A Short History of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Missoula

BEGINNINGS

Our group was chartered 2/1/1962 by a group of mostly professional and university families.

UUFM bought the current Fellowship house at 102 McLeod in 1965. The house formerly belonged to the English scholar and literary critic, then a University of Montana (UM) Professor, Leslie Fiedler. The now famous (All I Know I Learned In Kindergarten) UU Minister, Robert Fulghum, was the NW District Executive who came to Missoula in 1965 to welcome us into our new house.

BUILDING

Early on, the basement was used for children’s Religious Education (RE). The second floor was long an apartment, but with only a half-bath and no kitchen. In 2001, the basement was converted into an outside-entry, two bedroom apartment; the children's RE was moved to two of the upstairs bedrooms, the third becoming the Fellowship office. In 2000, the handicap ramp was added.

THREE MINISTERS: 1973-1989

Over the years from about 1973 to 1980, the UUF had a part-time minister, Rev. Tom Best. He was a former Episcopal priest who lived in Kalispell and served the Glacier (Kalispell/Whitefish) UUF part-time, as well as our Missoula UUF about once a month for seven years.

From Fall 1982 to Spring 1985, our Missoula UUF again had a part-time minister, a “circuit rider”, the Rev. Mary Scriver. A former Browning high school English teacher and writer, Mary was the widow of the well known Montana taxidermist, artist and sculptor, Bob Scriver. Mary served four UUFs - Great Falls (very small and long gone), Helena (where she also lived), Missoula, and Bozeman.

After she left, a semi-retired UU minister, the Rev. Jesse Cavalier, served from Fall 1985 to Spring 1989. Jesse retired in 1989, and died in the Spring of 2004. Even with the three part-time ministers, we have been lay-led for most of our 43+ year history.

SOCIAL JUSTICE and COMMUNITY ACTION

Over a two year period, all five Montana UU Fellowships went through the Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender (LGBT) “Welcoming” process. In 1999, Montana was announced at the UUA General Assembly in Salt Lake City as the first and only state in the country whose UU Fellowships were all welcoming of our LGBT family and friends. Many Fellowships have also participated in state Gay Pride parades.

We share use of our building with local social justice and other civic groups for meetings, including the use of our office by Community Action for Justice in the Americas (CAJA). Members also work at the Food Bank and supply and serve a meal at Head Start “Feed & Read”. Individually, many UUs, because of their strong social justice orientation, work in peace, justice and human rights causes.

PRESENT and FUTURE

During 2004/05, we rewrote and adopted our Covenant as the first step toward revitalizing our congregation. Recently, with the invaluable assistance of ten new activist members, we created a Long Range Plan to formalize our commitment to the health of our Fellowship, to the freedom of thought of Unitarian Universalism, and to the guiding spirit of the Seven Principles. We believe that we have embarked on a path of openness and acceptance of one another’s beliefs, and a social activism that will have a positive effect in our community. Meeting these objectives will result in a stronger, larger and united Fellowship.