UUSS History
Rev. Thomas Starr King
Front Street, 1869
A few years after the first Unitarian sermon was delivered in Sacramento and after two guest lectures for the Library Association by the Rev Thomas Starr King, 17 families founded the First Unitarian Church of Sacramento on March 29, 1868. Rev. Henry W. Brown from San Francisco presided. With the financial panics of 1873 and ’87, the church went through unsteady times but by 1892 the congregation decided the future of their church looked bright and incorporated anew as the First Unitarian Society of Sacramento.
Some twenty years later, a resolution was presented to the congregation regarding the fact that the Society did not have a building of their own — they had always met in a rented hall. A committee was formed, fund drive undertaken, land purchased and building constructed. On March 20, 1915, the first service was held at the First Unitarian Church at 1415 27th Street.
First Unitarian Church, 1915
Sacramento Unitarian Society, 1922
Rev. Berkeley B. Blake, 1921-1927
When America entered World War I in 1917, membership at the church had declined to seventeen but things picked up in 1922 when a Sacramento lawyer named Berkeley B. Blake was ordained at the First Unitarian Church. Two years later, he reported that the Society now had 47 active members and over 100 additional non-members who considered the First Unitarian Church their spiritual home. Rev. Blake left the pulpit in 1927 to become the field secretary for the American Unitarian Association headquartered in Berkeley, but remained an active participant in the Sacramento Unitarian scene for many years thereafter.
During the Great Depression and through the years of WWII the Sacramento institution survived with visiting ministers and by sharing a minister with the Stockton church. Immediately after the war the Society became revitalized with the installation of the Rev. Theodore Curtis Abell in November, 1945. By the 1946 summer recess, the membership roster had grown from 37 to 192. The Society has maintained a strong presence in the community since.
27th Street Coffee Hour, 1953
Rev. Theodore Curtis Abell, 1945-1960
John Harvey Carter, Ted Abell and Carl Anderson
with Master Plan, 1958
By the 1950’s it was evident that more space was required and a “Starters Club” was initiated in 1954. $19,500 was raised to purchase 5.76 acres on Sierra Blvd. The church was built over the following years. The new building was dubbed “The House of a Thousand Windows” because its walls contained 1,288 hexagonal windowpanes of translucent amber glass. This feature was the architect’s response to the congregation’s desire for a building that was in harmony with the sunny climate of the area.
Sadly, shortly after the contractor handed over the keys to the new building in May 1960, Rev Abell informed the Board of Trustees that he intended to resign as minister effective September 1, 1960 and that his last service would be Sunday, June 19, 1960 in the old 27th Street location. The first service at the new location was conducted on July 10, 1960. Rev Abell was in attendence but did not preside. He died four months later.
In 1961, the national Unitarian and Universalist organizations merged into the Unitarian Universalist Association. While the Sacramento congregation embraced the new organization, they decided not to change their designation at that time. Interestingly, a spinoff Unitarian group that was using the old First Unitarian Church building on 27th Street was the first to adopt the new designation and became the Central Unitarian Universalist Church. In 1970, the First Unitarian Society officially changed its name to the Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento (UUSS).
Theater One Production, 1963
Dinner in the Social Hall, 1990
Since 1960, eight installed ministers have served this congregation: The Rev. Ford Lewis served from 1960 to 1970. Rev. Theodore Webb served from 1971 until his retirement in 1983. He was named Minister Emeritus in 1985. Ted passed away in 2014. Rev. Donald Beaudreault served from 1985 to 1989, Rev. John Young from 1991 to 1997, and Rev. Doug Kraft. Doug became our minister in 2000 and provided guidance for discovering the meaning and richness in life by his introspective teaching coupled with his Buddhist perspective and knowledge. He retired in 2013 and was made Minister Emeritus by vote of the congregation in 2017.
In 2008, Rev Roger Jones joined UUSS as Family Minister. He was called as Associate Minister in 2011. He was called as our Senior Minister in early 2014 by a 98% affirmative vote of congregation members. In 2013, Rev. Lucy Bunch joined UUSS as our Assistant Minister. In 2022, the Board of Trustees named them as Ministers of Equal Standing, which was formalized in a ceremony in 2023. In 2017, Roger Jones earned a Doctor of Ministry from Pacific School of Religion based on his thesis about the history of UUSS since the 1980s, our Women’s Alliance since 1911, and Unitarian Universalist history on the Pacific Coast.
In response to a new Master Plan for our Building and Grounds, we held a capital fundraising campaign in 2012. Those contributions as well as bequests from the Cobb and Shaw estates, a mortgage loan from a local bank and a loan from the UUSS Endowment funded a major expansion and renovation of our sanctuary building. The work began with a groundbreaking ceremony on July 27, 2014. During 13 months of construction, we held Sunday programs at Sierra Arden UCC, one mile away. We resumed services at home on September 6 and then held a rededication ceremony on September 13, 2015.
Service Auction, 2017
UUSS celebrated our 150th anniversary in 2018. In 2024 the Board approved addition of solar energy panels to the facility, funded by special contributions and bequests.
More History of UUSS
Our Authorized History, 1868-1984
The late Rodney Cobb compiled a history of the congregation through 1970, and the late Irma West, M.D., added chapters bringing us to 1984. In 2008, other members of UUSS edited and compiled these two histories into the single authorized history, In Good Times and Bad: Sacramento’s Unitarians.
Recent Study of the Congregation’s History
In 2017, Rev. Dr. Roger D. Jones successfully defended and published his Doctor of Ministry thesis about UUSS, From a Culture of Conflict to a Renewal of Covenant: A History of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento. This book includes chapters on our Women’s Alliance (active since 1911), a summary of area UU congregations formed in relationship to UUSS from 1960-1990, a study of social-class dynamics in religion, and a look at the recently changing dynamics of religious participation in this country.