I was reading the Faith of the Free blog, noting its author, Ron Stevens came in “through the Universalist door” and is organizing a church in Summerville, S.C., outside Charleston. (I also noted he was for a time a member at All Souls, Tulsa, where I interned in 1994-95 and was known by some as “our Universalist.”)
What’s even odder is that Summerville — a city of scant 38 thousand souls — was the home of a short-lived independent (but known by UUA types like me) Universalist church plant about a decade ago, but this new work seems wholly unrelated to it.
See more here and here. I wish this boot-strap church well and will keep an eye on their success.
Hi Scott! I think we’ve talked before. I was indeed one of the “flock” while you were there. My wife and I went to some of your “wednesday chapel” services. My Universalist background came from associating with Haynie Summers, Bill Balkan, even Leonard C. Prater and the others at places like the old Harmony Universalist Church at Senoia, Georgia, and Camp Hill Unitarian Church in Alabama. I also made a few contributions to the Universalist Herald back in the 1970’s.
Thanks for the mention! (Yes, I wish there was a bit more “in the water” here. We have a fast-growing suburban community that’s more like 100,000 plus in areas adjoining Summerville. We plan to succeed here.)