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Notes on the History of Congregational Fundraising, Unitarian, Universalist, and Unitarian Universalist

by Susan Ritchie

The Established Church/Churches of the Standing Order

In colonial America, the government established churches, supporting them financially, mainly through taxation used to pay the minister’s salary. Most New England colonies established Congregational churches, while the Southern colonies along with New York, New Jersey, and Maryland established the Anglican Church.…

Reading the Gospels with Bernard Loomer: The Origin of the Interdependent Web

Most Unitarian Universalists are likely aware of the principle of the Unitarian Universalist Association that calls for the affirmation of “the Interdependent Web of Existence, of which we are all a part.” But how many are aware of the the web by theologian Bernard Loomer? …

The Pamphlet Podcast: Uncovering Unitarian Universalism’s Hidden Histories

The Pamphlet Podcast was podcast a co-hosted by Rev. Dr. Susan Ritchie and Rev. Sean Neil-Barron in 2016-2017.  Together they uncovered the hidden histories of Unitarian Universalism.  The Harvard Square Library is pleased to offer an archive of those shows here.…

Buddhism and Unitarianism: Past and Present

by Wendy Bartlett

A Shared Spiritual Journey: Unitarian Universalism and Buddhism

    One of the “six sources” recognized by the Unitarian Universalist Association reads in part “…wisdom from the world’s religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life…”[1] Although Judaism, Christianity, and humanism are specifically cited in the six sources, somewhat surprisingly, Buddhism is not.

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Singing Our History

Harvard Square Library is delighted to announce our acquisition of Singing Our History: Tales, Tunes and Texts from Two Centuries of Unitarian and Universalist Hymns by Eugene Navias (Boston: UUA, 1975, used with permission). This lovely collection uses specific hymns as a window through which to view the historic development of Unitarian Universalism.…

Longest Running Soap Opera Ever Inspired by Unitarian Minister

 

Who Knew it?  The original character on “The Guiding Light,” the longest running television drama ever, was modeled on Chicago’s famous Unitarian Minister, the Rev. Preston Bradley (1888-1983).  The original radio series was developed and written by Irna Phillips (1901-1973), an enormously successful radio actress turned writer. …

A History of Death: Unitarian Universalist Style

The earliest Anglo-American burials in Puritan North America took place in graveyards, where grave markers often included the motif of a skull, or death head, sometimes with or without wings.  These markers, as well as the burial grounds themselves, were intended to make people fearful. …

Summer Reading: Explore Unitarian Universalist History Through Novels

While there are many Unitarian Universalist authors, not many novels take on explicitly Unitarian Universalist subject matter. Here are four exceptions—all highly readable pieces worthy of space on your beach  blanket, and each with its own take on Unitarian Universalist history.…

The Pentagon Papers and the Unitarian Universalist Association:  How the UUA Was Almost Destroyed by the Decision to Publish

The Key Roles of a Unitarian Universalist Senator, Journalist, President, Publishing House and Congregation in One of the Most Important Civil Liberties Case in American History.

The December of 2017 release of the blockbuster Stephen Spielberg movie “The Post” has everyone taking about the Washington Post’s brave defiance of the Nixon administration with its decision to publish excerpts from the Pentagon Papers, the 7,000-page compilation of secret government documents pertaining to the war.  …

On Thanksgiving Day, Remember Fast Day: a feature by Dean Grodzins

 

Americans have forgotten Fast Day, although it once was as important a holiday as Thanksgiving. In fact, it was paired with Thanksgiving and considered its necessary complement.

Thanksgiving and Fast Day originated together in colonial New England. Most Americans think Thanksgiving celebrations started in 1621, when Pilgrim settlers and Wampanoag Indians feasted at Plymouth.…