by Mike Roberts, Church Historian

What were your Christmas celebrations like in the past? All of us must reminisce to some extent about our own childhood Decembers. Those days certainly were different from recent Christmas seasons. For some of us, Black Friday was when grade cards were sent home, not a day of crazed shopping. But, in many ways, there is much similarity. Surely most of us remember seeing Frosty the Snowman with Burl Ives decades and decades ago, the same one that will be televised this Christmas season. Hip-hop Christmas albums will probably be aired this year but we also have those old Christmas hymns to harken us back to a time long past. We will hear some of them again at our annual Christmas Eve service. What was Christmas like in 1942 for our church? That year offers us the oldest extensive information available from our archives about a Christmas from the past. Let’s take a look.

America was a little over a year into World War II and the war was not going well. Rationing had set in. Many of our finest men and women were off to fight the war. Industry was gearing up to full-time war production. Franklin Roosevelt was in the middle of his third term and had served longer than any other president.

The minister of our church was Kenneth Hutchinson. He had begun his service to the church earlier that year. He replaced Ralph Boyd who had enlisted for chaplain duty in the U.S. Army for one year’s service in July 1941. Boyd had asked for a year’s leave of absence from our church but the Board of Trustees had denied the request. After months of an empty pulpit, Hutchinson had been hired to replace Pastor Boyd. Reverend Hutchinson offered this observation of a wartime Christmas. “In these days of war and strife, the Christmas story of ‘peace on earth, good will toward men’ may sound rather fanciful. We are interested in winning a war. We are not concerned with ‘good will toward men,’ we are concerned with guns and tanks and planes and battleships. To sing the carols, re-tell the account of the shepherds, and describe anew the journey of the wise men, while in the midst of this current struggle, may even seem to some as a cause for questioning our sanity. Now we may ask, is this because these other things are more important, or is it because our vision has become rather sadly limited? There comes from time to time in the midst of the affairs of the moment, that occasion when our eyes are turned once again to the eternal truths of the ages, and we think of things as they ought to be. May that time come to us at this Christmas season. May we see beyond the temporary figures of marching men to the eternal vision of the little child. May we hear above the din of crashing guns, the eternal melody of the angels’ song. May we say in the words of Tiny Tim: ‘God bless us, everyone.’”

On Monday evening, December 14th, a festive Christmas party was held by the Clara Barton Guild at the home of Miss Georgia Green. The highlight of the evening was a presentation by theater and radio producer Miss Olive Kackley. Miss Kackley had a national reputation and was one of the advisors to Eleanor Roosevelt on how to present her radio addresses to the nation during the war. Records from the party also reported that Lydia Beck “dedicated the Guild’s annual charity in the form of tiny stockings well filled with sterling silver and hung upon a tiny Christmas tree”.

On Thursday afternoon, December 17th, a blended regrouping of the church’s other two women’s groups was held in the church parlor. Discussion was held as to what their new name would be but for the time being, they were identified only as the “Afternoon Group”. At the end of the meeting, each member related the Christmas customs of different countries.

On Friday evening a family supper night was held at the church along with the school Christmas party. Santa Claus was present. Each member was asked to bring a wrapped, ten-cent gift.

In the December 27th order of service, those members of the church who had enlisted in the military were mentioned. They were: George Bowman, Richard White, Ben Smith, Armin Ulm, Ralph Boyd, Burnett Read, William Mockbee and Joseph Sweets. In addition, it was noted in the November Board of Trustees minutes that trustee Robert Buescher was absent from the meeting because he was in Dayton enlisting in the air corps. He was later to be mustered out as a 1st Lieutenant in August 1945.

The annual Christmas service was held on December 20th. It opened with an organ devotional, “Christmas Pastorale” by Harker. It was followed by a violin solo “Agnes Dei” by Bizet and performed by William Stoess, the music director for WLW. Among other accomplishments, Stoess was responsible for originating the musical background to WLW’s afternoon dramas. These broadcasts became known as soap operas because of their sponsorship by Procter and Gamble. During the war, he moved on to ABC in New York.

Next, a processional hymn accompanied the entry of the children and the choir. That was followed by the call to worship and a somewhat familiar covenant:

“We would strive to make love the doctrine of our church,
the quest for truth its sacrament,
and help to others its prayer.
We would strive to dwell together in peace,
to seek knowledge in perfect freedom,
and to serve mankind through fellowship:
To the end that we may grow into harmony with the divine.
Thus, do we now covenant anew, with each other and with our God.”

The service continued with the doxology:

“Praise God that good is everywhere.
Praise to the love we all may share,
The life that thrills in you and me;
Praise to the truth that sets us free.”

A scripture reading of the Christmas story followed with an anthem sung by the choir, “The Angels’ Song” by Stickles. A reading and pastoral prayer were offered prior to the offertory. A solo was offered by Clare Sole “Voices of the Sky” by Matthews. Miss Sole was a student at the Conservatory. Next came “The Legend of the White Gifts”. White gifts had been collected by the church and were offered to needy members of the church and the Walnut Hills community. [For more on white gifts, see the note below.] A congregational hymn preceded the sermon by Reverend Hutchinson which he titled “He Came Too Soon.”

The service ended with the singing of “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” the benediction and finally an organ postlude of Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus.”

Thus concluded the Christmas celebration for our Universalist forefathers and foremothers in 1942.

11/23/2021.

---

For more on white gifts, see History of the White Gift.

by Mike Roberts, Church Historian

Working toward a goal of social justice has been a guiding light throughout the somewhat short history of the Unitarian Universalist Church. Our own social justice committee is quite active in multiple causes that affect the citizens of the Cincinnati area and beyond. What are our roots? Were our Universalist forefathers active in the social justice movements of their day? The Universalist Church in Ohio, written by Rev. Elmo Robinson and published by the Ohio Universalist Convention in 1923, sheds some light on the church’s attitudes toward social justice activities during the 19th century.

The Temperance movement attracted the attention of Ohio Universalists. At the 1834 Ohio State General Convention it was “Resolved, That we deplore the intemperate use of ardent spirits; and recommend to our brethren that temperance in all things, which becometh the professors of the Gospel of peace.”

In 1852, the language grew stronger. “Intemperance is a great evil, bringing poverty, sorrow, and destruction and acts as either a direct or indirect cause of much of the immorality and crime, especially in our large cities. Universalists should give their influence against the traffic and encourage the friends of temperance.”

In 1872, prohibition was endorsed. “Resolved, that we pledge our hearty cooperation in all wise and just measures looking to final prohibition of the manufacture and sale of intoxicating drinks.” Support for abolition and temperance seemed to wane, however, as several measures towards that end were defeated at later state conventions by narrow votes.

It should be noted that there is a bit of irony in one attempt to bar tavern owners from membership in the Universalist Church. One of the founders of our church, Griffin Yeatman and his family, opened the very first tavern in Cincinnati.

Of course, if alcohol is bad then tobacco must also be evil. In four different Ohio General Assemblies in the late 19th century, the church condemned the use of tobacco. “Resolved, That the Universalists of Ohio enter their protest against the use of Tobacco, looking upon its use as an evil second only to the use of intoxicating liquors.”

The attack on tobacco was then aimed toward the church itself. The use of tobacco was prohibited to its ministers, church officers and any persons in a Universalist Church teaching position in the State of Ohio.

Capital punishment also came under attack as early as 1845 when the following resolution was passed: “Whereas the infliction of Capital Punishment is inconsistent with the doctrines of Christ—the requisition of blood for blood, in the first dispensation, having been, in our opinion, abolished by the Gospel Dispensation, which requires us to render good for evil and to overcome evil with good—by this body therefore be it Resolved, That we recommend to our brethren everywhere to sue all lawful means to effect the abolition of Capital Punishment.”

Two years later, ministers were asked to preach on the fourth Sunday of September the commandment that “Thou Shall Not Kill” and demand the abolition of capital punishment. Prison reform was also often attached to this argument. In 1880, the state Universalist Church took up the cause of a 16-year-old condemned to die. The state convention called upon Governor Charles Foster to commute the death sentence of this young man and change it to a sentence of life imprisonment.

Without doubt, the great dividing issue of the first half of the 19th century was slavery. In 1843, the national Universalist Convention was held in Akron. They passed an anti-slavery resolution with but one dissenting vote. However, it must be noted that no southern states sent a delegation to the convention. The resolution attacked slavery as antithetical to the beliefs of Universalism. Four lengthy resolutions opposing slavery were passed.

However, the softened tone of the final resolution is indicative of the difficulty faced by the entire nation in how to deal with enslavement and not break the nation in half. The final resolution stated, “Resolved, That while we regard the holding in bondage of our brethren for whom Christ died, or the treatment of any human being with obloquy, harshness, or any indignity on account of his color or race, as contrary to righteousness, inconsistent with Christianity, and especially with that doctrine of Universal Grace and Love which we cherish as the most important of revealed truth, we are well aware that many worthy and upright Christians have sustained the relation of slaveholder in ignorance of its true character, nor from inability to relieve themselves, therefrom; and while we earnestly entreat all Christian and especially all Universalist slave-holders to consider prayerfully the nature and tendencies of the relation they sustain, we recommend or countenance no measures of indiscriminate denunciation or proscription, but appealing to the gospel, to humanity and to their own conscience we await in implicit confidence the perfect working of the principles of Divine and Universal Love.”

Other subjects that were ripe for reform are listed in this work but without mention of formal convention resolutions. These included church unity, social purity, (President) Roosevelt’s investigations of industrial conditions, abolition of child labor, equal suffrage and public health.

In 1867 a general statement on reform was issued and its eloquence speaks to where the Universalist of that time period saw the potential solution to social justice. “When Christianity is rightly apprehended and made truly practical, much of the noise and confusion of reform machinery will be done away with. But the spirit of reform that seeks to instruct the ignorant, to help the weak, to give freedom to the enslaved, and to raise them to position to enjoy and profit by that freedom, that seeks to raise all human beings without distinction of color, race or sex, to an equality of privilege, that seeks for the causes of depraved morals and depraved appetites, and strives to so enlighten mankind as to set the streams of life running in better channels, this is the Spirit of Christ, and the Church that ignores it for the sake of any present popularity or gain, will finally go to destruction as it ought.”

10/24/2021.

by Mike Roberts, Church Historian

Many of you are too young to remember 1971, but it might still be interesting to reflect on the state of the American culture 50 years ago and also explore that era through the lens of what our church was experiencing. So, step into the UU Time Machine and rocket back to October 1971.

A reorganized Sunday School was opened at Salem Acres Community Church (our congregation), supervised by Muriel Steelman. At its September 12th opening, one child attended. By late October, five children were in attendance as well as an infant in the nursery.

In October, the #1 song on the Billboard Top 40 was “Maggie May,” by Rod Stewart. The #1 Country hit was “Easy Loving,” by Freddie Hart.

On October 11th, a dinner meeting of the church’s Clara Barton Guild was held with Hermine MacLaughlin, Muriel Steelman and Meredith Vickers serving as hostesses.

Representative Chalmers Wylie of Ohio introduced a bill in the House of Representatives to make prayer in public meetings and schools legal. The bill was introduced as a constitutional amendment to circumvent the Supreme Court ruling declaring prayer in schools unconstitutional. Wylie represented the northern suburbs of Columbus and lived in Worthington, Ohio.

Miss Georgia Green, a long-time member of the congregation, died in 1970 and left her house at 3430 Stettinius Avenue, Hyde Park, to the church. At the October 1971 Board of Trustees meeting, the sale of the house was approved for $22,500. The 2019 tax assessment value of that property was $686,000.

During this month, a federal judge in Sacramento, California, ruled that a public school could keep long-haired children out of their schools. Five- and eight-year-old brothers were sent home from a Sacramento school because of the ruling.

Salem Acres Church reported a budget ending the fiscal year on September 30, 1971, with total expenses of $8,099.44. The projected budget for the fiscal year beginning October 1st was $13,000.

The median family income for 1971 in the United States was $10,290.

The two best-selling fiction books of October 1971 were The Exorcist, by William Peter Blatty, and Day of the Jackal, by Frederick Forsyth.

In its review of the year’s activities, the congregation’s Service Circle mentioned their work with Longview Hospital, where they made wash cloths for each patient and donated 60 pairs of socks to be distributed at Christmas. Bob and Mabel Holland also crafted home-made ornaments for the hospital Christmas tree. The group also made monthly visits to the hospital to socialize with the patients.

Time magazine named Richard Nixon “Man of the Year.” He also earned the award in 1972, sharing it with Henry Kissinger. Time’s “Man of the Year” for 1973 was Judge John Sirica, who became famous for his role in the trials stemming from the Watergate scandal.

In 1971, Beacon Press in Boston initiated publishing a complete transcript of the Pentagon Papers. The federal government sued to block the publication as well as subpoenaing the financial records and other records of the Unitarian Universalist Association, the owner of Beacon Press. President Nixon made a phone call to the Director of Beacon Press, Gobin Stair, and threatened retaliation if Beacon published the Pentagon Papers. A Federal appeals court eventually quashed the suit as well as the subpoena of records and the Watergate scandal ended the harassment of Beacon by the Nixon administration. Thirty-five different publishing houses had been offered the Pentagon Papers and all had turned down the opportunity.

The top-rated TV shows in the fall of 1971 were “All in the Family,” “The Flip Wilson Show,” and “Marcus Welby, MD.”

While the nation was headed towards a crisis of leadership, the October 1971 Board of Trustees meeting was taken up with a lengthy discussion of whether to hire a part-time or full-time minister or continue with guest speakers and lay leadership. The major points offered by the trustees were summarized as: 1) We should hire someone of our own faith; 2) We do not need a full-time minister; 3) Our congregation is too small for a full-time minister; 4) It would really be a full-time job to build up the church; 5) The whole situation should be flexible if we find a good person willing to work at building up the church; 6) A part-time minister could be given the chance to prove his worth; 7) The national organization could supply the wrong kind of minister and it might be better to work on our own than to use the U.U.A. The board eventually approved that $6,000 be used to hire a part-time minister for the church. The President of the Board of Trustees was William Lewis.

As a possible indication of the state of American culture, the most popular movie of the month was The Stewardesses. The number 1 best-selling non-fiction book was The Sensuous Man, by M.

For all of 1971, Salem Acres relied on lay members and guest speakers to highlight their Sunday services.

At a press conference in Washington D.C., Jacques Cousteau predicted the death of our oceans and seas within 50 years if the abuse of our waters was not curtailed. He blamed unabated competition for the water’s resources by business and industry as the cause of the oceanic demise.

9/21/2021.

by Mike Roberts, Church Historian

Over the course of our nearly 200 years of existence, we have seen many families contribute greatly to the support and functioning of our church. One of those families was the Littell family. Our church records indicate that the name Littell begins to appear in the 1870’s when William J. Littell became an active participant in the church and its management. Over the course of nearly forty years, he served many terms on the Board of Trustees and also gave service to many committees. He first appears in December 1870 when he was elected to serve as a deacon in the church.

William J. Littell was born in 1837. He was the son of William M. Littell and Elizabeth Scudder Garrison. This family was among the early settlers of the city. William J.’s grandfather, Samuel Squire Littell, was born in Cincinnati in 1786 when there was little more than a fort and some log cabins along the banks of the Ohio River. In 1859 William married Miss Anna Smith. She gave birth to three children, William Henry, Nettie and Orin. She died at the age of 32 in 1871.

William remarried on November 19, 1872, to Miss Annette Dinsdale McKimmie, a school teacher. Her parents had immigrated to the city from London, England. She bore five children to that marriage, Ada, Cora, Edna, Grace and Clifford. Sadly, Ada, Grace and Clifford all died in infancy.

William took up work in the financial sector of the city. He identified himself as a real estate and money broker and worked out of an office at 7 W. 4th St. in downtown Cincinnati.

During the 1890’s, William chaired a critical committee that attempted to sell property the church owned to raise enough money to build a new church. Our congregation had sold its Plum Street Church and were worshipping in a former Methodist Church on McMillan Street. No satisfactory buyers could be found, so a second small structure was constructed on the site and the “flat building” was rented out to neighborhood businesses including a bakery and a druggist. Eventually, loans were taken out using the property as collateral and along with money earned from the sale of the Plum Street church, enough funds were raised to construct the Essex Place church which opened in December of 1898. During that period, William J. Littell also served as superintendent of the Sunday School. He also returned to his former role of deacon. He remained active in the church until his death in 1919 from a cerebral hemorrhage. One of his final acts was to oppose the sale of the new church in 1913 when another church group offered what seemed to some First Universalist members an attractive sum of money for the Essex building.

Orin Littell, the son of William J., also contributed greatly to the church for a period of forty years. At a young age he was elected a deacon, following in his father’s footsteps. He later became the clerk of the Board of Trustees and served in that capacity for nearly 30 years. The clerk was responsible for keeping the Board of Trustees records and also served as a church treasurer. Late in his years of service, his title was changed to church treasurer but he continued to serve on the board. He also succeeded his father as superintendent of the Sunday School.

Orin was born in 1865 but must have projected a promising future at an early age. In 1881, the German National Bank was opened in downtown Cincinnati on the corner of 4th and Vine. Orin was appointed cashier at the bank and held that position until his death in 1921. In 1906 he was elected President of the local chapter of the American Institute of Banking. During his church tenure as clerk and treasurer, the church did much of its financial business with this bank, including possessing a safety deposit box which held the church’s most valuable records.

Orin was also active in the community. He was a leader in the Masonic organization, served on a review board for the city of Norwood and headed a committee to pressure the Cincinnati Board of Education to build a new high school in the area of the church. He married Miss Alice Bently and they had three children. Orin died suddenly just two years after his father from an intestinal blockage which caused a pulmonary embolism.

During the years from 1870-1920 other Littells attended and joined the church. William J.’s father, William M. became a deacon during the 1880’s. Another son of William M., Joseph, was active during the period and served several terms on the Board of Trustees. At one annual meeting in the early 1900’s, 25 full members of the church (at that time the church offered full and associate memberships) attended the meeting and six of them were Littells.

The last known Littell to serve the church was Cora, Orin’s half-sister. She never married and devoted much of her life to the First Universalist Church, although she also worked as a seamstress at a local department store. She was a member of both the church’s women’s groups as well as the church missionary society. She hosted church functions and volunteered at Longworth Hospital. She served as a delegate to many state conventions and was one of those church members who was always there to help when a job needed to be done. Her name appears throughout our church records from the early 1900’s until her death in 1961. In her will, she bequeathed most of her estate to the church. Our Heritage Room is dedicated to her memory. Her death ended nearly 100 years of Littell membership in the church.

The old German National Bank Building still stands at 4th and Vine.

by Mike Roberts, Church Historian

From the Cincinnati Enquirer of August 11, 1899: In the article, our First Universalist Church was reported to have reached an agreement with the Christian Scientist Church of Cincinnati to lease to them the Universalist’s former home on McMillan Street. The church had been a temporary home for our congregation after leaving the downtown Plum Street site. Eight months earlier they had moved into the new Essex Street church. The Christian Scientists had been worshipping in various public venues around the city. However, their plan was to lease for a short time and then tear down the half century old structure and build anew.

From the Cincinnati Post of November 18, 1913: “More than 300 suffragists representing all the counties in Ohio were welcomed by Vice Mayor Simeon Johnson Tuesday at the opening of the twenty-eighth annual convention of the Ohio Woman Suffrage Association in the Sinton Hotel. The first suffragist to address the convention was Rev. Henrietta G. Moore, Universalist minister of Springfield who made the report of the plan of the work committee. She outlined the work now being done in the rural districts by the distribution of initiative and referendum petitions and said the petitions will be distributed in all cities of Ohio after January.”

From the Cincinnati Enquirer of December 27, 1916: The article gave notice that “How to Live Twice as Long” would be the subject of an address at the First Universalist Church that night. The address was to be delivered by Dr. D. H. Kress of Washington D.C. The relationship of a vegetable diet to high cost of living and its effect on health and bodily vigor would be his principal points. It noted that Dr. Kress would prepare a vegetarian dinner with the assistance of the church’s Women’s Missionary Alliance prior to his speech.

From the Cincinnati Post of December 10, 1930: “Dr. Robert Cummins, pastor of the First Universalist Church will be the speaker at the Reading Road Temple Round Table meeting of the Cincinnati Club Thursday, noon. His subject will be ‘Can Christianity Be Liberal.’”

From the Cincinnati Enquirer of June 9, 1934: The article reported that Mrs. Powel Crosley, Mrs. Orin Littell and Mrs. Elizabeth Todhunter would represent the Women’s Universalist Missionary Association of the First Universalist Church at the state convention in Rockland, Ohio. This convention was specifically for auxiliary groups from Universalist Churches across the state.

From the Cincinnati Enquirer of May 11, 1935: The article informed the reader that Mother’s Day would be honored at the First Universalist Church by a performance of “The Mothersingers.” The group was made up of 40 mothers from the church. They were led by Mrs. Stanley Clarke and planned to perform Brahms “Lullaby,” “Call of Home” and “The Mothersingers,” written by Mrs. Clarke and fellow choir member Margaret Bronson. Mrs. Clarke would solo “Mother’s Hymn.”

From the Cincinnati Enquirer of April 9, 1938: The article reported that a communion service was held on Good Friday evening. The choir gave selections from Stainer’s “Crucifixion.” Rev. Carl Olson gave an interpretation of communion. On Easter Sunday, Rev. Olson spoke on “Faith in Times of Impending Disaster.”

From the Cincinnati Post of May 9, 1940 : The article stated that the Rev. Ralph P. Boyd of First Universalist Church was to be heard in an analysis of “Die Meistersinger,” the Wagnerian opera. It was illustrated with music from the work. The presentation was broadcast over WSAI on Friday afternoon.

From the Cincinnati Post of April 22, 1946: The article noted that David Gillard, baritone soloist of the Church of the Redeemer in New York was to give a recital at the First Universalist Church on Monday. The Clara Barton Guild was sponsoring the program. The newspaper reported that Mr. Gillard is a Cincinnati native and attended the Cincinnati College of Music. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. C. E. Gillard of Erie Avenue. He studied at the Royal Conservatory in Antwerp before the war. He also sang in many of the major cities of Europe while serving in the armed forces. He traveled in France with the Paris Ballet to raise money for the destitute of France and performed weekly concerts in Cherbourg.

From the Cincinnati Enquirer of May 24, 1947: On Sunday, May 25th, The First Universalist Society celebrated its 120th anniversary. In the article it mentions that the first Universalist preaching in Cincinnati was done by Abel Morgan Sargent in 1791. The first meeting of the Universalist group was in 1825 in the home of Mrs. William Hughey who was the great-grandmother of the wife of current minister George Thorburn. The church was officially founded in 1827 and Eliphalet Case delivered their first sermon.

From the Cincinnati Post of December 9, 1960: It was reported that the Clara Barton Guild met on Monday at the Universalist Church on Essex Place. Following the meeting, a Christmas party was held and members returned stocking baseball and coin cards they had received to fill earlier in the year. The cards were slated to go the Clara Barton Camp for diabetic girls at North Oxford, Massachusetts and to the Elliot P. Joslin Camp for diabetic boys in Charleston, Massachusetts.

From the Cincinnati Enquirer of September 13, 1975: The newspaper gave notice that a joint worship service of Cincinnati UUA churches was scheduled for Sunday, September 14, 1975 at the UU church on Linton to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Unitarianism in America. Robert Nelson West, president of the UUA was the featured speaker. A special presentation was made to councilman Charles P. Taft, son of former President and Supreme Court Chief Justice William Howard Taft who was a member of the host church.

August 2021.

by Russ Araujo

I have a memory from the late 1980s, when Shelley Jackson Denham was our Music Director at Heritage UU Church. One Sunday morning she distributed hand-marked sheet music for a hymn she had composed, and we all sang “Credo.” I loved the song so much that I kept the handout. You can see it in the picture below.

The hymn was later included in the new UU Hymnal, Singing the Living Tradition, as hymn number 354. They changed the title to be the same as the first line, “We laugh, we cry.” That must have happened to follow a rule the hymnal committee made, since I noticed it occurred with other hymns as well. But I still think of the song as “Credo” – a personal statement of belief.

Click the “Credo” sheet music image once or twice to see an enlarged image. Below the sheet music is a video of our current Music Director, Les Tacy, playing the hymn.

 

6/22/2021.

by Mike Roberts, Church Historian

One of the most comforting aspects of our church activities is our music program. We are all so fortunate to have dedicated persons who devote so much time to presenting us with varied selections, inspiring pieces and soothing melodious works. This thought is coming from the person who is notorious for not singing along in church. Rather than sing, I love to follow the poetry of the music and soak in its meaning. I find that when I sing, I focus more on not hitting a sour note instead of understanding fully what I am singing. I even love to see who wrote the work and speculate on what its origins might be. Also, I have to take pity on those sitting in front of me who might double over in laughter or look desperately for their earplugs to escape the noise. Studying the music offers me insights and meaning that I might miss while trying to decipher the difference between a quarter and a half note or a B flat and a C sharp.

During the first century and a half of its existence, Universalism celebrated with much of the Christian music of most Protestant religions. However, even by 1950, it had created its own set of hymns which reflected its liberal theology. Published in 1951 by Beacon Press, the hymnal used by our church for many years during the mid- 20th century was entitled Hymns of the Spirit: Services of Religion for Use in the Churches of the Free Spirit. Nonetheless, it did contain many of the old-time favorites.

Music is a powerful highway into the memory bank. While the old hymns of my childhood are infrequently sung in our church, we occasionally take that trip down memory lane. When Bob Booth offers his stirring rendition of “Oh, Holy Night” at Christmas, I am propelled back to my Sundays at the Congregational Christian Church in Franklin, Ohio. I think not so much of a miraculous birth as the memories of sharing Christmas with my mother, step-father, half-brother and grandmother so many years ago. When I hear “Amazing Grace” I think not so much of a Godly blessing as I ponder the story of the repentant slave ship captain who wrote that famous hymn.

While we do not often sing those “old-time religion” hymns that at one time were an integral part of all Christian worship, we are blessed with new music which inspires and teaches. One of my favorites in our hymnal is #221 “Light One Candle” written by Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary. Our choir has occasionally sung it and when I listen to the P, P and M version, I inevitably think of our chalice lighting ceremony and the celebration of social justice both of which are such important foundations of our church culture.

Harry Chapin recognized the power of memory and music with his song “Remember When the Music”. One stanza reads “Remember when the music was a glow on the horizon of every new born day. And as we sang, the sun came up to chase the dark away. And life was good, for we knew we could.” Chapin’s song, “All My Life’s a Circle”, inevitably reminds me of the final activity of our church services when we join hands for the benediction. “All my life’s a circle; Sunrise and sundown; Moon rolls thru the nighttime; Till the daybreak comes around. All my life’s a circle; but I can’t tell you why; Seasons spinning round again; The years keep rollin’ by.” This weekend, Les Tacy struck a familiar chord with his singing of “All You Need is Love”, a Beatles favorite by Lennon and McCartney and a hallmark of the goal of our religious practice.

A tip of the hat and a round of applause should go to all those who kept the music alive during the challenges of the pandemic including the Tacy family, Steve McCamley, Mimi Sinclair and many of the choir who offered solo performances that kept our spirits from crashing into the depths of COVID-19. Bravo!! and Encore, Encore!!!

6/22/2021.

by Mike Roberts, Church Historian

In the last few issues, we talked about the unification of the Unitarian and Universalist Churches. To understand what issues were confronting Ohio Universalists, we can look to the 1955 state convention which offered no less than 18 recommendations for improvement to its membership. Some will seem familiar as topics we are still confronting in 2021. Others seemed linked to the distant past. Here are their suggestions for a better church:

~ Because so many of the Ohio member churches were lacking in youth leaders, a strong training program must be continued and further strengthened. Statewide meetings of youth advisors should be held at least twice a year and financial support from the state organization should be provided.

~ Reports from church trustees should be provided to the state organization no less than four times a year.

~ It was recommended that members of liberal churches should become more well-informed about India. This developing democracy was suffering through internal social and political issues which the convention felt endangered the peace of all countries in Asia.

~ It was recommended that thanks be extended to Reverends Maurice Cobb and Ira Benedict for their development of kits to be used in religious education classes.

~ Further investigation needed to be made to secure property for summer institutes and these institutes should be made available to other like-minded religious groups who could share in the cost of acquiring the property.

~ Churches should continue to assume their fair share of paying off the debts of the state organization.

~ A total of $2,000 should be sent to the Universalist Church of America over the next fiscal year.

~ Praise for Rev. Albert Q. Perry was offered for his work as editor of the Universalist state newsletter. Reverend Perry was the minister of our church at the time. A subscription to the newsletter cost $1.00 for ten issues.

~ A charge was given to the state nominating committee to complete their work by May 1956 and publish the names of candidates in the Ohio Universalist. Churches were also asked to submit names of potential candidates for state offices and the Board of Trustees.

~ A recommendation was made to contribute money to several liberal religious youth groups operating in Ohio.

~ It was recommended that the next state convention operate a book shop for the sale of books, pamphlets and other materials.

~ At this time, a bill was pending in the state legislature which allowed for the censorship of movies and films. It was stated that Universalists stand for freedom of expression and a statement of opposition would be immediately sent to the state legislature.

~ The previous year, the United States Supreme Court had declared segregation to be unconstitutional. The state board recommended that “we go on record as favoring in principle integration, that this is an issue in which we need to proceed with all patience and humility and that we ought to practice this principle in the program of our churches.”

~ Concern was expressed for basic freedoms and the board recommended that local churches make a sincere attempt to familiarize themselves with the Freedom Agenda program and to promote this as much as possible in local committees.

~ It was recommended that each church develop a program of Youth Advisorship.

~ It was recommended that ministers serving near colleges and universities attempt to identify liberally minded students and forward their names to the national office. Also, attempts should be made to start Channing-Murray groups on those campuses.

~ The upcoming national assembly was scheduled to be held in Detroit. Each Ohio congregation should attempt to send two representatives to that annual meeting.

~ Through public advertising and communication, each church should attempt to spread the word of Universalism.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Posted 5/26/2021.

by Mike Roberts, Church Historian

The similar histories of our church and the First Unitarian Church of Cincinnati, as well as the much different path taken by St. John’s Unitarian Church, all led to a convergence in 1961 when the national Unitarian and Universalist faiths merged. (This is sometimes referred to as “consolidation.”) While this joining was an official recognition of the similarity in these faiths, there had been times long before that event when the churches worked hand in hand.

Beginning early in the 20th century, a group of liberal churches in Cincinnati met annually for a joint Thanksgiving worship service. This joining of hands for giving thanks was conducted for sixty years, well past the time of the eventual national UU merger. When issues of great importance and challenge, especially in the area of human rights, confronted our city and country, these liberal churches often worked together to propose solutions to these problems. One of the local liberal churches, the New Thought Temple, eventually merged with our church in the late 1940’s. When other liberal-minded churches closed, often their members found refuge in one of the remaining liberal churches. For about 25 years after World War II, a group of men from these churches met to discuss common causes and issues. They were called BOGSAT which stood for “A bunch of guys sitting around a table”.

In the 1930’s, our church was blessed with a minister named Robert Cummins. Cummins was an early proponent of the national Unitarian and Universalist merger. In a 1949 address he proclaimed that the very name of his church implied a unity and an openness to all. Eventually, he went on to become the General Secretary of the Universalist Church of America. He wielded great influence in planting the seeds for a merger on the national level. However, before that merger occurred, he retired from his church office to serve the Eisenhower administration in the area of international cooperation. But he had begun to pave the road to merger.

While the union of these faiths may seem logical now, it was by no means unopposed in the years leading up to 1961. Each church took a vote as to whether they supported the idea and our own congregation voted overwhelmingly against it. Our minister at the time, Albert Perry, also was opposed and when the two churches joined forces, he resigned as a minister unable to support the new organization. Years later, he rejoined the united church and became one of its most respected ministers.

While similarities in the two groups existed, differences always hung like a cloud over the merger efforts. Perhaps no one could reflect on the merger better than UU minister John Cummins, the son of Robert Cummins. He remembered a Boston Unitarian matron saying that “Universalists were nothing more than Baptists who could read.” Cummins stated that “Universalists complained that Unitarians did not feel they’d had a good sermon unless they couldn’t quite understand it themselves.” Differences were aplenty, many of them organizational and others theological. In examining our own orders of service during the 1950’s, it becomes readily obvious that while liberal in its positions on human rights, it was still very strongly based in Christianity. One of the most contentious issues was how to deal with Christianity in the new UUA. In Article II, hotly debated at the 1959 General Assembly, it was only referenced as “the universal truths taught by the great prophets and teachers of humanity in every age and tradition”. In retrospect, the merger probably happened at an opportune time as liberal thought was to experience a renaissance during the late 1950’s and the 1960’s. Just to name a few issues, civil rights, obscenity laws, personal freedoms, women’s rights, and a host of others causes were being brought to the forefront of American thought. It was a perfect time for a liberal church to reexamine its own values and transform itself into what it has become today.

In sheer numbers, Unitarians outnumbered Universalists about 3 to 1. Of the 151,000 persons who joined the new UUA, only about 36,000 were Universalists. While it is obvious Unitarians could have steamrolled their own positions through any merger agreements, such does not seem to be the case. Interestingly, since the merger the population of the UUA has stayed steadily around 150,000. This has occurred while most other denominations have experienced steep declines in membership over the same period.

Years were spent in formulating the final agreement. And as John Cummins points out, even then the “final” agreement was amended 23 times before the merger was completed. A new UUA tradition had been started. To visually confirm the equality of the uniting of the two faiths, the first sermon was delivered in Symphony Hall in Boston by speakers standing behind a pulpit used by Hosea Ballou and another pulpit used by William Ellery Channing.

(You can also read Part 1 and Part 2 of this series.)