New Unitarian Congregation Forms in Spokane, Home to Nearly 100 Members

New Unitarian Congregation Forms in Spokane, Home to Nearly 100 Members

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News Story by Nina Culver

As the COVID-19 pandemic swept through the nation, a small group of people came together to form the Inland Northwest Unitarian Universalist Community with the goal of creating a spiritually nourishing place of worship that would be welcoming to all.

The group has set out to create a congregation with a flat leadership structure of different governing circles and a board of directors.

“We’re kind of following the sociocracy form of governance,” said board president and governing circle member Sara Bauer.

The group spent their first year meeting over Zoom as they worked to get their non-profit status, joined the Unitarian Universalist Association and decided on a name for their new congregation. They partnered with Westminster United Church of Christ in downtown Spokane, where they held some worship services initially and still use a conference room as an office.

“We settled on this location because we wanted to be central to downtown,” Bauer said. “Westminster has had a long relationship with the Unitarians in this town. Both communities are interested in similar social justice issues. We thought we could partner with them.”

Since they were interested in hosting a worship service at the same time Westminster does, once they moved off Zoom they found an unlikely church home in the Woodland Center at Finch Arboretum. They gather at 10:30 a.m. Sunday and people still have the option to attend via Zoom.

Their offices remain at Westminster.

“We want a more intimate space because we are a smaller group,” she said.

Their web page states that they welcome people of every background, orientation and identity.

“We are diverse in faith, ethnicity, history and spirituality, but aligned in our desire to make a difference for the good,” it reads. “We welcome you: your whole self, with all your truths and your doubts, your worries and your hopes. Join us on this extraordinary adventure of faith.”

The congregation follows the seven Unitarian Universalist principles, which includes the inherent worth and dignity of every person, acceptance of others, a free and responsible search for truth and meaning the goal of a world community with peace, liberty and justice for all.

The group currently has about 90 members, with 30 to 40 attending worship on Sundays. The congregation hired a quarter-time pastor last summer and have used a series of guest preachers.

“It being on Zoom, we have the option of inviting people from all over the country,” she said.

The Rev. Crystal Zerfoss, based in Bremerton, leads one worship service a month. She’s helped the congregation create a new identity and determine who they area, Bauer said.

“She helped us do some community building work,” she said. “She’s done amazing. We love her.”

The congregation has decided to move forward with a half-time minister, which Zerfoss isn’t available for, and have started a national search to fill the position.

“Things are really starting to come together with in person worship,” she said.

While the congregation is setting forth on a spiritual journey based on inclusion, the group’s roots are somewhat painful. All the founding members were once members of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Spokane. The congregation fractured after the pastor, the Rev. Todd Eklof, published a book titled “The Gadfly Papers: Three Inconvenient Essays by One Pesky Minister” that some called racist and homophobic. Eklof was ejected from the Unitarian Universalist Association Ministerial Fellowship Committee, but many in the congregation stayed despite him being disfellowshipped.

“A lot of people were really hurt and had a lot of religious trauma,” Bauer said.

Bauer said she grew up attending the Unitarian Universalist Church until she left for college. When she came back in 2019, it felt different. The sermons seemed to be more intellectual and less faith-based.

“It didn’t feel like home anymore and I just stopped going,” she said. “When I heard about this new community, I jumped right in.”

Linda Moulder had been a member of Unitarian Universalist for 30 years and her parents were members before that. While it was difficult to leave her church home, she felt she had to.

“I had a difference of values with the minister and a large portion of the congregation supported the minister, so I knew I needed to leave,” she said. “The minister refused to engage with people about how he was acting. That was not the way you create community.”

Moulder was on the church board and was on the building committee when she left, having chaired many church committees over the years. She said many in leadership positions decided to leave at the same time. Now she’s comfortable in her new church home.

“For me, the church is the people who are there,” she said. “We’re very inventive. We’ve adopted new governance that works to reduce the problems you have in a hierarchical organization.”

The new congregation focuses on values of equity and justice, Moulder said.

“We want to make a place that is really welcoming for all,” she said. “We are all open and wanting to do things differently.”

Bauer said the Unitarian Universalist Association community team came in and did group sessions with the congregation to help them process the loss of their old congregation.

“Those healing sessions we did were super helpful,” she said.

The goal is to keep growing the congregation and slowly move toward a full-time minister as finances allow. The congregation also wants to expand its youth programming.

“It’s a lot of open-minded, open-hearted folks,” she said. “We try to be radically inclusive.”

The weekly services include meditation and music and are meant to be uplifting.

“Our services tend to be kind of feel good,” Bauer said. “There’s a wide range of people who come to find community. Everyone is on their own search to find truth and meaning. It’s a lot of focus on trying to be good people in the world.”

This news story is made possible by contributions to FāVS from readers like you. Thank you.