A Unitarian Universalist minister in Ebony magazine

The following published in the December 1962 issue of Ebony — you may or may not be able to see the page images — is a sermon by Unitarian Universalist minister Eugene Sparrow, then director of field services for the Midwest Unitarian Universalist Conference. Needless to say these were early days for a black Unitarian Universalist minister in so public a position, and for the UUA — then barely a year old — itself. Despite the title, it seems a better-than-average and pleasingly personal example of period “biblical humanist” thought.

Eugene Sparrow, “Why I Believe There Is a God.” (link)

By Scott Wells

Scott Wells, 46, is a Universalist Christian minister doing Universalist theology and church administration hacks in Washington, D.C.

1 comment

  1. I think (but my memory could be faulty on this) that Eugene Sparrow may also have served the First Universalist Church of Lyons, Ohio at some time. I seem to recall a few middle-aged, long-term members of that church who spoke very fondly of him as their childhood pastor. His “biblical Humanism” would have preached well in that setting. They also said that it was considered odd that a small, rural church with an all-White membership would have a Black pastor.

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