"CLF" by Laura Cavicchio ©

IX.  THE CLF OF TODAY:  Independent and Innovative

The Church of the Larger Fellowship would undergo another coming of age at a time when it was enjoying a record membership of over 5,000 adults and children.  In 1967, a memo issued by UUA President Dana McLean Greeley heralded the beginning of an internal re-structuring within the Association as well as a new continental plan.  The memo included a resolution adopted by the Board of Trustees regarding a re-organization of the Commission on Religion and Race, ‘inviting’ the "participation of the Steering Committee of the Black Caucus to assist our churches and fellowships…" ^[130]  The turbulence that ensued led to the exodus of African Americans and white supporters and fall-out on a financial level that touched many churches, including the CLF. ^[131] In 1969, a new administration took the helm under President Robert West and declared a fiscal crisis in the UUA.  George Marshall and the CLF Board were informed that the Association could no longer subsidize the Church of the Larger Fellowship as a part of the Extension Department.  It would have to close its doors or become self-sustaining.   The language of West’s memo of October 7, 1969 was guardedly hopeful:

"In the context of re-evaluating our entire UUA headquarters structure and budget, and especially in recognition of UUCLF’s growth over the years as a congregation in its own right, I recommend the following to replace present administrative and financial agreements.  The general effect would be to have CLF and its minister function more as an autonomous congregation conducting its own affairs, yet with the cooperation and some support of the UUA." ^[132]

Deliberations to amend UUCLF By-Laws to reflect the new arrangement began immediately.  The proposed changes were approved without amendment by the UUA Board of Trustees in their meeting, January 24-25, 1970.  The fiscal arrangement had always been that the CLF’s operating budget and endowment funds were funneled through the larger web of the UUA, and in fact, that the CLF was a contributor to the Association’s Annual Program Fund.  A request that the UUA "write off all imbalances as of December 31, 1969 so that CLF could begin its separate corporate life without existing debits from the past" was denied.  Provision was made for a representative of the CLF to attend future Board of Trustees’ meetings as an observer. ^[133]   Records show that Church leadership sought the consultation of a "professional fund raiser by mail for humanitarian causes."  Legal counsel was also engaged on the question of the benefits of incorporation by the CLF so that institutional and financial independence could be fully achieved: 

"It is Mr. Marshall’s opinion that incorporation would make the CLF a viable organization, able to maintain ourselves financially.  In the past, we have been simply a device of the Association to service isolated members.  We are no longer a device but a separate organization.  Facing this fact, we have to create and make the CLF into an organization that is able to… secure funds in its own name, take action it its own name and receive bequests in our own name." ^[134]

Debate about incorporation ensued for many months.  As in the early 1940’s, when the founders of the Unitarian CLF were grappling with questions of identity and vision, this was again a time for institutional soul searching.  The dual purposes of the CLF and the meaning of membership for its constituency, as well for the institution as a denominational affiliate; the ramifications of independence on a variety of levels; the Larger Fellowship’s ability to grow and adapt while still retaining its roots and its unique mission: these were the burning questions at this juncture.  On the one hand, the CLF could function autonomously, like any other church in the Association; on the other hand, it was not like any other church.  Some were ready to press on:

"Mr. Marshall would like to see immediate incorporation, if the Board thinks that it is an important move since he is anxious for the time to come when we do not have to spend so much time on procedures but can move ahead to thinking about broadening our programs."  ^[135]

The Incorporation Meeting took place on September 24, 1970 in Eliot Chapel, meeting house for the CLF as well as for the Association’s headquarters.  Among other leaders and interested persons, nine legal voting members were present to represent the body of the Church.  At the beginning of the proceedings, the Rev. George Marshall made the following statement:

"We are gathered together in this house where grave decisions affecting the life and destiny of a far-flung religious community are made.   Here we are reminded of a rich heritage with deep roots …(and)… the generations of people who have seen the light of liberal religion and have persevered to the end…people who, severed from the restrictive tenets of orthodoxy, have turned to the liberal religious institution to provide them with guidance, fellowship, and insight…It is therefore fitting and proper, as the Church of the Larger Fellowship comes to a closing of one chapter and the opening of another, that we pause…as we stand at the gate of the years…of the ending of the old unincorporated Church…which was a department and branch of the Unitarian Universalist Association, to become a new incorporated religious organization under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, an independent religious society affiliated with the UUA, continuing to serve as an extension arm of that Association while holding in its own hands and guiding by its own light the destiny of its organization in the service of a greater cause…An independent CLF will continue to be an international liberal church body… providing a spiritual home for individuals who through this church structure are represented in the Association…."

Thus, the CLF became an independent, legal organization holding membership in the Unitarian Universalist Association, and according to its Charter and By-Laws, relating to the Association in the same way as other auxiliary, independent organizations.  It would continue "carrying out its historic mission: namely, to represent the Association as an organization to which isolated members who are not members of local Unitarian Universalist churches may be served in the name of an organized Unitarian Universalist agency."  Testimony from a young mother in Tennessee in the early 1970’s echoes the concerns almost one hundred years earlier of Susan Lloyd Jones and Sallie Ellis, and speaks to the call’ that the CLF was still there to answer:

"We now live in a small community where everyone is ‘orthodox’ and they want everyone else to be ‘orthodox’ too.  How do you deal with such people?  I suppose we’re worried about how to give our son the strength to be different." ^[136]

The CLF would continue to be an uncommon congregation of differently minded people with a unique vision at its common core.  Following incorporation, the CLF’s Bond of Fellowship remained the same: "We seek to build the community of human fellowship so that, united in love and in strength, we may together search for the truth that makes men free and freemen wise."  The dual purposes were retained with only slight changes in language.  For the very first time, the party line on membership was expanded to include religious liberals who also had affiliation with a local congregation: "Unitarian Universalists who are members of local churches and fellowships, but isolated by virtue of health, employment, distance, transportation or other personal problems may become members of the Church of the Larger Fellowship. ^[137]   Subsequent significant amendments to the By-Laws are as follows.  In May, 1974, associate membership was granted to "Fellowships and small congregations desiring to participate and partake in the ministry-by-mail of the Church of the Larger Fellowship…"  In 1978, inclusive language transformed the Bond of Fellowship: "We seek to build the community of human fellowship so that, united in love and in strength, we may together search for truth."  ^[138]

A deficit of $17,000.00 in the operating budget in addition to an already accumlated debt due to the UUA necessitated expense cuts, and leadership resolved to pay "interest on the debt of 8%; borrow from the Extension Department on a ten year note and work on this loan as does a local church on a building loan." A Veatch Grant requiring matching funds was also in the works.  Sales of George Marshall’s book, Challenge of a Liberal Faith also brought in "special" income. ^[139]  December records show that the deficit climbed to $22,000. while in the meantime, the leadership pursued a streamlined religious education program and the revision of adult mailings in light of needing to reduce staff but increase the number of services performed.  The Church looked forward in hope, still seeing itself as "a major extension arm of the Association, helping individuals and their families to relate to the Unitarian Universalist movement." ^[140]   The Frederick May Eliot-Clinton Lee Scott Memorial Fund was created through a Capital Fund Drive to commemorate the lives of two men through whose vision the CLF was founded and to raise endowment money to keep the CLF going.  ^[141]

Years later, Munroe Husbands wrote in a memo to UUA leadership that the Commission of Appraisal report of 1979 concluded that the greatest period of AUA/UUA growth had occurred between the years 1949 through 1968 and that this was attributable to "…a streamlined and creative extension department and a modernized, imaginative religious education program."  Calling the CLF "an integral part of extension", Husbands lamented the challenge posed to the Church by its independent relationship with the Association:

"With a tremendous amount of help from many sources, CLF got by.  And it is still just getting by.  Not being a part of the UUA, but a separate corporation affiliated with the Association, the many services provided one UUA Department to another, CLF must pretty much provide its own.  Still, CLF tries to meet every request from the Association and its departments; it is still very interested in helping Extension in the formation of fellowships even though CLF members seldom retain their affiliation once a fellowship has been formed.  My having been so close to the UUA for so many years, I sometimes think of CLF as an orphan…^[142]

While some interpreted the new arrangement as being "kicked out", the UUA continued to provide office space, while the CLF truly grew into its ‘own’, to become responsible for its own governance, program development, and fundraising. ^[143]  The "Church by Mail" persevered as an innovator in pastoral, devotional, and educational fellowship, services, and publications.  In 1980, the Religious Education Director expanded the idea of seasonal booklets to create "Family Packets", the first vehicle for bringing new ideas for education and home worship to families on a regular basis.  The packets also provided a new emphasis on the sharing of personal stories, celebration ideas and holiday projects by the membership. ^[144]  These were later replaced by "Connections", published two or three times per year, and augmented by such resources as "The Cycle of Seasons". 

1985 saw the highly productive interim period between the ministries of George Marshall and the then Minister-Elect Rev. Eugene Pickett, who was installed as minister at General Assembly in 1986.  In his first year as minister, Pickett used funds from a VEACH grant to hire a consultant to "bring CLF up to date" by re-organizing programs and the Board of Directors. ^[145]   With the help of the consultant, the CLF sought to develop ways to:  1) clarify mission and direction;  2) respond to members’ needs and enrich/deliver service;  3) establish CLF identity within the UUA and local churches; and  4) establish definition and visibility in the wider world. ^[146]  Pickett and Church Administrator, Nancy Engels, made CLF’s financial health a priority.  Half of CLF’s endowment was cashed in and turned over to the UUA to begin to reduce a massive debt of $140,000.00 that had accumulated.  The CLF would continue to pay off approximately $7,000.00 each year -- often in "in kind services" -- for a little more than a decade until, in the late 1990’s, the UUA forgave the balance. ^[147]

A vigorous Every Member canvass process was instituted that for the first time asked for pledges as opposed to ‘membership dues’, along with the rebuilding of the endowment.  Pickett also initiated new strategies for increasing institutional visibility and building membership.  A pamphlet entitled "Your Church at Home Anywhere in the World" and a new program called "Turn in a Friend" were devised to bridge the gap with the disenfranchised, and with non- UU’s. ^[148]  Records show a process to establish a task oriented committee system, including new Development, Finance, and ‘ad hoc’ Portfolio Divestiture committees.  There were many on-going efforts and hopes, some which saw fulfillment and some which did not.  These include: the coordination of a PR campaign, the computerization of administrative and membership data, the establishment of a CLF column in the UU World, the recording and preserving of the CLF’s history, a survey of the CLF’s membership, the facilitation of networking between members, the development of video tapes and other electronic resources, and in short, the establishment of "the CLF as a household word in UU local churches". 

Leadership engaged in an "affirmation" process that proclaimed the CLF  "a seedbed for new fellowships and churches on the growing edge", as having "mastered the personal touch", as a "biodegradable ministry" that "recycles the isolated", and a "safety net" to the denomination. ^[149]  Practical measures concentrated on making the CLF like a "home" church, by instituting such things as a membership directory, recording membership ‘milestones’, such as marriages, births, and deaths, and maintaining an institutional history.  ^[150]  "The problem of defining just what we are" was paramount, including a fresh evaluation of the potential CLF constituency and the need to geographically broaden membership participation by recruiting Board members outside of the Boston area. ^[151] 

A survey from the time shows that members wanted the minister to be a scholar and an intellectual, identified themselves as naturalistic theists, humanists, or agnostics, and that many had a strong desire to meet other UU’s or CLF’ers personally.  Members were highly educated with a medium level of income, many were professionals, and had a high median age, which would "indicate a campaign to attract younger people". ^[152]  Eugene Pickett’s first report as minister shows that staff and office space were reduced, but thanks to the UUA, made hospitable, and the staff was "excellent, working longer and harder than their job descriptions call for." The filing system was brought up to date, and the library reorganized.  The record of member giving showed that 47% made no financial contribution.  "Our first priority, it seems to me, is to motivate our contributors to give more and to motivate more of our members to give."  Pickett suggested a strategy for follow-up in the canvass cycle, by mail and by phone,  an emphasis on improved programs and publications, and a plan to expand membership to reach lapsed UU’s, already established small groups, and to increase foreign networking. ^[153] 

A focus of CLF’s ministry was developed through a new Mission Statement that addressed CLF’s dual purposes in a new light.  The Mission Statement read as follows: 

"1) To provide a ministry to isolated religious liberals, and to offer a spiritual home within the Unitarian Universalist movement, and 2) The Church of the Larger Fellowship promotes the understanding and growth of Unitarian Universalism and institutes programs to that end." ^[154]

The Fellowship movement was now in decline and the UUA abandoned the effort in favor of developing different strategies for growth.  In addition, the Extension office would be giving up its services to small groups and existing fellowships.  Grant money from Extension was used to re-work the CLF emphasis in that area. ^[155]  It was decided to expand CLF’s ministry to families, small groups and small congregations by developing systems of resource and support to promote the health and vitality of those constituencies.  ^[156]  The"Church in a Box" program was created which included a handbook for family and small group devotion, recorded sermons and hymns, liturgies, children’s stories, and other resources for worship, weddings, child dedications, and memorial services.  "A Month of Sundays", a loan subscription sermon series for use by members and fellowships, was also made available in a choice of formats: print, audiotapes, and video tape.  The institution’s lending library became an increasingly important department of the Church.

An intense membership drive was undertaken, including a campaign to attract "min drops", people who dropped out of churches or who asked to have their names dropped from the mailing list of the UU World.  One Board member expressed a vision of "by-plane drops to isolates in huts on the frontier" ^[157]  Also, attention to a ministry to the homebound and aged was discussed, as the UUA had limited programming in that area.  Efforts continued to clarify the CLF’s identity and Board strength.  A significant turning point at this time was the publication of the first issue of Quest to replace the former monthly news bulletin.  As reader interest in the bulletin was at a low, Quest was created to change CLF’s image to reflect its new ministry focus.  ^[158]  The updated format was "more accessible, substantive, lively and interesting". ^[159]  Pickett understood the periodical’s importance as  "…our major means for keeping in touch with our members."  Quest now featured "…sermons from our denominations’ most distinguished ministers …provocative essays, lively news and responses from readers, book reviews, inspirational material, and educational resources."  ^[160] 

It is interesting to note how the new publication bears a striking resemblance in spirit and substance to the Pamphlet Mission of 1878.  As a part of CLF’s more intentional ministry to support the practice of worship by small groups as well as the spiritual growth of individuals, Quest is a fair re-incarnation of the Western periodical. Recall the words of Robert Collyer:

"We want to make this Pamphlet Mission go like a benediction among liberal thinkers…as the good seed of Sunday services where Liberal thinkers have none, and want to meet for worship and a sermon."  And these words:  "…to feel that our little messenger is the most welcome visitor, especially in the lonely homes and thinly scattered communities of free religious thinkers…(we hope) those who are like-minded with ourselves take hold with us, and spread the good news…"

 A Quest reader’s testimonial from 1989 declares:

"The daily life of the physically-limited homebound can deteriorate into a mere struggle for/or acceptance of existence…truly now I can say that Quest is a publication which I keep near me to reread many times and share with others…I make many margin notes on Quest’s pages of my reactions to what I am reading.  Some of the ideas presented are stirring and provocative, others deeply self-searching, but all are meaningful." ^[161]

By 1987, membership rates had increased as did member giving, and the CLF began to reap the benefits of its very hard work.   A debt of $70,000. was still owed to the UUA, but things were looking up.  The consultant reported that year:

I am certain that you share with me a sense of the growing vitality and significance of the Church of the Larger Fellowship.  In my conversations with you and others in the UUA, it has become apparent to me that the CLF has not always occupied a central position in the Association’s thinking nor has its mission and work been taken seriously in all quarters.  Indeed, CLF has had the perplexing task of addressing a rather amorphous constituency that you know is out there but one that infrequently responds clearly to CLF’s ideas and initiatives.  Gene Pickett’s ministry has now given a new spark and added new meaning to CLF and it has become apparent to us all the CLF does have a role, a respectable, important, and acknowledged role in the UU community.  ^[162]

"The perplexing task of addressing a rather amorphous constituency that you know is out there…": certainly, his words echo the challenges faced by religious prospectors one hundred years earlier on the Western frontier.  Only by now, that frontier was everywhere.  "To touch such lives", this was the "Conference problem", wrote Susan Lloyd Jones.  Would that she could see where the legacy of that religiously pioneering spirit led, and the many strands of determination and innovation that would become the Church of the Larger Fellowship Unitarian Universalist.  Witness these words from a 1989 UU World article:

"It may surprise you to hear that the largest UU church has no walls or windows, no pews or pulpit, no classrooms or meeting spaces, not even a furnace.  This church has no choir or coffee hour, no livley church school or late night committee meetings, and it never meets on Sunday.  And yet, week in and week out, this church touches the lives of over 2,500 far-flung religious liberals in many different human situations, environments, and conditions.  The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist "church-by-mail" serves members from Beacon Hill to Botswana, from homesteading families to the wilds of Alaska to the residents of calm Florida convalescent homes.  This unique and diverse congregation is strong, vibrant, and growing…!"

     That year, the CLF held its first annual meeting at the General Assembly of the Association, and the following year, Gene Pickett announced his retirement.

 The popular ministry of the Rev. Scott Alexander followed, introducing the "minister’s study ‘800’ line", which soon became integral to the CLF’s "ministry from long distance".  Appropriately enough, Alexander’s book, Salted With Fire, ushered in new thinking about the role of evangelism in Unitarian Universalism.  Quest was becoming progressively diverse and interactive, including more content reflective of the CLF membership, and was now well respected by readers all over the world, and valued by Unitarian Universalist ministers, who receive it by a special free subscription.  While the ministry and institutional integrity of the CLF flourished on many fronts, debts to the UUA were a continuing issue.  The Church was still paying approximately $7,000.00 annually to retire its longstanding debt, when beginning in 1994, a new one related to the payroll and rent to the UUA began to accrue.  Fortunately, in the late 1990’s the UUA forgave the balance on the former, although the latter was to accumulate to $92,550 by the year 2000.  ^[163]

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^[130] Memo included in Minutes from Board of Directors Meeting of the UUCLF, November 29, 1967, archives of the UUCLF.

^[131] Minutes, Board of Directors, February 6, 1969, archives of the UUCLF.

^[132] Memo from Robert West included in Board Minutes, October 15, 1969, archives of the UUCLF.

^[133] Memo, "Board Actions in Relation to CLF Re-Organization", CLF Board Minutes, January 22, 1970, archives of the UUCLF.

^[134] Minutes of the Board, March 17, 1970, archives of the UUCLF.

^[135] Ibid, 1970, archives of the UUCLF.

^[136] "CLF" The Church that is Nowhere and Everywhere", undated reprint from The World, archives of the UUCLF.

^[137] ByLaws the CLF, September 24, 1970, archives of the UUCLF.

^[138] See records of 1974 and 1978, archives of the UUCLF.

^[139] Board Minutes, November 12, 1970, archives of the UUCLF.

^[140]   George Marshall, "First Annual Report – Church of the Larger Fellowship, Inc., archives of the UUCLF.

^[141] Resolution by the Board, Nobember 9, 1972, archives of the UUCLF.

^[142] Munroe Husbands, undated memo to Tom Chulak,  "Some Extension/CLF History", archives of the UUCLF.

^[143] Eugene Pickett, Report to the UUA Board of Trustees, April 21, 1989, archives of the UUCLF.

^[144] “CLF’s Historical Timeline Tidbits, undated document, archives of the UUCLF (author unknown).

^[145] Telephone interview with Eugene Pickett, October, 2001, with permission.

^[146] Notes from Board/Staff Retreat, April 26-27, 1985, archives of the UUCLF.

^[147] E-mail of April 24, 2002 l from Rev. Jane Rzepka to Laura Cavicchio citing correspondence with Nancy Engels.

^[148] Eugene Pickett,  Report to the UUA Board of Trustees, ibid.

^[149] Notes from Board/Staff Retreat, April 26-27, 1985, archives of the UUCLF.

^[150] Board Records, September, 1985, archives of the UUCLF.

^[151] Letter from Eileen Corbett to Rev. Charles Wilson, July 5, 1985, archives of the UUCLF.

^[152] Board Records, September 12, 1985, archives of the UUCLF.

^[153] Minister’s Report, Board Retreat, September 11-13, 1986, archives of the UUCLF.

^[154] CLF’s Historical Timeline Tidbits, undated document, archives of the UUCLF (author unknown).

^[155] Telephone interview with Eugene Pickett, October, 2001, with permission.

^[156] Eugene Pickett, Report to the UUS Board of Trustees, ibid.

^[157] Kim Harvie, CLF Board Minutes, November 14, 1986, archives of the UUCLF.

^[158] Telephone interview with Eugene Pickett, October, 2001, used with permission.

^[159]CLF’s Historical Timeline Tidbits, undated document, archives of the UUCLF (author unknown).

^[160] Eugene Pickett, 1988 General Assembly Report, archives of the UUCLF.

^[161] Eugene Pickett, 1989 Report to the UUA Board of Trustees, ibid.

^[162] Report of Karl Mathiasen, III, Management Assistance Group, September 14, 1987, archives of the UUCLF.

^[163] E-mail of April 24, 2002 l from Rev. Jane Rzepka to Laura Cavicchio citing correspondence with Nancy Engels.

Last updated June 12, 2005