Berry Street Essay
Ministerial Conference at Berry Street: History
The Rev. William Ellery Channing, Minister of the Federal Street Church of Boston, invited all Massachusetts ministers known to be liberal to meet in the vestry of his church (whose entrance was on Berry Street) on May 30, 1820. At the meeting Channing delivered a prepared address. He urged upon his colleagues a “bond of union” among liberal Christian ministers, within which they might meet to exchange practical ideas for strengthening their ministries.
Meeting again on the evening of May 31, 1820, the ministers adopted a few simple rules for ensuring free and broad discussion at an annual conference, and also the means of each year asking one or two of their number to come with prepared remarks – or an essay. Thus was initiated the Berry Street Conference which has convened every year save one (during WWII) since 1820, and thus is the Berry Street Essay the oldest lecture series on the North American continent. As from its beginning, its purpose is to contribute to the practical strength of liberal ministries. The convening of the Berry Street Conference, for the delivery and hearing of the Berry Street Essay, has for many years now been the last event of the annual meeting and conference of the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association.
Unfortunately, the records of the Conference were lost in transit from one scribe to the next in 1920, so an entire century of the history was lost along with copies of many of the essays. Prof. Charles Lyttle of Meadville Lombard was asked to reconstruct that history to the best of his ability, and he submitted his results to the Conference in 1927. That document is preserved in the Berry Street Conference Archives at the Andover-Harvard Library: (http://www.hds.harvard.edu/library/bms/bms00136.html) Lyttle then summarized his conclusions and observations from his research in an article entitled “An Outline of the History of the Berry Street Ministerial Conference” in the the Meadville Theological School Quarterly Bulletin in 1930. His work was then updated to include all essays delivered through 1993 by Rudy Nemser when he served as scribe in his book, The Berry Street Conference. The current project of presenting these essays on the web is deeply dependent on the work these two have done.
The essayist is chosen by a committee of three and a scribe, now elected by the members of the UUMA. The scribe serves as convener of the committee and the Conference, and also as the Conference historian.
Berry Street Essay Charter (as approved May 2023)
Berry Street Essay Scribe: Job Description and Selection Process
Ministerial Conference at Berry Street: Committee History
2023-2024 Committee Members:
- Rev. Mark Morrison-Reed (2024)
- Rev. Aisha Ansano (2025)
- Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Stevens (2026)
- Rev. Kate Walker, Scribe (outgoing) (2024)
- Rev. Connie Simon, Scribe (incoming)
Berry Street Essay Charter (as approved May 2023)
Berry Street Essay Scribe: Job Description and Selection Process
Constance Simon
Scribe (incoming)Kate Walker
Scribe (outgoing)The Rev. Dr. Kate R. Walker, (she/her/hers) began serving the First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh in August of 2021. Previously she served the Mount Vernon Unitarian Church in Alexandria, Virginia, and the Meadville Unitarian Universalist Church, in Pennsylvania. She was raised Unitarian Universalist and is a double UU preacher’s kid. She received her BA in Communications from the University of Denver, an MA in Social Ecology from Goddard College in Plainfield Vermont, an M.Div. from Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley, California. She received her Doctor of Ministry from Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. She lives in Pittsburgh with her husband Mark and two deeply loved Springer Spaniels.
Her experience with the Unitarian Universalist Minister’s Association and UUA includes: Holding the Arrangements Portfolio for the UUMA Executive Committee; coordinating Arrangements and Program for CONVO ‘09 in Ottawa; serving as Treasurer for Ohio-Meadville UUMA; Good Officer for Chesapeake UUMA and Ohio Meadville Chapter; serving on the CUUMA Annual Retreat Committee; serving on the UUMA Connect Coordinating Team; and is currently serving as the Scribe for the Ministerial Conference at Berry Street. She is editor of “The Through Line: 200 Years of the Berry Street Essays,” and co-author of “Facing Death with Life,” adult curriculum.
For the UUA, she previously served on the Central East Regional Advisory Council; as a UUA Regional Transitions Coach; is a Healthy Boundaries Trainer; and serves as an Advocate on behalf of complainants to the UUA’s Safe Congregations Office, in addition, she is the former President of UU History and Heritage Society, and former President of UU Women’s Heritage Society.
Leslie Takahashi
Board LiaisonJanette Lallier
Staff LiaisonHistory of Committee Membership
Year | Executive1 | Executive2 | Executive3 | Scribe |
2024 | Mark Morrison-Reed | Aisha Ansano | Elizabeth Stevens | Connie Simon |
2023 | Lynn Gardner | Jose Ballester | Aisha Ansano | Kate Walker |
2022 | Sofia Betancourt | Lynn Gardner | Jose Ballester | Kate Walker |
2021 | William Sinkford | Sofia Betancourt | Lynn Gardner | Kate Walker |
2020 | Lindi Ramsden | William Sinkford | Sofia Betancourt | Kate Walker |
2019 | Mitra Rahnema | Lindi Ramsden | William Sinkford | Kate Walker |
2018 | Mark Morrison-Reed | Mitra Rahnema | Lindi Ramsden | Kate Walker |
2017 | Barbara Coeyman | Mark Morrison-Reed | Mitra Rahnema | Kate Walker |
2016 | Manish Mishra-Marzetti | Barbara Coeyman | Mark Morrison-Reed | Kate Walker |
2015 | Deborah Pope Lance | Manish Mishra-Marzetti | Barbara Coeyman | Kate Walker |
2014 | Rosemary Bray McNatt | Deborah Pope Lance | Manish Mishra-Marzetti | Paul Sprecher |
2013 | Peter Luton | Rosemary Bray McNatt | Deborah Pope Lance | Paul Sprecher |
2012 | Linda Olson Peebles | Peter Luton | Rosemary Bray McNatt | Paul Sprecher |
2011 | Kathryn Rohde | Linda Olson Peebles | Peter Luton | Paul Sprecher |
2010 | Paul Johnson | Kathryn Rohde | Linda Olson Peebles | Paul Sprecher |
2009 | Makanah Morriss | Paul Johnson | Kathryn Rohde | Paul Sprecher |
2008 | Richard S. Gilbert | Makanah Morriss | Paul Johnson | Paul Sprecher |
2007 | Judith Walker-Riggs | Marjorie Bowens-Wheatley | Makanah Morriss | Alice Blair Wesley |
2006 | Barry Andrews | Judith Walker-Riggs | Marjorie Bowens-Wheatley | Alice Blair Wesley |
2005 | Tom Goldsmith | Barry Andrews | Judith Walker-Riggs | Alice Blair Wesley |
2004 | Daniel Budd | Tom Goldsmith | Barry Andrews | Alice Blair Wesley |
2003 | David Johnson | Daniel Budd | Tom Goldsmith | Ken Sawyer |
2002 | Kendyl Gibbons | David Johnson | Daniel Budd | Ken Sawyer |
2001 | Gretchen Woods | Kendyl Gibbons | David Johnson | Rudy Nemser |
2000 | Mark Belletini | Gretchen Woods | Kendyl Gibbons | Rudy Nemser |
1999 | Marta Flanagan | Mark Belletini | Gretchen Woods | Rudy Nemser |
1998 | Carol Hepokowski | Marta Flanagan | Mark Belletini | Rudy Nemser |
1997 | Jim Nelson | Carol Hepokowski | Marta Flanagan | Rudy Nemser |
1996 | Mark Harris | Jim Nelson | Carol Hepokowski | Rudy Nemser |
1995 | Lucy Hitchcock | Mark Harris | Jim Nelson | Rudy Nemser |
1994 | Laurel Hallman | Lucy Hitchcock | Mark Harris | Rudy Nemser |
1993 | Thomas Wintle | Laurel Hallman | Lucy Hitchcock | Rudy Nemser |
1992 | Raymond Manker | Thomas Wintle | Laurel Hallman | Rudy Nemser |
1991 | Joyce H. Smith | Raymond Manker | Thomas Wintle | Rudy Nemser |
1990 | Terry Burke | Joyce H. Smith | Raymond Manker | Rudy Nemser |
1989 | Todd Taylor | Terry Burke | Joyce H. Smith | Rudy Nemser |
1988 | Gertrude Lindener-Stawski | Todd Taylor | Terry Burke | Rudy Nemser |
1987 | Helen L. Cohen | Gertrude Lindener-Stawski | Todd Taylor | Rudy Nemser |
1986 | Carl R. Scovel | Helen L. Cohen | Gertrude Lindener-Stawski | Greta W. Crosby |
1985 | David R. Weissbard | Carl R. Scovel | Helen L. Cohen | Greta W. Crosby |
1984 | Joy A. Atkinson | David R. Weissbard | Carl R. Scovel | Greta W. Crosby |
1983 | Carl R. Scovel | Joy A. Atkinson | David R. Weissbard | Greta W. Crosby |
1982 | David R. Weissbard | Carl R. Scovel | Joy A. Atkinson | Greta W. Crosby |
1981 | Marjorie Sams | David R. Weissbard | Carl R. Scovel | Greta W. Crosby |
1980 | Kenneth Warren | Marjorie Sams | David R. Weissbard | Greta W. Crosby |
1979 | Charles A. Reinhardt | Kenneth Warren | Marjorie Sams | Greta W. Crosby |
1978 | Dorothy Spoerl | Charles A. Reinhardt | Kenneth Warren | Greta W. Crosby |
1977 | W. Bradford Greeley | Dorothy Spoerl | Charles A. Reinhardt | Greta W. Crosby |
1976 | Donald W. Rowley | W. Bradford Greeley | Dorothy Spoerl | Greta W. Crosby |
1975 | Albert Hobart | Donald W. Rowley | W. Bradford Greeley | Robert Maurice Bowman |
1974 | James M. Hutchinson | Albert Hobart | Donald W. Rowley | Robert Maurice Bowman |
1973 | Donald W. Rowley | James M. Hutchinson, John Godbey | Albert Hobart | Robert Maurice Bowman |
1972 | Jack Zoerheide | Felix Danforth Lion | James M. Hutchinson, John Godbey | Robert Maurice Bowman |
1971 | Webster L. Kitchell | Jack Zoerheide | Felix Danforth Lion | Jack Zoerheide |
1970 | Felix Danforth Lion | Webster L. Kitchell | Jack Zoerheide | Jack Zoerheide |
1969 | Ralph N. Helverson | Felix Danforth Lion | Webster L. Kitchell | Donald W. Rowley |
1968 | Thaddeus Clark | Ralph N. Helverson | Felix Danforth Lion | Donald W. Rowley |
1967 | James Hutchinson | Thaddeus Clark | Ralph N. Helverson | Charles Allan Reinhardt |
1966 | Charles A. Reinhardt | James Hutchinson | Thaddeus Clark | Charles Allan Reinhardt |
1965 | Harry B. Scholefield | Charles A. Reinhardt | James Hutchinson | Fred Alvah Rutledge |
1964 | Tracy Pullman | Harry B. Scholefield | Edwin M. Lane | [no scribe, no elections] |
1963 | Ralph N. Helverson | Tracy Pullman | Harry B. Scholefield | Fred Alvah Rutledge |
1962 | John G. MacKinnon | Ralph N. Helverson | Tracy Pullman | Fred Alvah Rutledge |
1961 | Max Gaebler | John G. MacKinnon | Ralph N. Helverson | Fred Alvah Rutledge |
1960 | Frank O. Holmes | Max Gaebler | John G. MacKinnon | James M. Hutchinson |
1959 | Alfred W. Hobart | Frank O. Holmes | Max Gaebler | James M. Hutchinson |
1958 | Karl M.C. Chworowsky | Alfred W. Hobart | Frank O. Holmes | James M. Hutchinson |
1957 | Josiah Bartlett | Karl M.C. Chworowsky | Alfred W. Hobart | James Hutchinson |
1956 | Payson Miller | Josiah Bartlett | Karl M.C. Chworowsky | Richard Henry |
1955 | Edwin T. Buehrer | Payson Miller | Josiah Bartlett | Richard Henry |
1954 | John Cyrus | Edwin T. Buehrer | Payson Miller | Richard Henry |
1953 | Robert Hugo Schacht, Jr. | John Cyrus | Edwin T. Buehrer | John Cyrus |
1952 | David Rhys Williams | Robert Hugo Schacht, Jr. | John Cyrus | Richard Seebode |
1951 | Greald Weary | David Rhys Williams | Robert Hugo Schacht, Jr. | Richard Seebode |
1950 | Wallace Robbins | Greald Weary | David Rhys Williams | Richard Seebode |
1949 | Peter Samson | Wallace Robbins | Greald Weary | Richard Seebode |
1948 | Robert Raible | Peter Samson | Wallace Robbins | Richard Seebode |
1947 | Leslie T. Pennington | Robert Raible | Peter Samson | Richard Seebode |
1946 | Irving R. Murray | Robert Terry Weston | Leslie T. Pennington | Chadbourne Arnold Spring |
1945 | Not Held | |||
1944 | Harold G. Arnold | Irving R. Murray | Robert Terry Weston | Earl Clement Davis |
1943 | E. Burdette Backus | Harold G. Arnold | Irving R. Murray | Earl Clement Davis |
1942 | Alson H. Robinson | E. Burdette Backus | Harold G. Arnold | Edwin Burdette Backus |
1941 | Duncan Howlett | Alson H. Robinson | E. Burdette Backus | Alson Haven Robinson |
1940 | Earl G. Davis | Duncan Howlett | Alson H. Robinson | Du Bois LeFevre |
1939 | Frederick Lewis Weis | Earl G. Davis | Duncan Howlett | Du Bois LeFevre |
1938 | Leslie T. Pennington | Frederick Lewis Weis | Earl G. Davis | Du Bois LeFevre |
1937 | J. Harry Hooper | Leslie T. Pennington | Frederick Lewis Weis | Palfrey Perkins |
1936 | Du Blois LeFevre | J. Harry Hooper | Leslie T. Pennington | Palfrey Perkins |
1935 | Frank O. Holmes | Du Blois LeFevre | J. Harry Hooper | Palfrey Perkins |
1934 | Edward H. Cotton | Frank O. Holmes | Du Blois LeFevre | Alfred Rodman Hussey |
1933 | Harold G. Arnold | Edward H. Cotton | Frank O. Holmes | Alfred Rodman Hussey |
1932 | Ralph E. Bailey | Harold G. Arnold | Edward H. Cotton | Alfred Rodman Hussey |
1931 | R. Stanton Hodgin | Ralph E. Bailey | Harold G. Arnold | Alfred Rodman Hussey |
1930 | Charles A. Wing | R. Stanton Hodgin | Ralph E. Bailey | Alfred Rodman Hussey |
1929 | Miles Hanson | Charles A. Wing | R. Stanton Hodgin | Alfred Rodman Hussey |
1928 | Minot Simons | Miles Hanson | Charles A. Wing | Alfred Rodman Hussey |
1927 | Edwin Mitchell Slocombe | Minot Simons | Miles Hanson | Alfred Rodman Hussey |
1926 | Earl M. Wilbur | Edwin Mitchell Slocombe | Minot Simons | Alfred Rodman Hussey |
1925 | John M. Wilson | Earl M. Wilbur | Edwin Mitchell Slocombe | Alfred Rodman Hussey |
1924 | John C. Perkins | John M. Wilson | Earl M. Wilbur | Alfred Rodman Hussey |
1923 | Charles E. Park | John C. Perkins | John M. Wilson | Eugene R. Shippen |
1922 | Joel H. Metcalf | Charles E. Park | John C. Perkins | Eugene R. Shippen |
1921 | Henry Wilder Foote | Joel H. Metcalf | John C. Perkins | Eugene R. Shippen |
1920 | Joel H. Metcalf | Henry Wilder Foote | Joel H. Metcalf | Eugene R. Shippen |
1919 | John C. Perkins | Joel H. Metcalf | Henry Wilder Foote | Eugene R. Shippen |
1918 | George R. Dodson | Henry Wilder Foote | Joel H. Metcalf | Edward Dunbar Johnson |
1917 | Frederick Gill | George R. Dodson | Henry Wilder Foote | Edward Dunbar Johnson |
1916 | Augustus P. Reccord | Frederick Gill | George R. Dodson | Edward Dunbar Johnson |
1915 | Minot Simons | Augustus P. Reccord | Frederick Gill | Palfrey Perkins |
1914 | Frederick Gill | Minot Simons | Augustus P. Reccord | Palfrey Perkins |
1913 | Roderick Stebbins | Leon H. Harvey | Alfred Lazenby | Palfrey Perkins |
1912 | Adeibert L. Hudson | Robert F. Leavens | Joel H. Metcalf | Palfrey Perkins |
1911 | William H. Lyons | Henry H. Saunderson | Roger S. Forbes | Palfrey Perkins |
1910 | George Batchelor | Augustus M. Lord | Charles T. Billings | Julian Clifford Jaynes |
1909 | George Batchelor | Augustus M. Lord | Charles T. Billings | Julian Clifford Jaynes |
1908 | Henry Wilder Foote | Austin S. Garver | Christopher R. Eliot | Bradley Gilman |
1907 | Alfred C. Nickerson | Austin S. Garver | Eugene R. Shippen | George D. Latimer |
1906 | Alfred C. Nickerson | Austin S. Garver | Eugene R. Shippen | George D. Latimer |
1905 | Alfred C. Nickerson | Austin S. Garver | Eugene R. Shippen | George D. Latimer |
1904 | Ulysses G. B. Pierce | James Ells | George H. Badger | George D. Latimer |
1903 | Edward D.-Towle | Austin. S. Garver | Earl M. Wilbur | F. W. Pratt |
1902 | Christopher R. Eliot | Augustus M. Lord | Frederick Gill | F. W. Pratt |
1901 | C. A. Staples | James Ells | Henry T. Secrist | F. W. Pratt |
1900 | Samuel M. Crothers | William H. Lyons | George H. Badger | Alfred Manchester |
1899 | Henry C. DeLong | Edward Hale | Henry T. Secrist | John C. Forbes |
1898 | William H. Lyons | Austin E. Garver | Paul R. Frothingham | John C. Forbes |
1897 | Stephen H. Camp | William H. Savage | George C. Cressey | John C. Forbes |
1896 | Samuel M. Crothers | Howard Nicholson Brown | Charles B. Elder | John C. Forbes |
1895 | Edward D. Towle | Pitt Dillingham | D. Munro Wilson | John C. Forbes |
1894 | Samuel B. Stewart | Pitt Dillingham | D. Munro Wilson | John C. Forbes |
1893 | Samuel B. Stewart | William H. Savage | D. Munro Wilson | William H. Fish, Jr. |
1892 | Samuel B. Stewart | William H. Savage | George Batchelor | William H. Fish, Jr. |
1891 | Henry C. DeLong | William H. Savage | George Batchelor | William H. Fish, Jr. |
1890 | Henry C. DeLong | Benjamin R. Bulkley | George Batchelor | Charles F. Dole |
1889 | Henry C. DeLong | Benjamin R. Bulkley | William I. Nichols | Charles F. Dole |
1888 | Christopher R. Eliot | Benjamin R. Bulkley | William I. Nichols | Charles F. Dole |
1887 | Francis Greenwood Peabody | Charles F. Dole | William I. Nichols | Howard Nicholson Brown |
1886 | Francis Greenwood Peabody | Charles F. Dole | Edwin H. Hall | Howard Nicholson Brown |
1885 | Francis Greenwood Peabody | Charles F. Dole | Edwin H. Hall | Howard Nicholson Brown |
1884 | Francis Greenwood Peabody | Charles F. Dole | Edwin H. Hall | Howard Nicholson Brown |
1883 | Francis Greenwood Peabody | Charles F. Dole | Howard Nicholson Brown | |
1882 | Henry H. Barber | Howard Nicholson Brown | John G. Brooks | George A. Thayer |
1881 | J. F. W. Ware | Howard Nicholson Brown | John G. Brooks | George A. Thayer |
1880 | John Fothergill Waterhouse Ware | Rush R. Shippen | H. H. Barber | George A. Thayer |
1879 | John Fothergill Waterhouse Ware | Rush R. Shippen | George A. Thayer | Henry Hervey Barber |
1878 | John Fothergill Waterhouse Ware | Rush R. Shippen | George A. Thayer | Henry Hervey Barber |
1877 | John Fothergill Waterhouse Ware | Rush R. Shippen | George A. Thayer | Henry Hervey Barber |
1876 | John Fothergill Waterhouse Ware | Rush R. Shippen | George A. Thayer | Henry Hervey Barber |
1875 | John Fothergill Waterhouse Ware | Rush R. Shippen | George A. Thayer | Henry Hervey Barber |
1874 | Samuel H. Winkley | Charles Lowe | George L. Chaney | Francis T. Washburn |
1873 | Samuel H. Winkley | Charles Lowe | George L. Chaney | Henry Wilder Foote |
1872 | Samuel H. Winkley | Charles Lowe | George L. Chaney | Henry Wilder Foote |
1871 | Samuel H. Winkley | Charles Lowe | George L. Chaney | Henry Wilder Foote |
1870 | Henry Wilder Foote | Charles Lowe | George L. Chaney | Edward J. Young |
1869 | Henry Wilder Foote | Charles Lowe | George L. Chaney | Edward J. Young |
1868 | Henry Wilder Foote | Charles Lowe | George L. Chaney | Edward J. Young |
1867 | Henry Wilder Foote | Charles Lowe | George L. Chaney | Edward J. Young |
1866 | Edward J. Young | |||
1865 | William P. Tilden | Henry Wilder Foote | Charles Lowe | Edward J. Young |
1864 | William Newell | William P. Tilden | Henry Wilder Foote | Edward J. Young |
1863 | James W. Thompson | Samuel G. Bulfinch | William Newell | Edward J. Young |
1862 | ||||
1861 | ||||
1860 | ||||
1859 | ||||
1858 | William R. Alger | Dexter Clapp | Joseph H. Allen | Rufus Ellis |
1857 | William R. Alger | Dexter Clapp | Joseph H. Allen | Rufus Ellis |
1856 | ||||
1855 | George H. Ellis | James W. Thompson | Edward B. Hall of Providence | Frederick Dan Huntington |
1854 | George H. Ellis | James W. Thompson | Edward B. Hall of Providence | Frederick Dan Huntington |
1853 | George H. Ellis | James W. Thompson | Edward B. Hall of Providence | Frederick Dan Huntington |
1852 | George H. Ellis | James W. Thompson | Edward B. Hall of Providence | Frederick Dan Huntington |
1851 | George H. Ellis | James Freeman Clarke | Samuel Osgood | Frederick Dan Huntington |
1850 | George H. Ellis | James Freeman Clarke | Samuel Osgood | Frederick Dan Huntington |
1849 | George H. Ellis | James Freeman Clarke | Samuel Osgood | Frederick Dan Huntington |
1848 | George H. Ellis | James Freeman Clarke | Samuel Osgood | Frederick Dan Huntington |
1847 | Alexander Young | George Putnam | George H. Ellis | Frederick Dan Huntington |
1846 | Alexander Young | George H. Ellis | James Freeman Clarke | Frederick Dan Huntington |
1845 | Alexander Young | George Putnam | George H. Ellis | Frederick Dan Huntington |
1844 | Alexander Young | Chandler Robbins | George H. Ellis | Frederick Dan Huntington |
1843 | Alexander Young | Samuel Dowse Robbins | ||
1842 | Alexander Young | George Putnam | Samuel K. Lothrop | Chandler Robbins |
1841 | Alexander Young | George Putnam | Samuel K. Lothrop | Chandler Robbins |
1840 | Alexander Young | George Putnam | Samuel K. Lothrop | Chandler Robbins |
1839 | Alexander Young | George Putnam | Samuel K. Lothrop | Chandler Robbins |
1838 | Alexander Young | George Putnam | Samuel K. Lothrop | Chandler Robbins |
1837 | Alexander Young | George Putnam | Samuel K. Lothrop | Chandler Robbins |
1836 | Chandler Robbins | |||
1835 | ||||
1834 | ||||
1833 | Mellish Irving Motte | |||
1832 | Samuel Barrett | |||
1831 | Samuel Barrett | |||
1830 | Samuel Barrett | |||
1829 | Samuel Barrett | |||
1828 | Samuel Barrett | |||
1827 | ||||
1826 | Henry Ware, Jr. | |||
1825 | Thaddeus Mason Harris | William James Porter | Charles Lowell | Henry Ware, Jr. |
1824 | Thaddeus Mason Harris | William James Porter | Charles Lowell | Henry Ware, Jr. |
1823 | Henry Ware, Jr. | |||
1822 | Joseph Tuckerman | James Walker | John Pierce of Brookline | Henry Ware, Jr. |
1821 | James Walker?[1822] | Henry Ware, Jr. | ||
1820 |
This project was funded in part by the Fund for Unitarian Universalism.
Entries on this list contain varying amounts of information. That is because in 1920 Scribal records of the Berry Street Conference’ first hundred years were lost in transit from one Scribe to another. The Conference asked Charles Lyttle, Professor of Church History at Meadville, to try to reconstitute the history. He did so, but with many lacunae. Lyttle summarized his conclusions and observations from his research in an article entitled “An Outline of the History of the Berry Street Ministerial Conference” in the the Meadville Theological School Quarterly Bulletin in 1930. The Rev. Rudy Nemser left the Scribal records here posted for his successors. At time of posting were corrected by Berry Street Project researchers Beth Ellen Cooper-Davis and Paul Sprecher. At the conclusion of this project maintenance of the essays was assumed by the UUMA Staff.
Year | Essayist | City, State | Church/Org. | Title and other notes: |
1821 | Abiel Abbot | Beverly, MA | First Parish | Summary Posted: “The Prevalent Defects of Liberal Ministers” |
1827 | Aaron Bancroft | Worcester, MA | First Parish | “On the nature, manner of producing and the effects of the excitements known by the name of revivals of religion” |
1828 | John Bartlett | Marblehead, MA | “On the causes, which impair the practical influence of Unitarian christianity” | |
1829 | Samuel Willard | Deerfield, MA | “Means to be Used by Ministers in the Moral and Religious Education of the Young” reported in Christian Register, May 30, 1829 | |
1833 | Joseph Allen | Northborough, MA | “What Can a Christian do to lessen the evils arising out of ecclesiastical division in towns and parishes?” reported in Christian Register, 1833 p. 170 | |
1834 | Bailey Loring | Andover, MA | “On the manner, in which a minister may best exert his influence for the good of his people” | |
1836 | James Walker | Charlestown, MA | Summary Posted; “Real and Alleged Defects of the Preaching of Unitarian Ministers” reported in Christian Register, 1836, p. 86 | |
1837 | Francis Parkman, Sr. | Boston, MA | New North Church | “The Dangers and Duties of Ministers at the Present Time” reported in Christian Register, 1837 p. 87 |
1838 | Convers Frances | Watertown, MA | First Parish | “The Nature and Import of Spirituality in the Administration of Religion” |
1839 | Ichabod Nichols | Portland, ME | “The Duty of Clergymen to their Profession” | |
1841 | Andrew Bigelow | Taunton, MA | Summary Posted: “The Position we occupy as a Body of Liberal Clergy in our Difficulties, Duties and Prospects” | |
1843 | Edmund Q. Sewell | Scituate, MA | First Parish | Summary Posted: “The Religious Aspects of the Community, and the Duty of Unitarian clergymen in regard to them.” |
1848 | Samuel Kirkland Lothrop | Boston, MA | Summary Posted: “The Difficulties and Discouragements, Responsibilities and Duties, incident to the Position of Liberal Ministers at this time” | |
1850 | William Henry Channing | Rochester, NY | Summary Posted: “Fraternal Cooperation” reported in Christian Examiner, 1851 p. 162 | |
1851 | John Peirpont | Medford (West), MA | Summary Posted: “On Social Reform” summarized in Christian Examiner, 1851 p. 156 | |
1852 | John Hopkins Morison | Milton, MA | “Theology, a Science resting on facts, which facts are to be learned through our individual observation and experience, and from the observation and experience of others” | |
1852 | Andrew Preston Peabody | Portsmouth, NH | “Reform” reported in Christian Register, p. 88 Christian Examiner, 1852 p. 156 | |
1853 | Rufus Phineas Stebbins | Meadville, PA | Meadville Theological School (President) | “Definition of Various Terms in Theology, and the Prevailing Errors Concerning Them” |
1853 | Thomas Treadwell Stone | Salem, MA | “On Social and Moral Reforms” | |
1854 | Barzillai Frost | Concord, MA | “The Relation of the Church to the Reforms of the Age” | |
1855 | Ephraim Peabody | Retired, King’s Chapel | “The Relations of Christianity and of the Christian Ministry to the Intellectual and Business Activity of the Times” | |
1857 | Edmund Burke Willson | West Roxbury, MA | “The Relation of the Individual Christian to the State” reported in Christian Register, 1857 p. 87 | |
1861 | Andrew Preston Peabody | Cambridge, MA | Harvard Divinity School | Summary Posted: “The Transient and the Permanent in Christianity” digest published in Christian Inquirer, June 8, 1861 |
1863 | Thomas Hill, President | Cambridge, MA | Harvard University | Summary Posted: “The Preacher’s Duty” reported in Christian Register, 1863 p. 90 |
1865 | Henry Whitney Bellows | New York, NY | First Unitarian | Summary Posted: “The Necessity and Value of Associations” |
1870 | William Henry Channing | Liverpool, England | Summary Posted: What is True Channing Unitarianism?” digest published in Liberal Christian, May 28, 1870 | |
1872 | (no information) | . | ||
1877 | Henry Adolphus Miles | Hingham, MA | “Some Thoughts on the Science of Religion” | |
1878 | Edward Henry Hall | Worcester, MA | Second Congregational (Unitarian) | (no title given) |
1881 | Edgar Buckingham | Deerfield, MA | “The Modern Position of the Church” | |
1882 | Edmund Burke Willson | Salem, MA | (no title given) | |
1885 | Francis Tiffany | Retired, Springfield & West Newton | “The Sensible and Tangible Foundations of Religion” | |
1891 | John Calvin Learned | St. Louis, MO | “Three Distinctions in Worship” | |
1893 | Robert Collyer | New York, NY | Church of the Messiah | “In Autobiography” |
1894 | Crawford Howell Toy | Cambridge, MA | Harvard Divinity School | “Religious Unity” |
1898 | Samuel McChord Crothers | Cambridge, MA | “The Value of Historical Study to the Liberal Minister” | |
1900 | Charles Hargrove | Leeds, England | Mill Hill Unitarian Chapel | Summary Posted: (“My Creed” – no title given) |
1904 | Thomas Roberts Slicer | New York, NY | All Souls Church | (no title given) |
1906 | Merle St. Croix Wright | New York, NY | Lenox Avenue Church | “The Religion of the Heart” |
1907 | William Wallace Fenn | Cambridge, MA | Harvard Divinity School | (no title given) |
1909 | Charles Gordon Ames | Boston, MA | Church of the Disciples | “The King’s Highway” |
1910 | Howard Nicholson Brown | Boston, MA | Kings Chapel | “Jesus and his Modern Critics” |
1912 | Theodore Chickering Williams | Retired | “Education and Religion” | |
1913 | Charles Edwards Park | Boston, MA | First Church | (no title given) |
1914 | William Laurence Sullivan | New York, NY | All Souls Church | “Catholicism” |
1915 | Merle St. Croix Wright | New York, NY | Lenox Avenue Church | (no title given) |
1917 | George Rowland Dodson | St. Louis, MO | (no title given) | |
1922 | James Alexander Fairley | Jamaica Plain, MA | Summary Posted: “Religion and the Downmost Man” | |
1924 | John Howland Lathrop | Brooklyn, NY | First Unitarian | “What Value has the Idea of the Church in Modern Life?” |
1925 | Horace James Bridges | Chicago, IL | “Personality: Human and Divine” | |
1926 | Sidney Swaim Robins | Ann Arbor, MI and | St. Lawrence University | “Theology by Synthesis” |
1928 | Robert Sprague Loring | Milwaukee, WI | “Giving New Content to the Word, God” | |
1930 | Lawrence Clare | Montreal, Quebec | Church of the Messiah | Summary Posted: “The Mystical Element in Religion” |
1931 | Arthur L. Agnew | Belfast, Ireland | “A Working Ministry” | |
1932 | Johannes Abraham Christoffel Fagginger Auer | Cambridge, MA | Harvard Divinity School and Crane Theological School | “The Function of the Liberal Church in the United States” |
1935 | Raymond Bennett Bragg | Minneapolis, MN | “Religion and Social Techniques” | |
1936 | Charles Edwards Park | Boston, MA | First Church | “The Ethical and Spiritual Emphasis of Modern Preaching” |
1938 | Frank Edwin Smith | Pittsburgh, PA | First Unitarian Church | “The Place of Psychiatry in the Profession of the Ministry” |
1939 | W. Waldemar W. Argow | Syracuse, NY | May Memorial | “A Theology for Civilization” |
1940 | John Brogden | Urbana, IL | Meadville Theological School and the University of Chicago | “The Nature and Function of Ideals” |
1943 | Alfred Rodman Hussey | Retired | “The Reading Ministry” | |
1945 | . | [The Berry Street Conference did not convene.] | ||
1946 | Myles Hanson, Jr | Weston, MA | “The Search for a Creative, Dynamic Democratic Theology” | |
1947 | John Howland Lathrop | Brooklyn, NY | Church of the Savior | “Human Nature in Theory and Experience” |
1948 | Edwin Burdette Backus | Indianapolis, IN | All Souls | “My Religion” |
1951 | Karl Moses C. Chworowsky | Brooklyn, NY | Fourth Church | “Jew and Christian in a New Era” |
1952 | Gerald F. Weary | Plandome, NY | “You and I and the World” | |
1953 | William Rupert Holloway | Dunkirk, NY | Adams Memorial Church | “Emerson and the Doctrine of the Indwelling God” (originally titled, “What’s in the Egg?”) |
1956 | Ralph Helverson | Ithaca, NY | “A Functional Approach to Unitarian Preaching” | |
1969 | Arthur Robert Graham | “The Changing Liberal Ministry, Hopes and Expectations” |
This original essay project was funded in part by the Fund for Unitarian Universalism.
Year | Title | Author |
---|---|---|
2022 | More Faith, Power, and People: Breaking the Cycles That Separate Us From Unitarian Universalism | Rev. Mykal Slack |
2021 | From Bended Knee: A Theology of Shared Ministry | Revs. Janne & Rob Eller-Isaacs |
2020 | On the Brink: Why Celebrate On the Brink: Sowing Restoration On the Brink: Challenge | Rev. Danielle DiBona Rev. Joseph Santos-Lyons Rev. Kimberly Quinn Johnson |
2019 | Truth, Trauma, and Transformation: Embracing the Cracks and the Gold | Rev. Leslie Takahashi |
2018 | Creating Leaders for Beloved Community: The Challenges of Mentorship | Rev. Meg A. Riley |
2017 | Ten Commandments for Relevant, Reparative Ministry, Beyond “both/and”, Call of Something More | Rev. Dr. Kristen Harper Rev. Mel Hoover Rev. Ashley Horan Rev. Dr. Adam Robersmith Rev. Marta Valentin |
2016 | Rev. Seavey has withdrawn permission to post her redacted essay “If Our Secrets Define Us.” | Gail Seavey |
2015 | Mission Impossible: Why Failure is Not an Option | Sean Parker Dennison |
2014 | A Changing Climate for Ministry | Lindi Ramsden |
2013 | Our Ministry Begins When We Leave This Place (We CAN do More) | Don Robinson |
2012 | From iChurch to Beloved Community: Ecclesiology and Justice | Fredric J. Muir |
2011 | Rev. Pope Lance has withdrawn her permission to publish the essay “Whence We Come and How, and Whither” | Deborah J. Pope-Lance |
2010 | “The Poetics of Ministry” | Gary Kowalski |
2009: | Ironic Provincialism | Paul Rasor |
2008: | Imagineering Soul | Christine Robinson |
2007: | “It’s the Minister: The Mystery and Magic of the Role” | Ken Sawyer |
2006: | What Torture’s Taught Me | William F. Schulz |
2005: | The Way Home | Burton D. Carley |
2004: | Taking Refuge | Barbara Merritt |
2003: | Images for our Lives | Laurel Hallman |
2002: | Spiritual Teaching | Roberta M. Nelson |
2001: | The Art of Ministry: Being and Doing Revisited | C. Leon Hopper |
2000: | After Running Through the Thistles: the Hard Part Begins | Mark D. Morrison-Reed |
1999: | Lessons From Our Bishop / Lessons From the Heart | Carolyn & Thomas Owen-Towle |
1998: | The Fundamental Things Apply as Time Goes By: The Transient And Permanent In Life And Ministry | Khoren Arisian |
1997: | On Issues Affecting Parish Ministry | Judith A. Walker-Riggs |
1996: | Confessions of a Militant Mystic: Spirituality and Social Action – A Seamless Garment | Richard S. Gilbert |
1995: | Koheleth Headache | Thomas Payne |
1994: | Beyond Spirituality | Carl Scovel |
1993: | Ministry: For Such a Time as This | Gordon B. McKeeman |
1992: | Ministry as Companioning | Elizabeth H. Baker |
1991: | The Challenge of Disability | Victor Carpenter |
1990: | Ministry as Art Form | Sidney A. Peterman |
1989: | Euthanasia As Public Policy: Rights And Risks | Donald W. McKinney |
1988: | Minding Our P’s, Q’s, and X’s | Joyce Harkleroad Smith |
1987: | 25 Beacon Street Revisited | O. Eugene Pickett |
1986: | Religion, The Church, and Our Mission in the World | John Wolf |
1985: | Active Religion’s Passive Voice | Roy D. Phillips |
1984: | Theology and the Democracy of the Sciences | John F. Hayward |
1983: | Parish Ministry and Pedagogy: 1823-1983 A Past and Future Look at Religious Education | Eugene B. Navias |
1982: | Impersonating the Divine: An Essay in Theological Anthropology | Dwight Brown |
1981: | A Silent Witness to Evil | David O. Rankin |
1980: | Seasons of Ministry | Alan G. Deale |
1979: | The New Pietism | J. Frank Schulman |
1978: | Images of Protestant Clergy in American Novels (Warning: In the 7th paragraph from the bottom, an explicitly racist word is used. It is policy of the Berry Street Executive Committee to not erase racist history.) | Peter S. Raible |
1977: | Hymnbook Reminiscences and Reflections | Vincent B. Silliman |
1976: | On the Boundary—A Christian Perspective | Judith L. Hoehler |
1975: | Hybris and Humility | Leonard Mason |
1974: | Liberal Religion in the Post Christian Era | Edward A. Cahill |
1973: | Where Has Time Brought Us? | Charles Stephen |
1972: | Liberal Religion’s Unfinished Business | Edwin H. Wilson |
1971: | Polarization or Reconciliation | John G. MacKinnon |
1970: | On Being a Technician of the Sacred | Frank D. Gentile |
1969: | The Ministry—Experience and Expectation | Arthur Graham |
1968: | The Genius Of The Age And Some Suggestions Toward An Imaginative Liberal Faith | Frank O. Holmes |
1967: | The Odd Man: A description of the liberal minister | John Willoughby Cyrus |
1966: | Why Not More Progress in Religion? | Dale DeWitt |
1965: | Plenitude of Being | Kenneth L. Patton |
1964: | The Church: Salient or Subordinate? | Dorothy T. Spoerl |
1963: | Politics and the Pulpit | Stephen H. Fritchman |
1962: | Psychoanalysis and the Parish Ministry | Harry B. Scholefield |
1961: | America’s Fourth Faith | Robert Zoerheide |
1960: | Liberalism in the Encounter Between Living World Religions | Leslie T. Pennington |
1959: | The Soul’s Fierce Struggle | J Raymond Cope |
1958: | Unitarianism Reincarnate | Thaddeus B. Clark |
1957: | Motivation and the Ministry (abridged) | Malcolm R. Sutherland, Jr. |
1956: | Untitled | Ralph Helverson |
1955: | Psychological Approach to the Concept of the Deity | David Rhys Williams |
1954: | In Search of God | Henry Wilder Foote |
1951: | Untitled | Karl Chworowsky |
1950: | Sebastian Castellio: Neglected Saint of the Liberal Church | Duncan Howlett |
1949: | “The Greatest Soul in Christendom” and His Stand on Free Religion | Robert H. Schacht Jr. |
1944: | The American Religion | Albert C. Dieffenbach |
1942: | Democracy as a Modern Religion | Jacob Trapp |
1941: | The Changing Reputation of Human Nature | James Luther Adams |
1937: | The Church and the Academy | Von Ogden Vogt |
1934: | The Breaking of Nations (published as “After Thirty Years”) | John Haynes Holmes |
1933: | The Bacchae of Euripides | Thomas H. Billings |
1930: | Summary: Religious Mysticism | Lawrence Clare |
1929: | Are We Outgrowing the Need for a Church? | Anna Garlin Spencer |
1927: | The Underlying Significance of the Fundamental Changes in the Religion of Our Times | Horace Westwood |
1923: | Is There Need Of A Revolution In The Theological Curriculum? | Franklin C. Southworth |
1922: | Religion and the Downmost Man (abstract) | James A. Fairley |
1921: | Jesus and the End of the World | Clayton R. Bowen |
1920: | The Meaning and Lessons of Unitarian History | Earl Morse Wilbur |
1919: | Unitarianism and Social Change | Richard Wilson Boynton |
1918: | The Nature and Validity of Conscience and Moral Principle | Robert James Hutcheon |
1916: | How the Scientific and Religious Interpretations of the World Differ | Joel Hastings Metcalf |
1911: | Socialism | Nicholas Paine Gilman |
1908: | Theology from the Far End and the Near | Frederic Gill |
1905: | Channing and the History of Christian Piety | Francis A. Christie |
1903: | The Poetic Element in the Rising Faith | William Channing Gannett |
1902: | The Character of Jesus Christ | Francis Greenwood Peabody |
1901: | Experimental Theology and Experimental Religion | Samuel R. Calthrop |
1900: | [My Creed-(no title given)-Abstract] | Charles Hargrove |
1899: | The Theology of Civilization | Charles Fletcher Dole |
1897: | Reason in Religion | Charles Carroll Everett |
1896: | The Infection of Pessimism | George Batchelor |
1895: | Christianity and Unitarianism | Charles Gordon Ames |
1892: | The History and Present Duty of the Unitarian Church in America | Edward Everett Hale |
1890: | Christianity in the Process of Evolution | George Augustus Thayer |
1889: | What O’Clock Is It In Religion? | Minot J. Savage |
1888: | The Reign of Divine Love | Howard Nicholson Brown |
1887: | Religion from the Near End | Jenkin Lloyd Jones |
1886a: | The Twofold Symbol of Godhead | Joseph May |
1886: | God | Samuel Robert Calthrop |
1884: | A Daring Faith | John W. Chadwick |
1883: | Christian Affirmations | Henry Wilder Foote |
1880: | The Inspiration and Work of the Christian Ministry | William Greenleaf Eliot |
1879: | The New Religion | Grindell Reynolds |
1876: | Then and Now | Joseph Henry Allen |
1875: | Jesus, the Only | William Henry Furness |
1874: | The Christian Progress of a Generation | Rufus Ellis |
1873: | Religion and Evolution | S.R. Calthrop |
1871: | Unitarian Principles And Doctrines | Charles H. Brigham |
1870: | Summary: What is True Channing Unitarianism? | William Henry Channing |
1869: | Religious tendencies in the United States | Amory Dwight Mayo |
1868: | The Faith of Science and the Science of Faith | Charles Carroll Everett |
1867: | Basis and Superstructure | Orville Dewey |
1866: | The Destinies of Ecclesiastical Religion: A Concio Ad Clerum. | Frederic Henry Hedge |
1865: | Summary: The Necessity and Value of Associations | Henry Whitney Bellows |
1864: | The Scope and Powers of the New Criticism | George Edward Ellis |
1863: | Summary: The Preacher’s Duty | Thomas Hill |
1862: | Universality of the Christian Religion as contrasted with other forms of faith, ethnic or unlimited to race or nation | James Freeman Clarke |
1860: | The Broad Church | Frederic Henry Hedge |
1861: | The Transient and the Permanent in Christianity | Andsearew Preston Peabody |
1859: | The Key of the Kingdom | Cyrus Bartol |
1858: | Deficiencies of Unitarian Theology | Octavius Brooks Frothingham |
1857: | The Practical Study of the Soul by our Ministers: Or, Pastoral Psychology | Samuel Osgood |
1856: | The Written Word and the Christian Consciousness | Oliver Stearns |
1855a: | Summary: The Relation of Christianity and the Christian Ministry to the Secular Activity of the Times | Ephraim Peabody |
1855b: | Reform as Affecting the Rights of Property | Samuel J. May |
1854: | Polemics and Irenics | James Freeman Clarke |
1851a: | Ecclesiastic Christendom | Frederic Henry Hedge |
1851: | Summary: Social Reform | John Pierpont |
1850a: | The Importance of Systematic Theology, and the Duty of the Unitarian Clergy in Relation to It | George Washington Burnap |
1850b: | Fraternal Cooperation | William Henry Channing |
1849: | The Nature and Importance of our Theology | Ezra S. Gannett |
1848: | Summary: The Difficulties and Discouragements, Responsibilities and Duties, incident to the Position of Liberal Ministers at this time | Samuel Kirkland Lothrop |
1847: | Relation of Liberal Christianity to Our Age and Country | Samuel Barrett |
1846: | Relation of the Christian Ministry to Reform | Edward B. Hall |
1845: | Rights, Claims, and Duties of Opinion | Orville Dewey |
1844: | Alleged Defects of Unitarian Preaching | Charles Robinson |
1843: | Summary: The Religious Aspects of the Community, and the Duty of Unitarian clergymen in regard to them | Edmund Q. Sewell |
1842: | Ecclesiastical History | Alvan Lamson |
1841: | Summary: Our Peculiar Position as Liberal Christian—Our Duties and Prospects | Andrew Bigelow |
1840: | Miracles as an Evidence of Christianity | David Damon |
1836: | Summary: Real and Alleged Defects of the Preaching of Unitarian Ministers | James Walker |
1835: | The Best Means of Bringing our Lay Brethren to be More Useful in the Maintenance of Religious Institutions | Henry Ware, Jr. |
1832: | The Duty of ministers to interest themselves in providing a further supply of candidates for the ministry | John Gorham Palfrey |
1831: | The Modes of Exerting Religious Influence at the Present Day | Nathaniel Thayer |
1830: | Changes in Religions Opinions and the Character of Preaching in New England during the Last Fifty Years | Ezra Ripley |
1826: | Duty of Unitarians with Respect to Christianity in India | Henry Ware, Sr. |
1825: | The Effect of Character on Ministerial Usefulness | Winthrop Bailey |
1824: | On the Duties of the Church as Distinct from the Congregation… | Nathan Parker |
1823: | The Means to be used by Ministers for Giving the Young Adequate Views of the Nature and Importance of True Christianity | James Flint |
1822: | The Difficulties of the Christian Ministry at the Present Period | Joseph Tuckerman |
1821: | Summary: On the Prevalent Defects of Liberal Ministers | Abiel Abbot |
1820: | How Far is Reason to be Used in Explaining Revelation? | William Ellery Channing |