Read about this month's Spiritual Challenge
Notes on Two Hundred Years (and More)
by Douglas H. Parkhurst
The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Danbury (UUCD) will celebrate its 203rd anniversary later in 2025. A variety of accounts have been written about UUCD over the past two centuries. These include historical narratives; 19th and 20th … read more.
Notes on Two Hundred Years (and More)
by Douglas H. Parkhurst
Recent “Notes…” articles have chronicled events and people at First Universalist Church, now Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Danbury or UUCD, during the period 1948-58. We will pick up with 1959 and subsequent years another time. This … read more.
Notes on Two Hundred Years (and More)
by Douglas H. Parkhurst
Continued from November 2024…
The year 1958 was a watershed for First Universalist Church (now Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Danbury). It was the first full year of the pastorate of Rev. Gaston Carrier, and in January Mrs. … read more.
by Douglas H. Parkhurst
Continued from October 2024…
We begin this month’s article with a look back to early 1957. The board of trustees of First Universalist Church (now Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Danbury), at its February meeting, discussed the current arrangement and capacity of the church … read more.
by Douglas H. Parkhurst
Continued from September 2024…
In mid-November 1957 a fire, likely electrical in origin, damaged First Universalist’s church building at 347 Main Street. The quick and efficient response of the Danbury Fire Department, then headquartered a few blocks away on Ives Street, prevented fire … read more.
by Douglas H. Parkhurst
Continued from August 2024…
Special parish meetings were held at First Universalist Church on May 12 and June 30, 1957. Agendas for each meeting included discussion of the congregation’s search for a new minister to follow Rev. Frederick Harrison, who departed Danbury on … read more.
by Douglas H. Parkhurst
Continued from July 2024…
In July 1956 Rev. Frederick Harrison reported that a silver tankard and chalice for communion services had been given to First Universalist Church (now Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Danbury or UUCD) by the “Universalist Convention,” likely the Connecticut Convention. … read more.
Notes on Two Hundred Years (and More)
by Douglas H. Parkhurst
Continued from June 2024…
Late winter 1956 saw a new minister at First Universalist Church (now Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Danbury or UUCD). Ordained in 1949, the Rev. Frederick L. Harrison came to Danbury from serving two … read more.
Notes on Two Hundred Years (and More)
by Douglas H. Parkhurst
Continued from May 2024…
The Rev. John P. Christensen, then in his mid-thirties, arrived at First Universalist Church, now Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Danbury, in the autumn of 1948. A 1945 graduate of Tufts College, he earned … read more.
Notes on Two Hundred Years (and More)
by Douglas H. Parkhurst
Continued from April 2024…
What was known as the “Humanist Controversy” became an issue for Unitarians, and to a lesser extent Universalists, during the 1920s and 30s. In 1933 a group of about three dozen liberal intellectuals … read more.
