When Rodney Cobb retired as Historian of the Sacramento Unitarian Universalist Society in 1990, he asked me if I would be interested in succeeding him. Before I knew what I was getting into, I was appointed and agreed to compile the next segment of the history, beginning with the retirement of Reverend Ford Lewis in 1970 and ending with the resignation of Reverend Theodore Webb in late 1983.
I began by taping interviews with Marguerite and Ted Webb and some of the members of the congregation who had been active during the 1970’s. In addition to sharing experiences and insights, they delved into their closets and attics for records I needed. For their generous help, I thank Anna Andrews, Helen and Jim Bradfield, Genevieve and Rodney Cobb, Julia and Charles Diggs, Dorothy Engelstad, Lila Gibson, Ferris and Mike Weber, and the Webbs. Dr. Josiah Bartlett was generous in answering my letters inquiring about his interim ministry following the resignation of Reverend Lewis. Next I descended upon the church office where I was introduced to old files in a back room. Jack Davidson, Business Manager, retrieved several boxes of records under the stage for me. Despite gaps in the most important records, such as the Unigrams, Annual Reports, and Directories, there was enough information — a lot more than if I had been dealing with a period 50 or 100 years ago. The Alliance had the most complete records. Thank you, Janet Fleur and Genevieve Cobb, for providing them.
The more work I did on this history, the more respect I accumulated for Rodney Cobb, who documented the first hundred years of this Society in such a comprehensive and interesting manner. Further, I am an amateur in both history and writing. I apologize in advance to all those Unitarian Universalists who are eminent educators and writers [and] could have produced a more polished document. — Irma M. West
When Rev. Ford Lewis resigned as minister in the fall of 1970, Dr. Josiah Bartlett was called as the Society’s first interim minister. He was also the first interim minister for the Unitarian Universalist Association. His pioneer efforts were the beginning of a new kind of temporary leadership which included not only pro-tem ministry, but consultation with congregations to work out their problems. Since that time, a cadre of accredited Interim Ministers specially trained as consultants have served the Association under the leadership of Dr. Bartlett. During the ensuing twenty years, he has served as Interim Minister or consultant to 55 congregations all over the United States and Canada.
Dr. Bartlett began as a Unitarian minister in Ohio and Washington State. He was then asked to lead and rebuild Starr King School at Berkeley, California, as a Unitarian Universalist professional graduate school for the ministry. After putting into place an innovative curriculum and taking the school into the Theological Union, a cluster of nine seminaries and the University of California, he saw it acclaimed as a model for the denomination. Dr. Bartlet has served at all levels from parish to district to continental office. He has been a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association Board and Chair of its Commission on Appraisal. Dr. Bartlett and his wife, Dr. Laile Bartlett, a university sociology teacher, have collaborated in their many writings and in raising their four children. Their Moment of Truth is a book about the liberal religious movement as is their A Religion for the Non Religious: An Overview of Unitarian Universalism.
Dr. Bartlett came to Sacramento during the Vietnam War, when Richard Nixon was President. In his report of December 1, 1970, to the congregation, Dr. Bartlett made a number of observations and recommendations. He stated:
The Sacramento Church has almost unlimited potential. It has a spacious, beautiful strategic site. It has an attractive plant. It has a large and talented congregation and an even larger constituency. The city is waking up to the fact that it is no longer a small town, and by the same token, is at a critical decision-point in every aspect. The quality of life is at issue.
At the same time, the Sacramento Unitarian Church seems to be stuck in a rut: the impression it gives, to itself and to the city, is of a middle-aged, middle class, White listening to sermons or interesting discussions and little else.
One of the critical facts about the Sacramento church is that it has consulted with so many experts... conducted so many self-surveys, held so many church-and-minister surveys, etc. — with almost no results. It somehow goes heedlessly, blindly on.
His impression was that he saw “a low degree of commitment. a very high degree of apathy, and very little sense of a goal other than keeping the present wheels turning.” He urged the congregation to think big, improve and maintain its property and rethink its budget process, and above all, promote unity and diversity,
At the annual meeting of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento on May 17, 1970, the following members were elected to serve on the Committee to Recommend a New Minister: Aubrey Harrington, Arthur Huntley, Lynn Jensen, Kenneth Norberg, Lyle Parkinson, Hortense Poppe, and RobertTaylor. Jackie Peterson soon replaced Lyle Jensen. At the first meeting, Dr. Huntley was elected Chairman; Hortense Poppe, Secretary. Rosemary Watson of the West Coast Region Unitarian Association served as ministerial consultant. The first undertaking was to design and distribute a questionnaire to determine what the membership wanted in a minister. At the second meeting, the Committee decided that four votes represented a quorum and that deliberations would not be revealed outside the meetings. The Committee received “Recommended Procedure for Churches Seeking a Minister” from the Department of Ministry in Boston.
There was a 15% response to the questionnaire, the results of which were summarized into four points: 1) A minister who could serve as a catalyst for all types of membership was needed. 2) Performance at the 11 :00 a.m.
Sunday service was most important. 3) The new minister should be able to attract young people in the 21-35 year range, a group lacking in membership. 4) The minister should not feel threatened by lay people running the Sunday service.
An unidentified member of the Committee to Recommend a New Minister offered these comments about the survey:
The Committee to Recommend a New Minister has been given a charge which, while probably not impossible, is at least improbable. When the results of the survey were tabulated, it became immediately obvious that we either wanted a minister or we didn‘t. If we did, it was clear that he must be a man (or maybe a woman). He must be ... a radical kind of conservative (or was it a conservative kind of radical?). He must appeal to each element or group within our society, but — equally certain — he must remain aloof from all the others. He must never proselytize, but he must be able to fill our auditorium with interested and cooperative member listeners who will never go to sleep during the sermon and can fill our coffers to overflowing with the wherewithal to carry out our objectives (whatever they might be at the moment).
And, speaking of sermons, he must be able to prepare and deliver spontaneously at least eight learned, erudite, philosophical discussions each month — of course, in words of four letters so they can be understood by those other members of the Society, who, of course, need it the most. He naturally must accomplish this without being in the pulpit, for his talents are much needed and must be used in support of the R.E. (Religious Education) Program, or for administrative duties, or some other phase of the Society's activities.
To supplement the questionnaire, well-publicized rap sessions were held after four Sunday services. As a result, a seven-point profile of a minister to serve the Society was drafted and sent to the Unitarian District office and headquarters in Boston. Much of October, 1970, was spent compiling the “Prospectus for a Minister, First Unitarian Society, Sacramento, California”. All aspects of the Society's activities were covered, including reports from each of the Committee chairpersons and information about the community.
This prospectus listed 562 members of the Society, with 250 pledging units. Budget for FY'70 was $81,651, with the minister’s annual salary given as $16,323. Eighteen information sheets from ministerial candidates were soon received, from which eleven candidates were selected. Members of the Committee to Recommend a New Minister taped interviews with the candidates by phone or in person as well as taking what opportunities were available to hear them speak from the pulpit. One candidate was then selected to visit the Society for the week of May 9-16, 1971, during which time he attended a number of functions to acquaint him with the Society.
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