 A BRIEF HISTORY OF ALL SOULS CONGREGATION ...All Souls Church came to be with the merger of two New London churches in 1907 – the First Universalist Society (Universalists believed that all human souls would attain salvation) which formed circa 1835 and the Unitarian Society of New London (Unitarians believed that God is One – no Trinity) whose earlist recorded meeting was in 1895. The Universalists built their first church on Huntington Street in 1849 and in subsequent years apparently had financial difficulties that lead to changing their quarters three of four times prior to the merger with what possibly was a shrinking congregation. The Unitarians also changed their meeting place an equal number of times, although with what appears to have been a growing congregation – their last meeting place was the Bethel Chapel (a.k.a. Seamen’s Mission of Bethel) at Huntington and Jay Streets. The latter’s minister was Rev. Foster Tucker who served during all the moves after arriving in 1897 until a year before the merger when he was replaced by Rev. Howard C. Ives. (The New London merger of the Unitarian and Universalist churches was the first merger of the two denominations – nationally it occurred in 1961). The Beckwith family deeded land to All Souls to build our
current church back in 1908. In 1946 All Souls experienced a low point and
the membership sold the rear section of the Beckwith property that constitutes
much of what is now called 19 Jay Street (two other parcels make up 19 Jay
Street in its entirety). In 1924, Mrs. Edward Hammond, a pillar of All Souls and member of the original building committee, gave the church the chancel window in memory of her mother, Anna Chapin Rumrill, who died in 1919 – (she also had given the original organ in the church, in memory of her father James Rumrill). The stained glass window was created by the Tiffany Studio in New York City. Its founder, Louis Comfort Tiffany, summered in New London and was acquainted with Mrs. Hammond, who talked him into doing the window, probably one of his last – Mr. Tiffany was 76 years of age at the time. The window replaced one depicting communion that was favored by the Universalists. 61 years of full time ministry at the church ended in 1958
with the conclusion of Rev. V. Emil Gudmundson’s two year residency at
All Souls. The congregation had shrunk to a mere handful of dedicated U-U’s
who kept the spirit and the hearth warm. It had been reported that a one time
president and long time treasurer said there were but 10 members in 1959 who
regularly attended Sunday services. However, that small group contained a number
of talented speakers who ran these services, interspersed with professional
ministers supplied primarily through the Mass. and Conn. Universalist Convention
and the Southern New England Unitarian Council, -- some with a strong Humanist
bent -- as well as some locals. Favorites were invited more frequently and
one in particular, Rev. Mounir Sa’Adah, a teacher and housemaster at
The Choate School in Wallingford, was invited to preach once a month. By 1975 the congregation had grown to 75 persons and -- partly because in 1952, member Ina Stoddard bequeathed some oil royalties to the church and with the rental of church facilities during non-church use periods, a substantial reserve fund had started to accumulate -- the decision was made to call a minister. A search committee was formed and in 1978, Rev. Eileen Karpeles was engaged as minister after 18 years without a full-time minister. She was the first female minister in the Connecticut Valley District (CVD). In addition to her ministry to the adults, she revitalized religious education by encouraging teacher training at CVD conferences and elsewhere, even providing her own in-house workshops and personally participating in RE each Sunday. Sandy Geaman was part of this rejuvenation and became the director of RE, a position that lasted until her retirement in June, 2004. It was reported in 1977 that only 4 to 6 children were enrolled in RE, 2004, 67 were enrolled. Starting in 1979, the sanctuary refurbishing commenced, starting with wall painting, then next year the floors were sanded and refinished as were the pews, the ceiling cleaned with track lighting installed to light the front of the sanctuary and a carpet runner installed down the center aisle – all in time to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the church structure. Rev. Karpeles resigned in 1980. A search committee was again appointed and in the spring of 1981, Rev. Kate Korb was engaged, largely due to her ability to preach thought-provoking sermons. Also during that year a portion of the Krag wing was rented to Concern Inc. -- a counseling service for released convicts – and another portion rented to a Young Parents program, a day care for unwed mothers. When three or four church members who sang occasionally on Sundays began acting like a choir, the need for direction became apparent. A church member came forward that fall in the form of Suzi Warner and volunteered to fulfill the task. A music committee was created to formalize the new choir’s role and to seek musicians from within or from outside to perform at Sunday services when the choir was silent. The congregation had been growing steadily but slowly since the 70’s, but the finances didn’t seem to keeping up with the growth, even though professional ministers were in the pulpit. The practice of developing an annual budget was commenced and the Board could better see that expenditures were exceeding income – the church was very shy about asking for money from the congregation. The capital reserve fund was bailing out the budget repeatedly and program niceties had to suffer. It was becoming very clear than something had to be done. Fundraisers, mostly dinners and rummage sales, were instituted. In 1983, a canvass was initiated, timidly at first of course - it was going to take some getting-used-to. During the years of Rev. Korb’s ministry, some of the events of note that transpired were these: a mandatory term for the church president was set at two years by a by-law change, during the 1982-83 fiscal year (FY) Jeanne Wagner was hired as church secretary, commencing the practice of a paid secretary, albeit part-time. Prior to that, manning the office was on a voluntary basis, although Jeanne’s five year tenure was preceded by a volunteer who received a slight stipend. Not long after this, the RE director commenced to receive a small salary. Staff was growing. The following fiscal year a fund was commenced to replace the folding chairs in the community room, and the choir started a fund to replace the clunker of a piano in the sanctuary, but again Ruth Dieffenbach came to the fore by presenting the church with a new piano. During 1985, an automatic dishwasher, a new sink with cabinets flanking and a point-of-use hot water heater were installed in the Kitchen at a cost of $5,348. In 1986, after much encouragement and arranging by Rev. Bill DeWolf, ministerial director for CVD, Rev. Ellen-Johnson Fay came to All Souls, at first on an interim and shared ministry basis with the Madison Fellowship. Part of her salary was subsidized by UUA and declining each year for two or three years, after which All Souls and Madison would be responsible for the full amount. All Souls bit the bullet and opted to engage her as fulltime minister. Ellen’s dynamic leadership successfully brought substantial growth during her twelve year tenure, although it was always a stretch to make ends meet financially. However, with her knowledgeable and enthusiastic leadership, programs were expanded, new ones developed and with more members being involved, it was natural that the budget would increase because the church was doing more things. And budgets did increase – staff salaries were increased to become more realistic with the times and a paid choir director was engaged. The choir increased in size, and so did the congregation. The size of the building was becoming a problem – Sunday services went to double sessions in late 1997 or early ’98. Prior to this, committees were formed to explore how to deal with growth, such as possible additions to the building. When the Jay Street building behind the church was vacated by the New London Adult Education program this property was studied in depth as to how it might serve All Souls’ needs. Consultants were procured from UUA to inform committees about procedures, capital campaigns and generally what is involved in getting bigger. One piece of advice was to “spruce up” the church while waiting for the real goal to happen. The church Council took this to heart and embarked on a program to “spruce-up” the sanctuary, community room and kitchen which then had a cluttered appearance. Plans were decided upon, then drawn in 1998. A capital campaign was initiated to raise $60,000 by the following year when bids were sought. Contracts were awarded with the project accomplished in 2000. As the church was growing, so was it becoming more sophisticated with the talents of the new members and the depth of new programs. During the FY1998-99, David Owen served with Ellen as an intern minister. At the end of that year, Rev. Johnson-Fay and her husband Barry left All Souls for a new congregation in Colorado Springs, CO, with the sincere well wishes of the congregation along with profuse thanks for being in our midst. After the departure of Rev. Johnson-Fay, two interim ministers were engaged to serve the congregation – Dr. Justin S. Osterman in FY 1999-2000, and the following fiscal year, Rev. Stephen A. Landale. In addition to normal pastoral duties they both helped the congregation to deal with the church’s history, identity and the various aspects of growth. They also advised on the search for a new permanent minister, a search which was successful with the mutual agreement that Rev. Carolyn Patierno would be All Souls new minister. She, her partner Kate Stafford and their daughter Lily Jun arrived during the summer of 2001, and for Carolyn to start her duties in September – just in time for 9/11. That she handled very well with an open sanctuary, holding vigils and counseling and consoling parishioners, amongst other things. She has continued a ministry of excellence, peppered with sound counseling, great sermons, and an upbeat demeanor. This has led to the church’s growth in numbers and generosity. With so many newcomers in the congregation, the topic of a name change arose, was deliberated over. Iin May 2002 the congregation voted to change our name from All Souls Church, Unitarian Universalist to All Souls Unitarian Universalist Congregation. The exploration of ways to seek a solution to our outgrowth of the present building led to several options, which continued to be studied by several committees, with input from the congregation. The 19 Jay St. property behind the church, owned by the offspring of Joseph Sullivan, deceased, who built and operated an automobile dealership there (which, when it ceased operation, became the New London Adult Education Center), appeared to be the best option, except the price – the family started asking $950,000, and reduced it, but we were not quite organized enough to respond. The congregation earlier had expressed an almost unanimous desire to be located in New London because of the central location and those in need of its outreach programs. A number of options were explored in the city from scarce, vacant land to built-upon real estate. Jay St. still seemed to be the best option, but the Sullivans were negotiating with the State for an extension to the nearby courthouse. Those negotiations fell through and in May of 2003 the property again was available. That month All Souls conducted a very brief fundraising drive called the “Miracle Month of May” which raised nearly $200,000. This permitted the negotiating team to make a bid, with the Board’s approval, of around $500,000. The bid was rejected by the Sullivan family, but the determination had been made to pursue the purchase of 19 Jay St. By this time, All Souls had acquired an attorney and a buyer’s real estate agent, and 19 Jay St. a new owner – the Northborough Group, speculators who somehow got wind of the property and paid the bank the sum of money the Sullivans owed on the property. Early in 2004, the negotiating team offered the new owner $551,000 for the property and were rejected – apparently Northborough was again negotiating with the state of Connecticut and probably others. In the fall of 2004, the team, led by retired architect Spencer Johnson with co-chair Nick Evento, decided to study how the developed building program for the Huntington St. church might fit on the property the church building occupies. Also considered were acquisitions of neighboring properties fronting on Huntington St. A feasibility study prepared by commissioned B/L architects and engineers early in 2005, developed floor plans and elevations called the “Phoenix Plan” that met the program after acquiring adjacent properties, whose owners showed some interest. Meanwhile, the search for available sites in New London was again pursued with several possibilities; but in the fall 19 Jay St. became available again as Northborough’s negotiations to lease the building to the State for a courthouse extension apparently collapsed. Negotiations were reopened with Northborough. Because the building had sat idle with roof leaks developing for more than seven years, mold had become a serious problem and would require an estimated $200,000 to $400,000 to remedy. This was used as a negotiating tool to get the owner to lower the price. Near the end of October, Northborough finally agreed and a purchase agreement was signed for a price of $653,330 (the asking price in July was $695,000). A congregational meeting on Nov. 20, 2005, voted almost unanimously to purchase 19 Jay St. Immediately, a capital campaign was deemed a high priority, but first a building committee was formed with Spencer Johnson, its Chair, Lindsay, Liebig, and Roche selected as architects and Michael Burd as construction manager. The UUA conducted a financial feasibility study showing that the congregation could probably contribute toward a goal within the purchase price range. In March 2006, capital and a stewardship (normal canvass) campaign were launched. At the end of April All Souls community had raised $688,358 for the capital campaign (2% higher than the goal) and $211,000 for stewardship. However, the Building Project Team (BPT as the building committee became known) had not been idle. Working plans and specifications had been drawn up in compliance with the program, and the first preliminary estimate of $621,894, was given. Because new estimates for all the owner-furnished items plus the general contract exceeded the estimate given the bank for the loan sought, items had to be deferred and/or deleted. By the end of January, an $847,000 mortgage/construction loan was consummated with Dime Bank that included property purchase. Collateral was the Huntington and Jay St. properties. Michael Burd’s company, Burd Building Company, commenced work at the end of May, starting with remedial projects such as removing gypsum wallboard damaged by water, and exposing and destroying the mold. The extent of the mold was greater than anticipated and the contract was modified for its removal. With remedial work and demolition completed, main construction work began. The BPT met weekly and regularly throughout construction. Sub teams were named to study, and eventually secure, the various aspects to be provided by the new owners, such as: landscaping, led by Pat Murphy; kitchen equipment, chaired by Roger Robidoux; colors, floor coverings and furnishings, led by Gretchen Franklin. (Landscaping and finishing the kitchen are deferred until funding becomes available). Much of the deferred work necessary to occupy the building was accomplished by volunteers from the congregation, with Paul Shaffer in charge.This included painting inside and out, cleaning, and moving from the Huntington St. building. The fate of the latter building is not yet resolved, so meanwhile it will continue in use. The sanctuary will serve as a chapel. It should be noted that the “great” room at 19 Jay St. is intended to serve as both sanctuary seating approx 300 (twice the capacity of Huntington St) and community room. It is called 'Unity Hall'. The vision is to someday build a new Sanctuary on the property and Unity Hall will become solely a community room. Since the Kitchen in Jay St. is a deferred item, except for making and serving coffee, the Huntington St. kitchen will be used until Jay St. is functional. WFH |