DID YA KNOW… The start of Unitarianism in Richmond

From their founding in 1830, the church membership had been able to rely on Rev. Dods’ leadership and fundraising capacity.  He had left an organized group of lay-leaders installed for his recommended successor. John Budd Pitkin stepped into his ministerial position with confidence, leading the congregation for two years prior to his ordination and the dedication of the First Independent Christian Church of Richmond, in January 1833.

Under normal economic conditions, many religious institutions were plagued with financial issues, often resulting from delinquent cash pledges.  However, their routine local shortages evolved into a national crisis when President Jackson accused U.S. Bank executives of major abuses and withdrew all of the public funds from the national bank.  Citizens, with deposits in the Richmond branch of the national bank, believed that it was on the verge of failure and they joined the rush to withdraw their money, adding to a serious finical panic that began near the end of 1833 and continued through 1834.
 

By May of 1834, the very survival of the church was under threat for lack of resources to pay their bills.  Lay-leaders formed a committee and scheduled a meeting to explore their options. Dr. Robert Briggs was appointed Chairman and Capt. Blair Bolling served as Secretary.  The committee agreed upon a resolution to sell the church to its members; shares in the church property were to be offered for sale for the explicate purpose of resolving their financial deficit.   Their attorney, Joseph Mayo, was provided with the necessary details to draw up a Deed of Conveyance of the Property to the Subscribers for shares of stock ownership of church property. This venture resulted in enough capital to pay their current bills and avoid closure of the church.

-excerpts from First UU historical archives

DID YA KNOW… Unitarians restarted the Richmond Public Forum

In the 1960s, the city’s second forum, again named the Richmond Public Forum, was the re-creation of the First Unitarian Church’s adult education committee. It grew out of the church discussion groups. The new forum committee borrowed $500 in startup funds from the church.

The group recalled that it began one August afternoon in the basement of the Unitarian church. A group of church members gathered to create a gift we could give to the community. Someone suggested restarting the Richmond Public Forum that had died some years ago.

Some Unitarians talked about their desire to bring back the new Richmond Forum in February of 1963; and the mission for the Forum, later, informed the citizenry for a working democracy. The list of speakers for the new Richmond Public Forum included NBC-TV News Commentator Chet Huntley, writer Gordon Hall and Norman Cousins. Chet Huntley reportedly spoke about racism and politics. Today, the Richmond Forum still presents powerful voices so Richmond can learn from national speakers by elevating public discourse throughout the Richmond region.

-excerpts from 2015 Ray McAllister’s The Forum Files and The Richmond Forum