Allen Avenue UU Church has a long and complex history. Our church started out as the
First Universalist Society of Portland, back in 1821. These early forbears built a wooden church on the corner of Congress and Pearl Street in Portland. The popular and energetic young Rev. Russell Streeter was named the Society's first minister, a post he held on and off for years, and the installation sermon was preached by none other than the renowned Universalist preacher, Rev. Hosea Ballou, sometimes called the father of Universalism. The church was surmounted by the highest steeple in town and the belfry contained a 1200 lb bell which spread its message abroad, "No Hell, No Hell, No Hell."
In 1865, the congregation built a new magnificent building, through the efforts and financial support of a small group of influential men including the governor of Maine. The construction was of English brick with a slate roof, and it contained the largest organ in Maine and seated 1,100 people. They renamed their congregation
The First Universalist Church. Because of its location at Congress and High Street, it was called the "Congress Square" church.
A few of the original Portland Universalists did not move to the new building at Congress Square, but formed the Second Universalist Church in 1862 which later became the India Street Universalist Society (1869 - 1881). In 1881, the Church of the Messiah was built on the corner of India and Congress Streets, serving the Munjoy Hill neighborhood.
Meanwhile, in 1829, other Universalists had founded the First Universalist Society of Westbrook. After some ups and downs, in 1867, they built a church on Stevens Avenue. at the Westbrook Seminary, (later, Westbrook Junior College, and now the University of New England.) As the neighborhood was incorporated into Portland, the church went through other name changes. In 1883 they became All Souls Church, and in 1927,
All Souls Universalist Church.
In 1943, the Church of the Messiah and All Souls Universalist Church decided to merge together; they renovated the building on Stevens Avenue and changed their name to Messiah-All Souls Universalist Church. One of our current members went to the Church of the Messiah when she was a little girl, and then she went to the
Messiah-All Souls Universalist Church, before she grew up and moved away for a while.
Meanwhile, some other folks who are members today started out as members of the First Universalist Church at Congress Square. In the years leading up to 1964, membership was declining at First Universalist and it cost too much money to keep up the big building, which had seated 1100 people. After careful deliberation, under the leadership of the Rev. Earl McKinney, they decided to sell the building, and join together with the members at Messiah/All Souls. They met for a while in their Stevens Avenue building, and the merged congregations took the name, the
Universalist Church of Portland.
In 1969, the Rev. Robert Wolf became their minister and took on the responsibility of harmonizing a still-divided congregation and leading the work of developing a new church site. The move was accomplished in April 1970, three years short of their original goal. They bought land on Allen Avenue, and built our current church building, which was dedicated on April 21, 1971. It was a time of much change in our religious tradition, soon after the merger between the Universalist Church of America, and the American Unitarian Association in 1962. The church at that time was a small group of people who had faith in our values and hope for the future. During a hard time, they took the risk of making a new start, and if they hadn't done that we wouldn't all be here today!
Under the leadership of Rev. Wolf, the church began to expand its theological understandings as well as its membership. By 1980, the congregation identified itself firmly as Unitarian Universalist, and the name was changed to the
Allen Avenue Unitarian Universalist Church, now nicknamed "A2U2." An inspirational Religious Education Director, Tirrell Kimball, helped the Religious Education Program flourish, and many families found their way to the church. The Religious Education activities were often in the news, and the church became very active in issues of social justice. In 1986, Rev. Robert Wolf, much loved by the members, left the church after seventeen years as its minister.
From 1987 to 1994, the church was served by the Rev. Dr. Thomas Yondorf. From 1995 to 2003, the church was served by its first woman minister, the Rev. Jean Wahlstrom. In 2002, members were presented with an unexpected challenge. Condominiums were to be built on land adjoining our building. Quick action on the part of the board resulted in the church purchasing the land, a beautiful wooded area featuring interesting rock outcroppings, and assuring an area for future expansion.
At the 2003 General Assembly in Boston, the Allen Avenue Unitarian Universalist Church received the prestigious James Bennett Award for Social Action and Tirrell Kimball, Director of Religious Education for the past twenty-six years, (recently retired), won the UU Angus H. MacLean Award for Excellence in Religious Education.
In August of 2005, after a purposeful congregational commitment to further membership growth, we called the Rev. Dr. Mykel Johnson as our new minister, and Robin Scott Lea as our new Director of Religious Education. As part of our commitment to growth, we doubled our Sunday morning service from one to two services, immediately resulting in increased attendance. In 2007, we begin to contemplate further expansion of our buildings.
Prepared with input from Sally Breen, Janet Stover, and Rev. Myke Johnson November 2007