Our History

In 1887, a group known at various times as both The Emerson Society and The Sunday Circle decided to form a Unitarian Church. Since that time, the Unitarian church has had as its primary mission the advancement of liberal religious thought and action in Wichita.

On May 20, 1893, with Eugene Shippen as minister, this group adopted a Charter as a corporation with Constitution and By-Laws for the Society; and started a fund for a permanent building to be erected. This building, at the corner of Topeka and Central, was completed and first used on October 16, 1902. The congregation continued to meet there until the purchase of the current meeting place at 1501 N Fairmount in December of 1955. The present meeting house was constructed in 1969-1970, and dedicated in May 1970.

In 1945, the Unitarians of Wichita federated with the Universalists in a mutually beneficial arrangement. Organizational snags had to be worked through over the next several years, but by 1950 the two organizations had merged.

Throughout the decades, the Unitarian church of Wichita has been in the forefront of social and civil rights movements. In the 30's, Unitarians around the state campaigned against the anti-Semitic fundamentalist preacher, Gerald Winrod, who was running for the United States Senate; and they were successful in helping to derail his candidacy. In 1945, Mary Jane Teall was one of the founders of the Unitarian Experimental Theatre, a group that evolved into the Wichita Community Theatre. In the 60's R. G. "Matt" Mastroly was instrumental in creating a social action committee and organizing local and state chapters of the ACLU. Chester Lewis, an attorney, served on the national board of the NAACP. He led, assisted by other church members, desegregation work in Wichita and Kansas. Serving as a haven for freedom of speech, in the 1970's the Unitarian Universalist Church hosted Rafael Ruiz, who spoke favorably of Castro; and hosted Catholic peace activists who were turned away by every Catholic church in the city.

The First Unitarian Universalist Church of Wichita is a Welcoming Church, and has marched in parades and rallies to support the rights of the gay and lesbian community.

The birthplace of Unitarianism, Transylvania, has come forward in the consciousness of Unitarians everywhere, with the fall of Communism in 1989. A Partner Church program was started in the early nineties and our church adopted the Unitarian Church of Homorod-Szentpal.

In 1993, the church was gifted with a sculpture in memory of Rev. James Reeb, who was born in Wichita and died while working for civil rights in Selma, Alabama. Ermalee Skillman purchased the sculpture in the foyer. In 1994, the James Reeb Memorial Fund award was first presented. Greta Crosby established the award in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of this church, and provided the initial funds. This award was recently presented to KANSEL. On April 29, 2001, the Social Action Committee present the James Reeb Memorial Award to Fran Jackson of Youth Services Foundation for their work with young people. Fran received a $500 check.

Today, we look towards the future in creating a growing, vibrant congregation as we look to move our congregation to a larger location and increase our membership.