Visitors : What is UU / History
Historical Summary
1870 - Original Church founded on site of RE Building - burned down in 1880
1887 - Unity Society of Hinsdale founded
1889 - Church Building Dedicated
1893 - Parliament of World Religions hosts Swami Vivekananda
1952 - Sunder Joshi becomes leader
1959 - Religious Education Building added
1982 - Rev. Ed Searle installed as minister
1870 - Original Church founded on site of RE Building - burned down in 1880
1887 - Unity Society of Hinsdale founded
1889 - Church Building Dedicated
1893 - Parliament of World Religions hosts Swami Vivekananda
1952 - Sunder Joshi becomes leader
1959 - Religious Education Building added
1982 - Rev. Ed Searle installed as minister
The Unitarian Church of Hinsdale was founded in 1887 by William Channing Gannett, a blue-blood Bostonian who counted himself among the “Unity Men.” The Unity Men were intellectual renegade radicals of the west who asserted that religious authority was not to be found only in the Bible but rather in intuitive, direct experience of God. This kind of ethical theism allowed for unlimited spiritual freedom. The church was originally founded as a mission church for these “unity men,” and it was initially named Unity Church.
In the late 1800’s, Unitarians were divided between the Christian-leaning Unitarians based in New England and their more “theist” counterparts, the transcendentalists led by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Gannett fell on the theist side of this split, but was committed to encouraging unity within the denomination. He wrote a document that became quite influential called “Things Commonly Agreed Among Us,” in which he affirmed Christian roots but acknowledged other sources of inspiration and truth beyond the Judeo-Christian tradition. He also wrote a hymn that was sung at the dedication of the church and remains the congregation’s motto today, entitled Here Be No Man a Stranger. The idea was that this was a church that excluded no one and emphasized commonalities rather than differences.
The church also has a strong history and ethic of openness to world religions. When the Parliament of World Religions came to Chicago in 1893, religious leaders from around the world came and spoke from the UCH pulpit. From the Vivekananda Society webpage:
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The Hinsdale Unitarian Church was favored by addresses on two Sundays by Swami Vivekananda in 1893. |
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The Hinsdale Unitarian Church was favored by addresses on two Sundays by Swami Vivekananda in 1893. A group of prominent citizens from Hinsdale got together in 1887 formed the Unity Church Society, and decided to build a church. The church was built in 1888 and dedicated in 1889. Rev. Gould invited Swamiji to speak from the pulpit. A small paragraph in the Unity, a Unitarian weekly magazine published from Chicago, said on November 2 -- The pulpit at Hinsdale was filled October 15 and 22 by the Rev. Messrs. Vivekananda and Nagarkar, who preached with much acceptance to overflowing houses. A course of lectures by Messrs Vivekananda and Hirai are also being attended to the full capacity of the Church.
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And in 1952, Sunder Joshi, an Indian Christian, lectured on world religions at the University of Chicago and at UCH. The congregation liked him so much, they hired him to be their minister, despite the fact that he was not ordained, and he served for seventeen years. He was well-loved and there is a hall named after him adorned with fabulous paintings representing seven of the world’s religions.
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The church was well served for thirty years by the Rev Edward Searl. Well-beloved, Rev Searl was named minister emeritus and retired in 2012 after a long career delivering intellectually stimulating services that incorporated his love of history and music.
