First Church in its modern facility at the corner of Fannin and Southmore

Synopsis

The roots of First Church began in 1899 when the Rev. Quillen Hamilton Shinn visited Houston and put a notice in the paper, rented a hotel room and spoke about Universalism to those who came. With this meeting began a mailing list of individuals who enjoyed the company of others with similar beliefs. Over the years the church grew slowly as this group brought in other friends.

In 1908 the General Secretary of the denomination known as the Universalist Church of America (UCA) visited Houston to assess our potential for a church with a settled minister. The positive consequence of his visit was that the Rev. Charles Henry Rogers from Kansas came to Houston to be the minister and remained three years, until 1911, when the church again became dormant. The people in the congregation liked one another and continued to meet socially, and the women of the church met weekly.

At that time the group had a majority of Unitarians. (The two denominations did not merge until 1961.) The group appealed to The American Unitarian Association for help, and on February 15, 1914, they incorporated as the First Unitarian Church of Houston, and services were once again regularly held. J. C. Hooper, whose name had been on the original list of congregants, appeared in the records as treasurer of the congregation. Other names reappeared as well, indicating that it was the same group who once called itself Universalist. A disheartened Shinn in his journal penciled a line diagonally through the page devoted to Houston’s first Universalist congregation and wrote, “Gone over to the Unitarians.”

For a few months at a time, services were held at the Oddfellows Hall, then the Isis Theatre, until a house, called Unity House, was purchased at the corner of Rosalie and Bagby Streets in hopes that a church might someday be built there. In the meantime, services were held in the living and dining rooms of the house.

Unity House was sold in 1930 and an option taken on the land at Southmore Boulevard and Fannin Street. Church services were held at the Warwick Hotel. In 1932 a prefabricated building was put up that served as a Parish house, and in 1934 a church building was erected.

In 1950 The Rev. Horace Westwood arrived, and rapid church growth called for another building, which was erected in 1952, with an addition of church school classrooms along Southmore following a few years later. In 1965 a second story was added over the center section.

In 1994 the congregation had filled the existing space with programs and voted first, to grow, and second, to stay put. A creative young architect, Val Glitch, was hired to design a three-story tower in the center of the courtyard that permitted two courtyards, one safely enclosed for children. Part of the building was demolished in November 1994, and construction and renovation were completed a year later.

For a more detailed history of Unitarian Universalism in the Houston/Galveston area, click here.