"CLF" by Laura Cavicchio ©
VIII. MERGER: The Larger Fellowship Comes of Age
It seems appropriate at this juncture to recall Charles Lyttle’s term of ‘religious prospecting’ along with the galvanizing spirit back in 1825 that inspired the inception of the AUA, and the first of its missionary expeditions. One hundred and twenty years later, as a world war was raging and others were forming ‘national’ churches, the Unitarian CLF held a new and bright prospect for the future of the denomination and the extension of religious freedom. As Dr. George Marshall, Minister of the CLF from 1960 to 1985 was to state: "When the darkness of war covered most of the globe, we lighted a beacon of hope, naming it the Church of the Larger Fellowship." [108] In the wisdom of its creators, the UCLF was conceived as a semi-autonomous institution as well as an ambiguous one. Its Executive Board answered to the AUA at the same time that the church enjoyed membership and delegate privileges within the Association. Its denominational purpose was to gather the isolated and to be a pastoral and spiritual home to them. Yet the UCLF was bravely called to shove its own flock out of the nest, so to speak, as the Fellowship Program evolved within its stepparent, the AUA’s Extension Department. Still, the UCLF’s deepest mission was the prospecting of human will and spirit across whatever boundaries were present.
The Universalists, too, were in the religious prospecting business. As previously noted, by January of 1944, they had formed the National Memorial Church, a precursor to the Universalist Church of the Larger Fellowship. According to Russell Miller, the Larger Fellowship of the Universalists was founded in 1945, but without a denominational identification. [109] Interestingly enough, a Universalist precedent known as the "Convention Church" was created in 1921to serve the needs of those without a church home, as part of the Murray Crusade to increase membership. In writing of the "Convention Church", Miller notes, "enrollees were members of either the General convention or state conventions, and the respective superintendents were to serve as ministers. The plan was never fully developed and disappeared." [110] By 1947, the Universalist CLF, founded under the leadership of Rev. Clinton Lee Scott who was then the Superintendent of the Universalist Convention of Massachusetts, was being referred to as an‘extension arm’ of the Convention. Under Scott’s leadership, the new institution soon became an integral and financially subsidized extension organ of the Universalist Church of America. [111]
Scott was inspired to gather the society when he heard Frederick May Elliot pronounce his vision for "A church by mail…a church in the fullest sense of the word, a church which will serve isolated religious liberals wherever they may live." [112] To the delegates at that May Meeting in 1944, Eliot proposed expansion beyond the concept of "geographically located Unitarians" dependent upon an established church to a church of a ‘larger fellowship’. [113] The Universalist CLF was expanded under the leadership of Cummins, Giles, and Wolley, the last minister-at-large, but it was never as large as the Unitarian counterpart. The membership of the Universalist CLF membership never exceeded 1,000, but it did perform a valuable service, especially to shut-ins. [114]
According to promotional literature produced by the Department of Church Extension of the Universalist Church of America, the Universalist CLF was "established to make possible the continuing interest of Universalist persons living at distances remote from Universalist churches. Membership is now extended to anyone who finds himself in accord with Universalist principles and purposes." Its hope was to provide religious affiliation and liberal ideas to ‘isolated Universalists’, as well as to ‘the growing liberal’, and the ‘unchurched’; that is, those who had ‘outgrown’ creedal limitations and were looking to identify with a ‘larger faith’ and "persons of any religious affiliation or none." [115] Membership services and mailings were similar to those of the Unitarian CLF, including pastoral counseling by mail, a year’s subscription to the Universalist Leader, and "an opportunity for YOU to keep in touch with Universalism today and to help in its extension." The Church found its members through channels similar to the Unitarian.
From a Universalist CLF newsletter of 1960: "Correspondence comes almost daily from all over…Allen V. Blickenstaff, 19 years old, from Elgin, Oregon wrote, "… hope my search has ended…being alone in one’s religion is fine if one is a hermit; I am not hermit…" The newsletter reports that a directory of Universalist CLF members was being compiled to assist members in connecting with one another and that the Minister, in his capacity as Director of UCA Extension, had visited Minnesota, Ohio, and Illinois to participate in installations of ministers, extension meetings, and to visit new fellowships. [116] There is also a short report on the impending merger between the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America. It declares: "Regretfully, the Universalist CLF does not have a vote" on the proposed constitution and By-Laws for the Unitarian Universalist Association, "although the correspondence is predominately weighted in favor of the merger."
The first memorandum devoted to the consolidation of the Unitarian and Universalist CLF's was written in November of 1960, sent from Robert S. Wolley, Minister of the Universalist CLF, to Richard Gibbs of the AUA. It proposed a timetable for the integration of the two institutions that would begin on December 1 and include the introduction of George Marshall as the Minister of the joint Church. It also suggested a consolidated mailing as of February 15, 1961, after which all programs and services would be carried out "by the one CLF".[117] A meeting was held on November 17th to discuss the first step, a unified mailing plan.
Memorandums from the six months following show a cordial tension emerging around questions of structure and policy in the forming of the combined society. The production of a joint pamphlet entitled "Your Church By Mail: Now You Can Belong to a Liberal church Even Though There is No Unitarian or Universalist Church in Your Neighborhood" was held up while apprehensions were addressed. For instance, in April, Robert S. Wolley wrote to George Marshall:
"As presently considered by the AUA Department of Extension, the joining of the CLF’s is a merger, not a consolidation. That is, the attitude seems to be one of "allowing’ the Universalists to join the Unitarian CLF. For example, in earlier discussions the Universalists were told how much they would have to contribute per member to have Unitarian services…for example, the Universalists have been invited to have one or two Universalists on the Unitarian CLF Board…such is obvious good will, but it is not consolidation." [118]
Wolley suggested that rather than having the separate CLF’s, each with its own operating procedure and affiliation with its parent association, attempting to join with one another, it would be better to wait until the new UUA was formed and let its Department of Extension take care of forming the joint CLF. Another question was whether or for how long separate Unitarian and Universalist tracts were still useful, and how a sectarian consolidation "above the level of the parish church" was to be achieved within the new Church of the Larger Fellowship Unitarian Universalist. In frustration, each side accused the other of "perpetuating separateness". [119]
George Marshall drafted a memorandum to document progress and obstacles to date. He noted that given the failure of the initial mailing plan and an immediate move to merger by the two Churches, an interim "period of cooperation" was being observed in which each church would dispatch its separate mailings while proceeding with the production of a joint pamphlet. Marshall suggested "discussions at a different level", proposing that each church meet with its Board of Directors and begin with their respective By-Laws, but Woolly responded that this was not feasible, since the Universalists operated neither with a Board nor with a constitution. Despite some setbacks, optimism was voiced that there was no functional reason that progress toward union could not continue. [120]
Another document attempted to clarify the questions and issues at hand. It stated the logic of a united institution as it also observed some of the differences in financial and operating procedures that were creating obstacles. For instance, the Unitarian CLF favored an Every Member Canvass for financing, with a separate Appeal for the denominational (UUA) program. It had been financially self-sufficient since 1950, while the Universalists were accustomed to funding their CLF through the budget at large of the Universalist Church of America. Thus, a fair procedure for the pooling of financial resources and a plan for necessary subsidies from the new UUA would need to be devised.
The Unitarian leadership then submitted a proposed set of By-Laws for the joint CLF. Following the institutional merger in May, 1961of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America, the two CLF’s were among the first departments to start working together. [121] Many of the By-Law changes simply entailed no more than the addition of inclusive language to identify the nature of the Church of the Larger Fellowship as now being Unitarian Universalist. Its Bond of Fellowship now stated: "We seek to build the community of human fellowship so that, united in love and in strength, we may search for the truth that makes men free and free men wise." Membership required a contribution of an unspecified amount that could also be waived by the power of the Executive Committee. Like the Unitarian CLF, the new Church would be semi-autonomous in nature and a member congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Association.
The new institution’s dual purposes were also affirmed: to provide spiritual haven to the isolated and to transfer their allegiance to local Unitarian or Universalist congregations or fellowships whenever possible. [122] A letter was sent to the Unitarian CLF’s first minister, Albert Dieffenbach, from the new leadership. It states: "This week marks a change in the Unitarian church of the Larger Fellowship. Next week our mailings will be sent to a larger and stronger body of religious liberals – the Church of the Larger Fellowship, Unitarian Uninversalist. Our thoughts cannot help but dwell on you, the founding minister…you laid a good foundation; it will continue to prosper." [123]
Now, under George Marshall’s continuing leadership, the post-merger time was one of increasing productivity and responsiveness. A new innovation was the popular Independent Study Program in response to requests for home educational materials for adults. [124] The new "Directed Reading Course" for adult education was a user-friendly, spiral-bound, history-based "directed discussion" plan for individuals by correspondence with a CLF director. Once underway, it also proved to stimulate unguided discussion between participants. [125] It was the first interactive religious education of its kind. This new concept in religious learning also attracted the interest of the incarcerated. New members were coming from everywhere: as of 1965, a prisoner at San Quentin was the first incarcerated individual to join the Church. Many new innovations in ministry to the isolated were created during this time. For instance, in addition to the two sermons and newsletter sent out in the monthly packet, a "Handbook of Services", with information on marriage, christenings, and deaths was under production. [126]
With the fellowship movement now in full swing, CLF members were routinely ‘let go’ into the good keeping of new fellowships or established churches. What other religious institution had among its purposes the directive that its members "transfer their allegiance" whenever possible? The paradoxical nature of CLF’s mission in this period is clearly heard in the following letter:
"It is with mixed emotions that we inform you that we have moved from Kenai, Alaska, to Stanford and having a Unitarian church in Palo Alto, are resigning our membership in the Church of the Larger Fellowship. We have looked forward for years to the time when we would be able to join the activities and enjoy the companionship of other Unitarians on a face-to-face basis…As fine as (the Palo Alto) church may be, we doubt that any church could communicate to its members the feelings of closeness and concern which we have experienced as members of the CLF fellowship. We have always felt that we truly ‘belonged.’ For this comfort plus the many hours of thought-provoking, inspiring and informative reading we wish to extend our deepest appreciation." [127]
A promotional pamphlet celebrating CLF’s twentieth year notes a budget of $82,000.00, including salaries for seven full time staff people and the Minister. It boasts of its programs with a graph showing that a total of 5,000 children had been served since 1944, a number that, since the inception of the religious education program, was exceeding that of the adults. And yet, the CLF was still as proudly a Church for "the one and to the few":
"CLF for most of us is the opportunity for personal thought, family guidance, and organized expression through informed action in the larger aspects of personal living. (Even) without the type of community church that fills our needs, we are part of a great ongoing movement. CLF has dispelled the idea that a church requires a great pile of stones to make religious ideas effective: a thinking, conscientious person can unleash the ideas of religion wherever he goes, wherever he lives…this is the Great Idea which has grown…! "[128]
George Marshall wrote in 1966 that Unitarian Universalism did not depend upon ‘the accident of geography’ (but) ‘on a state of mind’:
"To be a Unitarian Universalist is not dependent upon a pile of bricks and stones…no matter how gracefully arranged. Whitehead wrote, ‘Religion is what a man does with his solitariness,’ and Tom Paine proclaimed, ‘My own mind is my own church.’ Today, religious liberals, wherever they are, may identify and participate in the programs of the Unitarian Universalist Association." [129]
With the winding down of the Fellowship Movement a couple of decades hence,
the CLF would continue to reconfigure what it meant to serve
the varied spiritual needs of scattered individuals and families
while still promoting denominational growth and participation
on a communal level -- without having to sever ties with its
own flock.
"CLF"
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[108]
"CLF’s Historical Timeline Tidbits", undated, archives of
the UUCLF (author unknown).
[109]
Russell E. Miller, The Larger Hope: The Second Century
of the Universalist Church in America 1870-1970 (Boston:
Unitarian Universalist Association, 1985), 660.
[110]
Russell E. Miller, ibid.
[111]
Walling, ibid from the Unitarian Universalist Register
Leader, March 1965, archives of the UUCLF.
[112]
"CLF’s Historical Timeline Tidbits, undated document, archives
of the UUCLF (author unknown).
[113]
Walling, ibid.
[114]
Russell E. Miller, ibid.
[115]
Brochure: "A Universalist World", archives of the UUCLF.
[116]
Robert S. Wolley, CLF Minister, "News of the Universalist
CLF", February,1960, archives o UUCLF.
[117]
Memorandum dated November 17, 1960, archives of the UUCLF.
[118]
Memorandum from Robert Wolley to George Marshal, April 21,
1961, archives of the UUCLF.
[119]
Letter from George Marshall to Robert Wolley, April 25, 1961,
archives of the UUCLF.
[120]
"The Efforts to Consolidate the Two church of the Larger Fellowship",
Memorandum from George Marshall to Robert Wolley, May 3, 1961,
archives of the UUCLF.
[121]
Walling, "I am Not Alone", ibid.
[122]
By-Laws of the CLF Unitarian Universalist, adopted by the
UUA Board of Trustees, June 19-20, 1961.
[123]
Letter to Albert Dieffenbach, June 1, 1961, records of the
Executive Committee, archives of the UUCLF.
[124]
"CLF’s Historical Timeline Tidbits, undated document, archives
of the UUCLF (author unknown).
[125]
Board Notes November 18, 1965 and June
1, 1966, archives of the UUCLF.
[126]
Board Notes Febraury 28, 1966, archives of the UUCLF.
[127]
George N. Marshall, Challenge of a Liberal Faith (New
York: Pyramid Books, 1967), 175.
[128]
Pamphlet, "Twenty Years of a Great Idea!", 1964, UUCLF archives.
[129]
George Marshall, ibid, 170.
Last updated June 12, 2005
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