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History of UUFW

Compiled by Gloria Shirley; revised 9/23/07

An organizational meeting was held on April 29, 1968 at the Blockade Runner Hotel at Wrightsville Beach, NC and three weeks later on May 23 thirteen people signed the charter that formed our Fellowship. David Sellers was the chief organizer and became the first chairman of this small, dedicated group whose purpose was “to bring religious liberals into closer acquaintance and cooperation for the study and practice of religion” and to spread the knowledge and further the principles of Unitarian Universalism.

Racial tension, high throughout the South during that period, grew to explosive levels in Wilmington where unrest over school desegregation lead to the arrest of the “Wilmington 10” - a group of students and other Wilmington citizens who were accused of provoking the incident. One of the “Wilmington 10” was a member of the UUFW and the Fellowship worked with Gregory United Methodist Church (an Afro-American congregation) to support the rights of the group. As this example shows, seeking to promote “the inherent worth and dignity of every person” was a strong factor in the early days and continues to be of importance today.

The first meetings were held at Wilmington College, the YWCA, the Americana Motel and at the home of David Sellers who, a year later, purchased a house at 216 S. 3 rd Street which became the Fellowship’s home for three years. Meetings were generally held on two Sundays a month until 1972 when, with 45 members, it was decided to meet every Sunday.

The Religious Education program, begun with only 5 children, had grown to a population between 45 and 55, from nursery to the high school group. To keep pace with this growth, the 3 rd Street house was sold and facilities were rented at the Little Red Schoolhouse near Wrightsboro. In 1973, additional space had to be rented at the Optimist Club in the same vicinity and in 1974 meetings moved to the Winter Park Pre-School facility so that adults and children could share the same location.

In 1975, as the Wilmington Fellowship grew in numbers and spirit, there emerged a majority voice to search for a minister and in July 1976 Rev. Fritz Hudson was called to a part-time position. He served for three years before moving on to law school, leaving behind a strong organization and our future building site on Lake Avenue, purchased in 1978. Rev. John Christensen became our part-time minister in 1981. Because it was more economical, Sunday programs were moved to Roland Grice School. Soon afterward, the decision was made that it was time to build a home of our own. The architectural plans were drawn up by one of our members, Lloyd Dobkin, who also oversaw the building contractors, and we moved into our new building in February, 1983.

Rev. Christensen retired in 1984, and in 1986 the Fellowship Rev. Charles Howe as its part-time minister, sharing his services with the Unitarian Universalist Church of Kinston, NC. Membership continued to grow and by November of that year it had reached 100!

Rev. Howe retired and left Wilmington in 1988. Under his guidance, goals and objectives for the Fellowship’s future growth and its spiritual development had been established and it was time for a full-time minister. Rev. Peter Webster came to the Fellowship as Extension Minister in 1989. After he resigned in the Spring of 1991, Rev. Emily Palmer was called as Interim Minister for the 1991-1992 church year. The Caring Committee was founded under her leadership.

A Search Committee was appointed and called Rev. Lone Jensen as our first, full-time, settled minister in the Fall of 1992. Rev. Jensen brought many needed changes to the life of the Fellowship. Where we had been a mostly intellectual, political group, Lone’s arrival signalled the beginning of various traditions and rituals, a larger emphasis on the spiritual, even the singing of Christmas carols. Not everyone was comfortable with this change, of course, and some members left. Growth continued, however, and we surpassed 120 members creating the necessity of two Sunday services.

We were growing not only in numbers but also in maturity, richness and diversity. In 1995 we became an official Welcoming Congregation. 1995 also brought us our first paid Director of Religious Education and the formation of a choir whose music added immensely to our programs. There was no longer room for the RE children and in 1996 a building was moved onto the property to house them. Soon the adults had outgrown the sanctuary and the children had outgrown the RE facility and, on February 2, 2003, we dedicated our new larger sanctuary. The original part of the building was named Dobkin Fellowship Hall and the RE facility was renovated to more comfortably hold the larger groups of children and youth.

After nine good years with us, Lone felt it was time to move on - both for her own career development and to allow us to enjoy the talents and fresh ideas of a new leader. We were very fortunate to find Rev. Don Garrett to be our Interim Minister. His energy, enthusiasm and wisdom inspired us to take a closer look at ourselves - to question who we are, why we do things a certain way and why we are together. With his help, we formed and adopted Vision and Mission Statements. Meanwhile, a Search Committee was working long and hard to find another settled minister. This process took two years and Rev. Nancy Roemheld was our second Interim Minister.

On April 13, 2003 the congregation voted to accept Rev. Susan Karlson. She brought much energy and innovation to her position with an emphasis once again on social action issues. During her time with us we hosted an anti-racism and a global warming conference. Chalice Circles (small covenant groups) were established. An informal lay-led group, SMARTS (Sunday Morning Adult Religious Topics Sessions), grew to more than 30 people seeking clarity on social and spiritual issues. In May, 2007, Susan resigned to follow her social worker background, accepting a ministerial consultant position in Gulfport, Mississippi.

Our numbers now stand at over 200 members, with over 150 children enrolled in RE. Interim minister, Rev. Elaine Peresluha came to us in September, 2007 to once again help us discover our needs, our gifts, our identity. Another exciting chapter has begun.

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