History

History of our Church

Since Harrisburg was named the capital city of Pennsylvania, the newly formed American Unitarian Association (AUA) asked Reverend Kay to establish a church in the city. In 1826, the new congregation purchased land and a church building was constructed on the site of what is now the Federal Building in Harrisburg on Locust Street. 

While visiting ministers led services at the new building, including the Reverend Mr. Walker of Charlestown on February 4, 1827 and the Reverend Mr. W. H. Furness of Philadelphia, the AUA was unable to secure a settled minister for the congregation. In 1836, a Methodist congregation purchased the building, bringing an end to the first Unitarian Church of Harrisburg. No other Unitarian or Universalist churches were formed in the area for nearly one hundred years.

In 1927, a corporation lawyer named George Ross Hull, who knew nothing of the earlier attempt, assembled a group of six liberal-minded people; they were drawn together by articles written by Hull which appeared in the local newspaper.  This small group formed what would become our current church. They considered themselves a church rather than a fellowship and met from 1927 to 1958 in various locations.  Their first meeting place was the old Penn Harris Hotel, which they used for 30 years. A number of part-time ministers served this congregation during that time, including William A. Vrooman (1928-1940), the Reverend E.A. Optiz (1941-1944) and the Reverend Hardey Swanson (1948-1951).

The church grew in membership to 40 families and by 1951, the congregation employed a part-time minister named Dr. Amos Horlacher, who was a Professor of English at Dickinson College, located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. His wife, Thelma Horlacher, organized the first religious education program for children. An early church historian declared, “With Dr. Horlacher the Unitarian Church of Harrisburg really got going. "

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the congregation met in a converted stone mansion at 3809 Front Street in Susquehanna Township, just north of Harrisburg.  Since the mid-1960s, various interim and full-time ministers have served UCH. The congregation built and moved into its own building on Clover Lane, Swatara Township, just southeast of Harrisburg, in 1963.  Sixty-four members dedicated this church building. The building was renovated and expanded twice, in 1982 and 1996. Our religious education program, originally staffed by volunteers, has had professional leadership since 1984.  To further serve the growing presence of Unitarian Universalists in Central PA, the congregation of UCH supported the start of a new congregation in 1996, called the Unitarian Universalists of Cumberland Valley, located in Boiling Spring, Pennsylvania.

The oldest tradition of the Harrisburg Unitarian Church is its monthly newsletter, The Reporter. Richard Folkers, known for his memorable one-liners which peppered the newsletter, served as the editor for 25 years. Dick died in 1989. Gary Forseth, Della Hoke-Ulvick and Bart Carpenter have ably continued the editorship of the Reporter.

A friend of the church by the name of L. James Eckles died August 27. 1988. He had signed a will on September 14, 1963, when our Clover Lane building was nearing completion, establishing a trust to benefit the Unitarian Church of Harrisburg. The church is now the sole beneficiary of his estate, which amounts to over $300,000, receiving income from the trust on a quarterly basis. Payment from this estate began in the fall of 1989. Money from this estate has funded various activities, including several lecture series.

For many years, UCH remained located in one facility on a bucolic, wooded campus in suburban Swatara Township, about 20 minutes from the center of Harrisburg. We drew congregants from many suburban communities on both sides of the Susquehanna River, as well as from a relatively small number of people living within the city limits. In 2006, under the ministry of the Reverend Howard Dana, UCH was awarded the National O. Eugene Picket Award for growth and vitality.

As the church grew in membership, added an associate minister, and expanded worship to include 2 services on Sunday mornings, the decision was made to investigate options to provide additional space to accommodate further growth. Ultimately, that process led in 2009 to the purchase of a beautiful century old church in the city’s Allison Hill section whose congregation, a combination of former United Methodist and United Church of Christ churches that was dwindling, could no longer afford to maintain the building. With the purchase, a rental agreement was negotiated with the in-place congregation so it could continue to hold services and social outreach programs at the facility. That agreement ended with the congregation’s demise in November 2014. UCH Sunday services have been held at both the Clover Lane and Market Street church buildings since 2010.

In addition to holding weekly Sunday worship services, the Market Street campus is home to Gather the Spirit for Justice (GTS), a 501 3C non-profit social action organization conceived and realized through UCH leadership and member efforts. GTS partners with other local churches and service organizations to raise funds and operate programs which include a monthly community breakfast and Common Ground Community Center hours, offering fellowship, food, donated items (clothing, books, personal items) and assistance accessing social services.

The Allison Hill area is one of the city’s most challenging locales, with significant poverty, unemployment, rundown housing, and crime. Its residents have long complained of a lack of adequate city services. Many religious, civil, and government organizations are active in the area in trying to improve the lives of the residents and help them find ways to move out of poverty. The UCH experiment in buying the Allison Hill building has been praised as “building a bridge” between the suburbs and the inner city, something no other religious organization has attempted to the same degree. Thus, while many suburban churches sponsor social justice activities within Allison Hill or through Allison Hill churches of their own denomination, none own property or hold weekly Sunday services there.

Approval for the purchase of the Market Street building was secured with a very narrow majority vote of 55%. This close margin revealed differing member priorities and concerns with respect to the responsibility to live UU values through active social justice work and the importance of maintaining financial stability and a unified spiritual community. Inadequate recognition and unsuccessful efforts to bridge this gap in the minds and hearts of church members led to the resignation of Rev. Howard Dana in 2012, and also to the unsuccessful call of a new senior minister in 2015.

Our bold experiment and the resulting responsibilities to maintain 2 distinctive campuses as a single congregation are still very much works in progress. Dissent, disconnection, and uncertainty, as well as a prolonged period of interim ministry have taken a toll on UCH membership and finances. 

We have made significant efforts in the last several years to recognize and respect our differences, re-connect around our shared commitment to UU ideals and principles, and work toward future successes with restored confidence and reinvigorated purpose. We invite a bold thinking, forward looking, and inspiring leader to partner with our remarkable congregation as senior minister and forge a bright future for all.