too sure of his ethical stands, and a little too quick to condemn others. A perfect example of this is when he quit the Weavers. Lee Hays recalled:
“It came out in the guise of going ahead to do something pure and noble, which had the effect of making the rest of us feel guilty as hell for going on, as if we were doing something wrong…. He just walked out on us, and it was a terrible blow.” (quoted in Doris Willens, Lonesome Traveler: The Life of Lee Hays [New York: W. W. Norton, 1988], p. 182)
Hays went on to acknowledge Seeger’s “fantastic accumulation of songs”; when Hays first met him, Seeger knew more than 300 songs, ready to sing and play. Seeger’s political activism, coupled with his extremely high moral standards, are an important part of his legacy, but his true genius lies in his passion for song.
And crucial to Seeger’s genius was his dedication to getting groups of people to sing. Seeger was moderately good performer (though he abused his voice and don’t imitate his vocal style unless you want to ruin your voice), but his talent was small compared to someone like Leadbelly or Woody Guthrie — but he was a genius as a songleader. Seeger didn’t just sing his songs and get off stage; he wanted you to sing along with him, so the song became a part of you. Listen to his concert recordings, and you will hear how he got people to sing freely and unselfconcisously. I heard him sing at several political rallies and demonstrations during the 1980s, and he was brilliant at energizing the crowd by getting us singing; this was a distinct contrast with other singers who treated those political rallies as performances.
But Seeger’s dedication to getting people to sing for themselves is best exemplified, not in his live performances — which were performances after all — but in his tireless dedication to giving people the tools to sing and play for themselves. His modest 1948 booklet “How To Play the Five-String Banjo” popularized that instrument to an entire generation. He was the guiding genius behind “Sing Out” magazine, a magazine which each month contained a few songs that you could learn to sing and play yourself. And it was his encouragement that got the popular sing-along songbook Rise Up Singing published and popularized.
So I remember Pete Seeger, not as a songwriter or performer, but as someone who urged us all to sing. For that gift, I can forgive him his sanctimoniousness, and I can forgive him all the sublimo-slipshod songs he wrote. He was a genius at getting us to sing. And singing, for Seeger, was a way for us to make the world a better place; to energize us so we could do the work that needs to be done; to nurture and grow a community founded on harmony and love.
I’ve been trying to figure out why I’ve grown so interested in the multimedia curriculum kits produced by the Unitarian Universalist Association from 1964 to about 1990. I was first attracted by the integration of texts, audio recordings, and visual materials. But I realized I am also attracted by the existential educational philosophy. And I am attracted by the experimental nature of many of the curriculum kits.
The story of Ron Hargis, the minister of religious education at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto (then called the Palo Alto Unitarian Church) from 1971-1977, offers an interesting insight into the changes facing congregations in the 1970s, particularly the decline in the number of children, and the emergence of new educational approaches.
Ronald Irving Hargis was born on May 26, 1924, in Battle Creek, Michigan. His father was Gerald C. Hargis (b. Aug. 18, 1896 in Des Moines, Iowa), and his mother was Marian Adelle Howard (b. Mar. 25, 1893 in Newark, New Jersey). I know little about his childhood except that he apparently was raised a Seventh Day Baptist; this denomination observes the sabbath on Saturday.
Hargis received an A.B. from Western Michigan University. He then moved to Connecticut, where he received a B.D. (1949) and an M.A. (1950) from Hartford Seminary Foundation. He did a student pastorate from 1948-1950 in Waterford, Conn. This congregation was founded in 1784, according to the Seventh Day Baptist General Conference Web site [http://www.seventhdaybaptist.org/content/churches accessed 12 June 2013 13:25 PDT] Then from 1950-1952, Hargis served as the Executive Secretary in Religious Education of the Seventh Day Baptist denomination. Continue reading “Ron Hargis, an obscure religious educator”
