[ Home ] [ More Information ]
UUFES Past and Present
A History of the Unitarian
Universalist Fellowship of the Eastern Slopes:
1979-2003
(Revised and Updated Edition)
By
Roderick Forsman
March 2003
Foreword
Part I: Prelude To
a First Annual Meeting
A.
Predecessor - 1960's
B. PHOENIX
RISES - 1979-1980
C.
FORMATIVE YEARS - 1980-82
Part II: Principal Activities Through March, 2003
A. How and Where We Have Held Worship
Services
B. Membership Records
C. Annual Budgets 1982 and 2002
D. Religious Education Programs
E. The Bylaws: Original, Reviews and
Revisions
F. Social Events and Retreats
G. Clergy of the Eastern Slope
H. Special Funds
I. Self Study: Surveys and a Workshop
Retreat
J. A Future Home for
UUFES
Part III: Passages and Memorials
Part IV: Annual Slates of Officers
Part V: 1998 - Present
A. Ministry
B. Social Life
C. Lifespan Religious Education
D. Fundraising and Grants
E. "Vision Quest"
F. Mission Statement
G. A Marriage
H. Efforts Toward A Future Home
I. Search Committee Congregational Survey
I am pleased to offer this revision and updating of my earlier
edition of Two Decades of UUFES: A History of the Unitarian Universalist
Fellowship of the Eastern Slopes 1979-1999, (March, 1999). A great deal
has happened in this Fellowship, and it is important to keep track of
changes so that we have the means of looking back to see and understand
where we have come from as a religious community. A written history
affords that opportunity for each of our current members and friends.
Its value is especially significant, I believe, for all those whose
participation in UUFES is of recent origin.
The enjoyment I have experienced in doing this project has been
greatly enhanced by its bringing into vivid memory all the names, faces
and personalities of those who created the story of UUFES. I am thankful
that some of them are still active participants in this community. Alas,
some have died, others have moved away, and still others I have no idea
of their whereabouts or well-being.
As in the first edition, I have titled this A History rather than The
History to acknowledge the fact that any interpretations, slants and
selectivity imposed upon the material covered reflect one person's
vantage, mine. I am sure also that there are significant omissions, all
inadvertent, and I apologize for any matters that should have received
attention.
Special mention must be made of, and appreciation expressed to, C.
Russell Miller who more than anyone else clearly deserves the title
Founding Father of the Fellowship. Part I of the present report is
Russell's "Early History of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
of the Eastern Slopes," with some editing on my part.
The first Annual Meeting of the Fellowship was held on June 27, 1982.
How UUFES had reached that decisive point is described by C. Russell
Miller in the following "Early History" referred to above:
In the 1960's my wife and I with our children were vacationing at
Lovewell Pond in Fryeburg, Maine. We were members of the Unitarian
Society of Ridgewood, New Jersey.
A North Conway newspaper item mentioned a meeting of a Unitarian
Fellowship of the Eastern Slopes. I believe this was about the summer of
1964 and the meeting was to be held at the residence of a dentist (Dr.
Spear) on the West Side Road, North Conway. We decided to attend. (As a
matter of interest it could very well be that the late Kenneth Dole was
also present at that meeting. Ken became a Treasurer and Honorary member
of the current Fellowship.)
In talking with individuals within this small group, we learned that
a few years before, some parents came together to try and provide a more
1iberal religious education for their children. Apparently these were
new families in the North Conway area and many were summer visitors.
Most had previous contact with Unitarianism. Meg Brown was the leader of
the group. She and her husband operated the House of Color Gift Shop in
Intervale, New Hampshire, off Route 16.
During subsequent summers, we made a point to attend meetings of this
group when we could. Everything was informal and generally consisted of
discussions under Meg Brown's leadership. There was an attempt to
provide something in the way of a Sunday School for any children
present, usually in an adjoining room. There appeared to be no official
recognition by the Unitarian Association at that time. They had adopted
the "Unitarian Fellowship of the Eastern Slopes" name which
continues today with "Universalist" included.
Some of the meetings were held at the House of Color and at the
Little White Church in Eaton, New Hampshire, as well as in private
homes. I recall at least one meeting at the Eaton church when a
Unitarian minister from Pennsylvania spoke to us. Our casual involvement
continued in the 1960's until the Fellowship finally disbanded when the
Browns separated and Meg went to California. Thus the first attempt at a
Unitarian Fellowship of the Eastern Slopes ended.
The Miller family became permanent residents of Fryeburg in June of
1973. Lacking any UU church nearby, we attended the local Congregational
church for a while and then decided to drive to Norway, Maine and South
Paris, Maine where the two churches of Universalist backgrounds had a
joint pastorate. We were, however, seeking something more.
In December of 1979 our chance meeting with Irene Coburn, Northeast
District Executive of the UUA prompted us to see what could be done to
re-activate the Universalist chapel in North Fryeburg. The chapel (1838)
had been closed after many years as a community church. Its legal status
was continuing and since it was less than two miles from our home we
thought it a possibility for reinvigoration as an active UU Society.
(There might be good foundation that title to the chapel could be
claimed by the UUA since it was originally built by Universalists.) The
chapel was being cared for as an historical building. Obviously, to
maintain its status as a church and exemption from local property taxes,
it maintained a skeleton slate of officers and held an Annual Meeting.
The church building was opened up by request for weddings, funerals,
etc. A small bank account for the Universalist Parish of North Fryeburg
helped provide for upkeep and repairs to the building.
Seeing in the newspaper a notice of an Annual Meeting of the Chapel
at the home of Mrs. Harold Thurston, Jr. in Stow, Maine, my wife, Janet,
and I decided to attend. At the close of the very brief meeting we
raised the subject of using the Chapel as a new UU Fellowship. The
reaction of the few present was not favorable, primarily because the
Chapel had been closed only finally after a long and frustrating period
of trying to keep active with dwindling membership and resources. There
was definitely not a mood to reverse the situation. It should be
realized that this had been a community church for many years. (The
officers were not Unitarian Universalists, and I would understand, also,
that when the UUA merger took place, the remnants of older Universalist
families did not aspire to join with the Unitarians.) By now, we were
motivated to try and form a UU Fellowship on our own that could be the
resurrection of our predecessor Fellowship of the Eastern Slopes.
Something needed to be done as a matter of fulfillment.
In May of 1980 we placed a box advertisement in the weekly
"Reporter" newspaper of North Conway. The ad was entitled,
"Looking for a Family?" and made the point that a family
experience could be the result if interested people would join together
in a UU Fellowship. The format of the ad was obtained from the UUA at
Beacon St. in Boston. It had a picture of a peace dove. Two immediate
responses encouraged us to set up a meeting at our home on Fish Street
in Fryeburg. On Sunday, June 22, 1980 at 3:00 p.m. six individuals were
at the Miller residence. In addition to the writer and wife, Janet, they
were: Judith H. Soule of Silver Lake, NH (She was the first to arrive);
Judith and Robert Johnson of Jackson, NH; Rev. William Saunders,
Minister of the Brunswick, Maine UU Church and the Extension Minister of
the Northeast District of the UUA.Rev. Will Saunders offered the unique
idea of having a Fellowship that could be associated with both the
Northeast District and the New Hampshire/Vermont District. Anticipated
members would be drawn from Maine and New Hampshire. He readily
concurred with the adoption of our predecessor's name and the acronym
UUFES. At any rate, the start was made as a result of our discussion
together at that meeting on the afternoon of June 22, 1980. We decided
to meet every two weeks on Sundays.
From the summer of 1980 through the fall of 1981, meetings took place
in private homes. We tried to contact potential members. We had no
officers or formality of a service. These were mostly discussions and
sometimes taped sermons were played. During this period, the Carlsons of
Fryeburg became participants. Win Carlson was the Business Manager at
Fryeburg Academy and they had previously had a contact with Unitarianism
in Scituate, Massachusetts.
The Lyle Richardsons of Bald Hill in Conway were interested
attendees, having been active in the Wrentham, MA Unitarian Church.
Judie Johnson had been active in the Marblehead, Mass. Unitarian
Church and her husband was of a liberal persuasion.
The Millers retired from Ridgewood, NJ where for fifteen years they
were members of the Unitarian Society there. Janet was a "Lifetime
Unitarian" from Reading, Mass. and I came out of a Congregational
background. Judy Soule, formerly of the Lynn, Mass. area, was also a
"Lifetime Unitarian"Also, during this period, Judy Soule's
mother, Marilyn McKenna, retired to Albany, NH from the Washington, DC.
area where she attended UU churches (She was able to play recordings of
some of A. Powell Davies' sermons.). On October 4. 1981, the Sunday
meeting was held at the Soule-Lee residence at Silver Lake, NH. This was
the meeting at which a slate of officers was adopted. Previously a
Nominating Committee (Marilyn McKenna, Lyle Richardson, Judie Johnson)
had been put together. The first elected officers of the new UUFES were:
President - Judith Soule Secretary - C. Russell Miller Treasurer - N.
Linda Richardson
The participants in this organizing meeting were: Judie Johnson,
Linda and Lyle Richardson, Marilyn McKenna, Judy Soule, Janet and Russ
Miller. Each family unit was asked to contribute five dollars and a bank
account was to be established at the White Mountain National Bank in
North Conway. A search began for an appropriate meeting place.
By the time of the Nov. 15, 1981 meeting at Marilyn McKenna's home,
Judy Soule had obtained a sample set of Bylaws of an established UU
Society and this was the basis of our own Bylaw consideration. At this
meeting our UUFES Bylaws were drawn up and those present voted to
proceed to have the Fellowship become a member of the Unitarian
Universalist Association and of the New Hampshire/Vermont District. Also
at this meeting, a membership book was contributed by Judy Soule and
signed by those present. The signers were in the following order: Judith
H. Johnson, Janet P. Miller, Marilyn F. McKenna, Robert 0. Johnson,
Russell Miller, Judith W. Soule
At the December 27. 1981 meeting, six additional became members by
signing the Membership Book. They were: Holly Ann Johnson Linda
Richardson Lyle M. Richardson Elizabeth C. Carlson Winthrop L. Carlson
Mildred P. Boyle
With this total membership of twelve and a contribution of twenty
five dollars, it was decided to make formal application to the UUA for
affiliation.
January 10. 1982 - We were visited by the Rev. David Robbins,
Minister of the Franklin, NH Unitarian Church and NH/VT District
Minister of Extension. He was accompanied by Ruth Macey, member of the
Starr King UU Fellowship of Plymouth, NH and she was one of the founders
of that Fellowship in 1980 (the first new Fellowship in New England for
a long period of time).
February 7. 1982 - Judy Soule reported that notification had been
received from the Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the UUA that the
Board had accepted and approved our application at its meeting on
January 29, 1982. Our Treasurer reported that a savings account was
opened at the White Mountain National Bank and that a checking account
would require a minimum balance of $250.00.
February 21. 1982 - President Soule reported that she had received
our Certificate of Fellowship from the UUA and also a report of the
NH/VT District Trustees in which the UUA Board's action in accepting
UUFES in Fellowship is recorded.
April 4. 1982 - At a meeting at the Richardson's home in Albany, NH,
Kenneth and Evelyn Dole, Susan Kuemmerle and Roderick Forsman were
present. (Rod was to become our first Lay Minister.)
April 18. 1982 - Met for the first time at the Sun Room of the North
Conway Memorial Hospital.
May 30. 1982 - Deane Starr, NH/VT District Executive was present and
agreed to arrange for a District loan of $250 to enable us to open a
checking account. Also, the District was to furnish us with a $100 grant
for a series of advertisements.
During the month of September, 1982, a series of ads was placed in
the weekly "Reporter." The ads were obtained from the UUA and
the cost of each of the four was $16.50, financed by the $100 District
grant. As an example, one of the advertisements was a sketch of a
centipede with the question, "What has 100 legs and 50 ideas?"
Answer, "50 Unitarians."
It was during the year 1982 that the District provided us with a
part-time Minister, Rev. J. Chandler Newton of Raymond, NH. This was
funded by the District for a specified limited number of weeks and he
would conduct the service once a month with a sermon. By the time of the
Annual Meeting in June of 1983, it could be said that we were an active
UU Fellowship. For example, the Secretary reported for the prior year
that there had been 20 regular meetings. At five meetings, members
conducted the program and presented a topic. Rev. Newton conducted six
services. Three services were conducted by guest ministers (Rev. Starr,
Rev. Schmauch, Rev. Bertram Steeves). There were six occasions when
taped sermons were used. There were three Executive Committee meetings
during the year and one Special Business Meeting. All regular meetings
were held at the Sun Room. The first annual Meeting of the Fellowship
was held on June 27, 1982 at the Miller residence in Fryeburg.
(Note by R.F.: A final portion of Russell's account has been omitted
here which goes on to summarize highlights of Fellowship growth through
1997. In a concluding paragraph he notes that he had relied on memory
for some of the information, and implied that there might be an
inaccuracy here or there as a result. There did appear to be one
inaccuracy regarding the date of adoption of the Bylaws. According to
the record, the first Bylaws were adopted on October 4, 1981, not
November 15th as he had stated. However, it was on that second date that
Article IV was amended to change the district membership: "This
fellowship shall be a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association
and of the New Hampshire/Vermont District." The next six signers of
the Membership Book were as listed earlier, but the dates of signing
were as follows: Holly Johnson, Nov. 19; Lyle and Linda Richardson, Nov.
23; Elizabeth and Winthrop Carlson, Dec. 20; and Mildred P. Boyle (Janet
Miller's mother), Dec.20.)
Next Page
|