Getting to Know UU
Ken Olin is a longtime member of First Church. Recently he was appointed to serve as the Vice President of the Joseph Priestly District until the 2009 District Annual Meeting. His monthly column, "Getting to Know UU" spotlights various UU churches throughout the United States.
August 2008
First Unitarian Church of Omaha
Nebraska may not be known as a bastion of liberal faiths, with only 5 UU congregations in the entire state, and fewer than 750 members spread amongst those churches. Still, the First Unitarian Church of Omaha, with 244 members and founded in August 1869, was the pulpit of Rev. Newton M. Mann, the first minister in the country to accept and proclaim the philosophy of evolution, during his ministry begun in 1889. The concept can still evoke controversy in some quarters.
The church had been in existence for only two years when they built their first brick chapel in town. Over the ensuing years, they saw enough growth to build a new church in 1918, moving with the population as the city grew in size. The building’s Georgian revival architecture was recognized as a National Historic Landmark in the 1980’s. The Joslyn Museum, opened in 1931 (the height of the Depression), was a gift to the city of Omaha by Sarah Joslyn in memory of her husband, both of them prominent members of the church. Mrs. Joslyn also donated the church’s pipe organ.
The congregation continued to grow and by 1974 they begat an off-shoot church, Second Unitarian Universalist Church of Omaha, serving the western areas of the city. Their current minister is Rev. Dr. Kate Rohde, who had previously served in our area, at the Unitarian Fellowship of West Chester. She begins her second year in the pulpit in September, and the church celebrates its 139th birthday this month.
To learn more, visit their website at www.firstuuomaha.org.
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