Church & Congregation
"The Tree of Life",
a tapestry hanging in our sanctuary,
depicts the Unitarian Universalist reverence
for the bounty, the diversity, the glory, and the mystery
of our Universe and all that it encompasses.
Our Staff
Interim Minister: The Reverend Frances Buckmaster
President/Board of Directors: Dennis Dixon
Director of Religious Education: Lisa Upchurch
Youth Advisor: Gretchen Neeley
Office Manager: Patricia Punykova-Bertel
Newsletter (The Dialog) Editors: Bob Lane
Services
Regularly scheduled Sunday services are held at the Church at 11:00 a.m. throughout the year. We have a complete program of
Religious Education for all ages. Adult education (an eclectic mix) is held each Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m. and the children and
teen program is held concurrent with the 11:00 a.m. service.We publish a weekly newsletter The Dialog which describes our programs and upcoming events, and occasionally editorial
comment.History
The Unitarian Universalist Association of Tacoma began with the meeting of a small group of Tacoma community members in
December, 1883. This meeting led to the incorporation of the First Unitarian Society in 1885. The congregation grappled with
tough issues from the beginning as Tacomans split over the expulsion of the local Chinese population. Ezra Meeker, the rugged
Unitarian pioneer of Puyallup, launched a spirited, if unsuccessful, defense of Tacoma's Chinese residents.A church building was completed in 1887 at S. 3rd and Tacoma Avenue. Always independently minded, the congregation broke
official ties with the national church in 1893. The church was renamed the First Free Church of Universal Religion. The name was
changed again in 1909 to the Ethical and Unitarian Society of Tacoma.
The first Tacoma Unitarian Church building and adjoining parsonage were built in
1887 at 233 Tacoma Ave. S. The church was designed in the "modern gothic" style
by Tacoma architect Carl August Darmer. The exterior was painted "oriental drab",
a shade of brown. After the congregation gave up the building in 1925, it became
known as the Tacoma Music Hall. It was demolished in 1954.
Unitarian membership, both nationally and locally, declined amidst the turmoil of the First World War and its aftermath. The
church building was sold in 1925. Finally, in 1936, the congregation stopped meeting. Its assets were held in trust by the American
Unitarian Association.The liberal religious spirit of Unitarianism never died in Tacoma; it merely slumbered and, like the Phoenix, soon rose again. The
Unitarian Association of Tacoma was formed in Nov. 1943. The newly reorganized congregation held services in an old carriage
house at North 4th and Tacoma Ave. until a new building was possible. The congregation again faced controversy when its
minister defended a local school teacher accused of being a Communist during the McCarthy era.A new church building was dedicated in 1958 at S.12th and Bantz Blvd. Church membership grew as did the social concerns of
the 1960s. The congregation experimented with lay leadership in the 1970s.Expansion of the SR 16 freeway in the early 1980s forced abandonment of the Bantz Blvd. building. The congregation again
adapted to change with a spirit of dedication, perseverance, fellowship and cooperation. The Unitarian Association of Tacoma
moved to its current location at 1115 S. 56th St. in 1985.