Fellowship History Resources

Over 300 of the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association were founded under the Fellowship Program led by Munroe Husbands from its inception in 1948 until his retirement in 1968. Husbands was both director of the fellowship program and secretary of the CLF, and whenever he found a group of CLF members in the same area, he wrote to them and suggested that they consider joining together and creating a fellowship. Some of these groups founded out of the CLF have remained small, some have grown and become churches, and some have grown to be among the largest churches in the Association. The oldest are approaching their 60th anniversaries of their founding, and many are closing on the half-century mark.

Here are some resources to provide information about this important part of our history and to assist fellowships, societies and churches research their own origins. These files can be searched in Adobe Acrobat Reader .

• An introduction to the promise of the Fellowship Movement by Laile Bartlett from her book Bright Galaxy, 1960
• An appendix in Bright Galaxy listing all fellowships founded as of May 1, 1958
• Selected reports by the Extension Department including minutes, annual reports and trip reports by Munroe Husbands discussing the Fellowship Movement and particular cities visited, fellowships founded, and fellowships as they grew.
  • Broken down by year: 1955 | 1956 | 1957
  • The same information, including the State by State distribution of fellowships from Bright Galaxy, consolidated into one file
  • Similar Information for 1958

Other Resources on the History of the Fellowship Movement and of Unitarian and Universalist Extension:

THE CHURCH OF THE LARGER FELLOWSHIP Unitarian Universalist:

• A Study in Liberal Religious Prospecting, Laura Cavicchio
• A Brief Look at the History of Extension: Overview of Extension Practices in the American Unitarian Association, the Universalist Church of America, and the Unitarian Universalist Association, by Dorothy Spoerl, 29 pg, and The Historian's History: A Pathway to Freedom, by Sidney Mead, 11 pg. This was a report to the Trustees from the COA. It was not an official report, but was a couple of working papers that the Commission decided needed wider distribution. Dorothy's paper looks at extension practices in the AUA, the UCA and the UUA, and is dated 1978. Mead's paper was the main address at the 57th annual meeting of the Unitarian Historical Society in 1957. The two combined are about 40 pages.

Last updated November 21, 2008