Poster's notes are in italics. Brackets that are not in italics are in the original.
My initial exposure to the Unitarian Tradition occurred in 1940 when I enrolled as a freshman at Reed College. Reed was founded by Thomas Lamb Eliot, the late 19th century Unitarian missionary sent to Oregon to establish a Unitarian presence there. The school is the nonsectarian sister of Starr King, the Unitarian Theological seminary in San Francisco. My four-year immersion in the Unitarian humanistic ethic at Reed, has been a dominant influence in my life.
In 1952, having survived the War and graduate school, (I'm not certain which was the more dire), I moved to Knoxville, to take a job at TVA. There I joined the struggling Unitarian congregation comprised mainly of TVA, University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge folks committed to liberal religion. This was not a hospitable environment for Unitarians, having barely survived being run out of town by the Baptist pillars of respectability in East Tennessee. But the congregation itself, partly because it felt besieged, was a very tightly knit community and a safe haven for non-Baptist souls. It was there I met Shirley. We were married in the Church a couple of years later.
I felt privileged to have had these experiences and when we moved to Virginia, Shirley and I joined the Unitarian Congregation in Oakton. At that time, we assembled in the Oakton Elementary School auditorium for Sunday services.
In retrospect, I am grateful in having been able to savor the humanistic tradition of the Church for 60 years. It has been a gift that has served us well at every stage in my life.
Now, in the waning stage of our lives, we feel a greater need for the sanctuary of the Church, its pastoral care, and spiritual nurture. At present the Church is not meeting fully these needs. It is painful to contemplate having to search elsewhere for a sanctuary where our needs can be met.
It is for that reason Shirley and I earnestly petition you to give favorable consideration to engaging an outside professional to aid UUCF to find its way back to congregational harmony and spiritual wholeness.
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For those of you who do not know John Krutilla, he is 80+ years old and holds a Ph D. in Economics from Harvard. He also holds a number of honorary degrees and has received many awards, including the First Volvo Environment Award. He is one of the most principled human beings you will ever have the opportunity of knowing and a true gentleman. From my perspective, he should be respected as a church treasure, not demeaned as a church "dissident."