SALUTE TO THE FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH OF CHICAGO'S 175th ANNIVERSARY
WHEREAS, On June 29, 2011, the First Unitarian Church of Chicago commemorated its 1751 Anniversary at worship service celebrating its significant contribution to the spiritual and moral fabric of this diverse city; and
WHEREAS, Founded in 1836, one year before Chicago became a city, the First Unitarian Church spent its first three years in temporary quarters served by itinerant ministers and missionaries until the congregants called Joseph Harrington, Jr. as their minister. He raised money for the building of a permanent edifice on the site where the Picasso in the Daley Center Plaza stands today; and
WHEREAS, Until 1859, the First Unitarian Church was served by William Adam (1846-1849), Rush Rhee Shippen (1849-1857) and George F. Noyes (1857-1859). The church saw growth in both the congregation and real estate. The church moved across the street and was twice enlarged. The congregation grew so much that, eventually, it was decided to establish a Second Unitarian Church on the corner of Walton and Dearborn; and
WHEREAS, It was George F. Noyes who saw the urgent need for expanded social services the Unitarians began to offer the community. He established a Ministry-at-Large as a social service agency supported by the church and manned by volunteers that served as the only private agency for general relief in the city at a time when government did very little for the poor and needy; and
WHEREAS, Pennsylvanian Robert Collyer, a blacksmith by trade, headed the Ministry-at-Large and established an outside Sunday School for the poor with 200 pupils, evening school for all ages that enrolled 180, sewing classes, an employment service that found 150 jobs, and a bureau for the placement of children and the elderly in foster homes. Rev. Collyer was appointed to the U. S. Sanitary Commission, a forerunner of the Red Cross and an agency that tended to the medical needs of the Union soldiers sponsored by the Uni...
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