HISTORY

UNITARIAN CONGREGATION OF TAOS

November 2, 2011

Thirty five years ago Chuck and Marsha Fawns met and soon after married at the First Unitarian Church, in Dallas Texas. After moving to Taos in August 2001, they were unable to find a truly liberal religious community that held and lived the values that are Unitarian, so decided they had to start a Unitarian church here in Taos. After months of research, emails, and phone calls they gathered people who seemed willing to help and began meeting in homes during the summer of 2004. Ellen Germann-Melosh, who was the District Executive for the Mountain Desert District of the Unitarian Universalist Association was able to meet with the group on several occasions during those early months. At one of the meetings she brought The Reverend Anne Odin Heller, who was a Unitarian minister about to retire and was looking for a retirement home. Fortunately for us she chose Taos. After eleven months of working as a group in conversation, planning and consultation the inaugural service was held on May 8, 2005 in the Taos Jewish Center. The first service was led by a former Minister from the Santa Fe Unitarian Church. It was soon thereafter that The Reverend Heller joined the congregation as its Supply Minister.

That year and a half of meeting in the Jewish center was challenging on many levels. Often it was just Marsha and Chuck, with only two or three other people. Each time they had to set up and clean up. Every few months the Fawns would talk seriously about whether or not to continue doing it all themselves: planning services, composing and printing the orders of service, providing snacks, and all the etcs. Slowly, more people began to come. The minister at the Dallas church gave a contribution from her minister’s discretionary fund. We persisted. We also received a substantial grant from the Chalice Lighter Fund of the Unitarian Universalist District in Denver.

After eighteen months in the Jewish Center, the congregation began holding services in a Hogan on the property of Steve McElmury and Susan Gramm. In February of 2008 we began services in the Ranchos de Taos Presbyterian Church. In September of 2008 we held our Charter Service in which we welcomed our first official founding members. On January 3, 2010, our first “Naming Ceremony” was held. Silas James Conn became the first official child welcomed into our congregation.

As of now, more than 30 individuals have signed the Membership Book becoming official members of the congregation. We average 25 to 40 or more participants at each service. We have purchased hymnals, gotten involved in community activities, and support a highway cleanup project. We ARE a congregation. We find that our Sunday services empower us to grow ever more into the people we strive to become, to live in our daily lives in this community expressing the liberal, inclusive values that are Unitarian. We join with over 200,000 other Unitarian Universalists worldwide in affirming these values. We are grateful, very grateful, that we are truly a religious congregation, with so many wonderful individuals who give so generously of their time and talents.