BAUUC History

Bay Area Unitarian Fellowship / Bay Area Unitarian Universalist Church A Brief History

1965 – 1972

The Universalist Church of America was organized in 1785. In 1825 The American Unitarian Association was formed. These two associations were merged in 1961 to form the Unitarian Universalist Association. (UUA)

In the early years after the merger, a staff minister of the UUA, Monroe Husbands, led an effort to organize lay-led societies called Fellowships. Bay Area Unitarian Fellowship was formed as part of that effort in 1965. It had ten members who met in homes, at a local church and later at San Jacinto College.

Our space at the college was eventually taken over by the local Catholic church in Deer Park. We were moved to less favorable quarters at the college and asked to begin paying rent. We formed a building committee to investigate building our own building. With the help of our District Executive, Rev. Russ Lockwood, we obtained loans from the UUA and local foundations to build our first building in Pasadena. We had 25 members. Rev. Lockwood gave the Dedication sermon in October of 1972.

1972 – 1982

In the new building we began having our first weddings, baby dedications and memorial services. We developed our organizational skills and began regular board meetings. Our volunteers created a well-organized RE program, and we began having regular high district and association involvement.

In 1979 we began participation in our first shared minister program. We shared Rev. Van Vanstrom 1/4-time with Corpus Christi, the Woodlands Society and the Houston Fellowship. We had 50 members. Rev. Vanstrom was our minister from 1979 to 1982.

Rev. Vanstrom encouraged us to begin a long-range planning effort. We formed a long-range planning committee in 1982.

1982 – 1990

Our second shared minister was Rev. Stan Aronson. We shared Rev. Aronson from 1982 to 1985 with The Woodlands Society, the Houston Fellowship and the Galveston Fellowship.

The long-range planning committee studies revealed that our "center of gravity" was Clear Lake City (CLC), not the Pasadena area. It also determined that the building size was limiting our potential for growth. The committee recommended and the congregation approved a long-range plan to sell the Pasadena site and begin the search for space in CLC. In 1984 we purchased the CLC site at our present location. We raised most of the money for the purchase with a two-year capital funds drive starting January 1985. In August 1985 Rev. Byron Miller became our third shared minister. We shared Rev. Miller from 1985 to 1988 with The Woodlands Society half-time.

In 1985 we put the Pasadena site on market. We began a conceptual design study during 1986 to collect ideas for our future building in CLC.

The Pasadena site sold in August 1987. We now had no home. We rented the CLC high school annex for Sunday meetings and stored all the furnishings in member homes and garages. Our building architect was selected in November 1987. We moved to the Exchange News building January 1988 to allow weeklong space rather than just Sunday morning space. We formed a ministerial search committee for our first full time minister.

1990 – 2004

We selected Rev. Leonora Montgomery as our first full time minister in 1990. We had 85 members. We got financing for our building using member and local bank loans. We hired a part-time RE Director, Cheryl Walter, and we began construction of our building. We moved into the current building in 1992. Brenda Cockrell became RE Director in 1993.

Rev. Montgomery retired in May 1996. We were up to 180 members. A search committee was formed. We selected Rev. Scotty Meek as interim minister during the search. He served from September 1996 to June 1997. Rev. Meek convinced us to change our name to Bay Area Unitarian Universalist Church (BAUUC) in May 1997.

In June 1997 we selected Rev. Don Bissett as our second full-time minister. Rev. Bissett was installed in November 1997. We expanded our RE space using temporary trailers in December 1997. In February 1998 Rev. Bissett resigned. We obtained Rev. Bill Murchison as a short-term interim in April 1998. We again formed a search committee. Our membership was now 220 members. Rev. Diana Heath became our interim minister in August 1998.

On April 25, 1999 the congregation called Rev. Tom Burdett. On August 8, 1999 Tom Burdett began a full-time ministry with us. By May 2000 we had 240 members. In November 2001 we dedicated the Zimmerman Sports Facility. In December 2001 Rev. Burdett resigned and Rev. Scotty Meek returned to serve as interim from December 2001 to June 2002. A new search committee was formed in May of 2002 and Rev. Jeanne Mills became our interim minister serving from August 2002 to August 2003. The search committee went into its second year of search in the spring of 2003 and the Church called Rev. Shirley Ranck as interim who served from September 2003 until June of 2004.

2004 –2006

At the annual pledge dinner in Feb of 2004, the Search Committee presented Rev. Dr. Matthew Tittle as a candidate for our next full-time minister. On March 28th the congregation voted 140 to 0 to call Rev. Tittle. Rev. Tittle began his ministry in August of 2004. On Dec 5th, Rev. Tittle was formally installed as our fourth full-time minister.

The membership of the Church was 228.

In January of 2005 the congregation adopted a new mission statement and a new vision statement. At this same meeting the congregation voted to go to two services, and in February began offering two morning services each Sunday to alleviate the crowded conditions in the RE and adult worship facilities. As we went to two services, church membership was at 233.

During 2005 our Long-Range Planning Committee began developing plans for a building expansion. In May we contracted Tom Stovall and Turner Partners as our architects and began the process to establish our design. Those events included a facility needs assessment, a series of possible building expansion concepts, and cost estimates. The Congregation selected a concept to be used for a feasibility study, which includes a new multipurpose hall, expanded meeting facilities, new administrative space and additional parking. The estimated cost was about $1M.

In the spring of 2006, with the help of a UUA financial consultant Carol Czujko, we conducted a feasibility study to assess our ability to raise the money. That activity led the congregation to establish a goal of $800,000, and a total of $845,000 was pledged over the three-year period of 2006-08. Our membership was 254 in the spring of 2006.

In October of 2006 we selected Mike Bricker and Mike Bricker Associates as our general contractor. During the remainder of 2006 we completed the final design and began construction.

The expansion added:

• A larger and renovated program and religious education wing including new and larger classrooms, dedicated library space, additional restrooms and a new Religious Education Directors office.
• A multi-purpose hall to accommodate 100 people.
• Expanded administrative space with additional office space for the ministers, choir director, administrator and accountants.
• A new 40-car parking lot across Beacon Street for expanded off street parking.

The building was completed and dedicated in October of 2008. The membership was 290.

2006 - Present

In July 2007, Brenda Cockrell retired as the DRE (she remains DRE Emerita and a member of the congregation). Mary K. Issacs served as interim DRE beginning in August 2007. In 2008, BAUUC hired its first staff Youth Director, Megan Riordan. Rev. Mary Rogers was hired as a full-time DLRE in July 2008.

The increase in building space allowed an increase in activities and programs offered at the church. In the year following the building dedication, BAUUC increased participation at fellowship dinners, put on the largest and most successful church garage sale to date, hosted a weekend of UU renaissance training modules, began sponsoring a satellite chapter of PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) and doubled the size of the annual Fall Festival & UNICEF Benefit.

Rev. Rogers resigned in August 2009. The position was left vacant and the duties carried out by volunteers from the RE Council while a search committee was formed to find a replacement. In November 2009, Rev. Tittle announced that he would resign as Senior Minister effective August 1, 2010.

Church membership as of January 2010 is 309.