Unitarian Church in Summit

Coordinates: 40°43′7″N 74°21′15″W / 40.71861°N 74.35417°W / 40.71861; -74.35417

The Unitarian Church in Summit
Location	Summit, New Jersey
Country	United States
Denomination	Unitarian Universalism
Membership	500 adults, 250 children[1]
Website	www.ucsummit.org
History
Founded	1908 (1908)[1]
Founder(s)	Area residents[1]
Architecture
Status	Church
Functional status	Active
Architect(s)	Joy Wheeler Dow
Architectural type	Colonial "meeting house"[1]
Completed	1913[1]
Clergy
Minister(s)	Terry Sweetser, Interim Minister[1] Emilie Boggis, Minister of Congregational Life[1]

The Unitarian Church in Summit is a Unitarian Universalist ("UU") church in Summit, New Jersey, founded in 1908. The church is active in social justice initiatives and received the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee Social Justice Award in 2010.^[2] It has also been recognized as an outstanding UU congregation by various UU groups^[3][4][5] and has one of the largest UU Youth Groups in the country. It features a "top–notch music program and has had a string of renowned preachers."^[6]

The church was founded by a group of area residents, who felt that Summit needed a liberal church, emphasizing ethics and love as the core of religion, and encouraging all members to search for their own religious truths.^[7] Today, the church is led by Interim Minister Terry Sweetser, Executive Director Tuli Patel, and Minister of Congregational Life Emilie Boggis.^[1]

History

A rally outside the church in 2012 advocating marriage equality in the state of New Jersey.

At the turn of the century in Summit, NJ, a number of men and women were interested in founding a church based on ethics and love rather than a specific system of beliefs. Parker D. King, a successful local businessman, was one of these. In the summer of 1906, he encountered a childhood friend, Unitarian minister Curtis Brown, on the Long Island Railroad. They discussed how to start a liberal church in Summit. Starting in January, 1907, King and a small committee planned a series of “Unitarian Meetings” in Summit, which took place on Sundays throughout that year. On January 14, 1908, a small group met in Summit to consider establishing a Unitarian congregation. The group was indecisive and hesitant, so Russell Hinman, a strong supporter of liberal religion, made a motion that they not found a Unitarian church in Summit. Having rejected this option, seventeen charter members proceeded to organize a Unitarian Church in Summit and called Reverend Brown to be its first minister.^[8][9][10]

The group met in rented locations until funds were allocated to construct a building. Financial assistance from the American Unitarian Association and the New Jersey Universalist Convention made it possible to purchase the land at the current location on Springfield and Waldron Avenues. An existiing house (later called "Community House") was moved up Waldron to make room for a new building facing Springfield Avenue. Architect and member Joy Wheeler Brown designed the building to reflect the style of Colonial New England meeting houses, and incorporated elements of St. Paul's Chapel in New York City and King's Chapel in Boston. Construction began in 1912 and the sanctuary was formally dedicated on October 21, 1913. Also in 1912, the church adopted the name All Souls' Church, Unitarian-Universalist, having members from both denominations. This prefigures the later merger of the Unitarian and Universalist churches in 1961.^[8][11][12]

In 1914, the church called Rev. Frank C. Doan to the pulpit. Doan was a pacifist who voiced his opposition to war in April, 1917, when the United States joined in the "Great War." This was extremely unpopular in New Jersey, and given strong criticism from the state's newspapers, he offered his resignation to the Board of Trustees. They refused it, setting a high standard for freedom of the pulpit in Summit.

The trustees of All Soul’s Church of Summit, New Jersey, in view of newspaper comment and various current rumors, and in justice both to their minister, Dr. Frank Carleton Doan, and to themselves, wish to put on record their admiration for his sincerity, tolerance, courage, idealism, and loyalty to the best as he sees it.

While by far the larger part of his congregation is not in agreement with his views regarding peace and war, they believe in a broad tolerance of opinion and in freedom of pulpit utterance.

Nothing that Dr. Doan has said is capable of interpretation as treason or disloyalty to his country.

The Trustees believe that there is more danger to-day in attempts to suppress honest opinion than there is in a frank and free expression of sincere pacifism.

Let us not see the ghost of Benedict Arnold in every phrase which is not sufficiently war-like to satisfy our emotions. Let us rather respect an honest man, whether he agrees with us or not. In short, while fighting one form of tyranny, let us beware lest we build up another.

The Trustees have no thought of accepting Dr. Doan’s offer to resign.^[8][13]

From 1933 to 1944, A. Powell Davies was the minister. Davies, a former Methodist, had a profound influence on this church of "intellectuals, scientists, professionals, independent thinkers, and those not satisfied with traditional Protestantism"^[13] and also on the Unitarian movement. His preaching emphasized not just political action, but the importance of a 'world religion', a religion that underlies all existing religions. He said of religions that "what is deeply true in one of them is just as true in all of them."^[13] Davies life work was to seek to express this basic religion and to advance Unitarian thought. In 1942, a convocation of Unitarian ministers was held in Summit to develop a Unitarian statement of faith.^[8][13]

More prosaically, Davies convinced the church, then unaffiliated and named the "Summit Community Church," that since it was accepting support from the American Unitarian Association, it should rejoin the Unitarian Association. He also devoted himself to developing the Religious Education program and a vital Youth Group.^[13]

In 1945, the church called Jacob Trapp, a theist and a poet. He was the minister until 1970. An important theme in both his poetry and his ministry was our lost "earth of yesterdays" and the use of myths, especially from the Southwesternn US, to recapture our relationship to nature.^[14] He also took inspiration from St. Francis and wrote his own translation of the Tao Te Ching.^[15] His theology was built from diverse sources, including poets Walt Whitman and Robert Frost, fellow Unitarian Ralph Waldo Emerson, and philosophers from other traditions such as Martin Buber and Teilhard du Chardin.^[7]

During Trapp's quarter-century tenure, the church grew considerably, drawing many members from Bell Labs. Among these were Harold Black, inventor of the negative feedback amplifier, and James William Welsh.^[16] To accommodate the many new members and the need for religious education classes, the church instituted two services on Sunday mornings and bought an additional property to house the religious education program. Trapp was a voice of conscience in a conservative time, working with local civil rights leaders to integrate Summit's movie theater and YMCA.^[7]

The years from 1970 to 1988 were stressful for the church, with half a dozen ministers and interims, and reduction in the church membership. This period of instability ended with the arrival of David Bumbaugh. Bumbaugh served from 1988 to 1999, after which he became professor of ministry at Meadville/Lombard Theological School. Bumbaugh's spiritual inspiration was drawn from a "blend of paganism and earth worship." His sermons were "small masterpieces of fine detail and subtlety, crafted with an ear for the rhythm and power of language."^[7] For example, “We have manned the ramparts of reason and are prepared to defend the citadel of the mind…But in the process of defending, we have lost the vocabulary of reverence, the ability to speak of that which is sacred, holy, or of ultimate importance to us.”.^[17] During Bumbaugh's tenure, membership revived to its earlier levels and the church returned to holding two Sunday morning services. In 1995, the church called its first woman minister, Beverley Bumbaugh, David's wife, fulfilling their lifelong dream of co-ministry.^[7]

In the 1990s, the steeple became structurally unsound, and was removed. Toward the end of the Bumbaugh's tenure, in 1998, the congregation took the major step of deciding to unite the religious education program with the church sanctuary, on a single property with a renovated building to include office and classroom space. At the same time, a new steeple was built and attached to the top using a crane.

During the interim between the Bumbaughs and the new minister, Vanessa Southern, church membership dropped from a maximum of 477 in 1995 to 407 in 2001. Under the leadership of minister Vanessa Southern (2001–2014), Summit membership grew to 529 members in 2012, children's education numbers grew to 200, and charitable and social action efforts increased.^[18] In late 2011, the congregation voted to pursue the purchase of an adjacent property.

View from the entranceway of the Unitarian church following an early snowstorm in October 2011. Photo: looking across Waldron Avenue towards Springfield Avenue.

Membership and staff

The church has a program of classes to help new members grasp its "user-friendly approach to faith".^[6] After completion of the class, there is a brief ceremony to welcome new members.^[19] It is a venue for weddings.^[20] The church has many prominent members, including computer scientists Wim Sweldens, Nancy Griffeth, and Erna Schneider Hoover.

Congregation and beliefs

Members dressed in 1960s "peace movement" attire to promote a charity fund-raiser called the Services Auction.

In 2009 selected members flew to Salt Lake City to attend an annual conference of Unitarian Universalists.^[21] The 2009 national meeting discussed issues including "peacemaking, workshops on ethical eating, U.S. ratification of the comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty and a call for a commission of inquiry regarding U.S.-sponsored torture."^[21] A statement suggested that the Summit Unitarian congregation "encourages people to seek their own spiritual path" and "draws on many religious traditions," and is a spiritual home for "bisexual, gay, lesbian and transgender people and promotes marriage equality."^[21] The church has sponsored numerous talks on such subjects as racial justice, experiences of civil rights protesters in the 1960s,^[22] readings of speeches by Martin Luther King, Jr.,^[23] "intentional integration,"^[24] Darfur refugees,^[25] healthier eating and diet,^[26] shamanism,^[27] meditation,^[28] and other topics. The church cooperated with other churches on a project entitled Raise the Roof to build affordable housing for persons in Summit,^[29] working alongside Habitat for Humanity.^[30] It held an annual garage sale from 1977 to 2010.^[31]

Programs

Church volunteers wrote the names of fallen soldiers in recent foreign wars -- each name on a separate ribbon -- and the 4000+ ribbons hung outside the church for several years as a memorial and tribute to their sacrifice as well as a symbol of a hope for the wars to end. In May 2012, the ribbons were retired, and will later be buried as part of a memorial to honor the fallen soldiers. Photo: Vanessa Southern removing a ribbon in May 2012.

Social action

The church has undertaken programs to preserve rainforests in Kenya, and assist small farmers in Myanmar with loans to help them feed the indigenous population.

Music

The music program is headed by Mitchell Vines, Director. It is varied, and features an Afternoon music series, including performances by jazz pianist Bill Charlap^[32] and harpist Elaine Christy.^[33] The church has hosted numerous concerts by musicians, including Vibraphonist Makoto Nakura,^[34] violist Kenji Bunch,^[34] Violinist Deborah Buck,^[35] and numerous other artists and performers.^[36][37]

Ministers

Gallery

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  The building in 1913.

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  An architect discusses renovation plans for 2014-15.

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  Minister of Congregational Life Emilie Boggis.

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  Thomas S. Howard.

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  Petros Sanchez.

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  Food for the needy.

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  Celebrating the human-animal bond.

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  Parishioners hold therapy cats.

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  Harpist Elaine Christy.

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  Arthur Perkins.

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  Singer Bernadette LaFond.

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  Jazz pianist Brian Halpin.

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  Singer Bernadette LaFond (l) pianist Marina Korsakova-Kreyn, violinist Peter Borten.

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  Banner of sister church.

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  Violinist Karin Andrea Cuellar Rendon.

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  Jazz band The Universals.

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  Musical trio.

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  Celebrating Diwali.

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  Classroom.

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  Olympia's Daughters singing group.

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  Thinking game for children

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  Charcoal project members including Sylvia Herzog (left).

• 

  Celebrating a seder.

References

External links

• Unitarian church in Summit website