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The Unitarian Universalist Church of Silver Spring began as a Universalist
fellowship in the autumn of 1952, after some talk at the Universalist
National Memorial Church (UNMC) in downtown DC for the need to spread
into the suburbs. During the summer of that year, the Universalist
Church of America (UCA), located in Boston, sent the Rev. David
MacPherson to Takoma Park to meet with Maxwell Miller, chairman
of a group interested in starting such a fellowship.
Although the list of interested people was greatly overstated by
the minister and staff of UNMC, it was decided by Boston that the
nucleus of thirteen energetic adults and eight children was worth
a start under Dave MacPherson’s leadership. The school custodian
was paid $5 weekly, and early supplies were covered by pledges of
$0.25 to $2, while the minister’s salary and housing were
supported by the UNMC and the UCA.
I remember the joy we all had in converting the three-horse stable
into a fellowship house with the big window sections facing the
property next door. We cleared the lot of briars, overgrown weeds,
and discarded trash and tore down the old white fence that would
have been too costly to repair and paint. Unfortunately, due to
continued mischievous destruction, we had to replace the nice windows
with a solid wall.
Of course, picnics and ballgames were fun things to do as families
on our own piece of property. I remember my first Sunday School
class of five, including my 11-year-old brother, Robert. We discussed
“Jesus, the Carpenter’s Son,” and “The Church
Across the Street.” It was my only experience as a teacher.
This took place in the school a block up the street on New Hampshire
Avenue.
The early dreams of 1952 and 1953 have gone way beyond my imagination.
Sometimes I have a lump in my throat as I hear and see all the beautiful
loving people of our congregation: the way they participate, and
the things they accomplish.
—Gene Miller
Published in the Uniter 01-21-03
(Editor’s Note: Gene Miller is the only one of the original
13 who is still a member of UUCSS.)
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