User:Jadelane/UUCA

The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta (UUCA) is a Unitarian Universalist congregation located at 1911 Cliff Valley Way NE in Atlanta, Georgia.

UUCA has existed under its current name and location since 1966, but began as separate Unitarian and Universalist congregations in 1882 and 1879, respectively. With about 800 members, UUCA is the largest Unitarian Universalist church in the Atlanta area. Its members and leaders have been active in Atlanta since the mid-nineteenth century, and were closely involved with the foundation of Atlanta's first free lending library and the Georgia Institute of Technology, as well as the Civil Rights Movement within Atlanta.

History
Unitarians and Universalists first congregated together in Atlanta in 1918 when Atlanta Universalists joined the existing Atlanta Unitarian congregation on West Peachtree Street. Conflicts over segregation reduced the size of the congregation, and ultimately led to the sale of the West Peachtree Street building. In the early 1950s, Rev. Glenn Canfield revitalized the church, holding the first services at the Briarcliff hotel, and within a year, the congregation grew to a size of 127 members and purchased a building at 605 Boulevard. This location, less than a mile from Ebenezer Baptist Church, home church to Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., was central to the Unitarian Universalist involvement in the Civil Rights Movement.

UUCA and the Civil Rights Movement
During the late 1950s, the church became "integrated, not just desegregated," as Rev. Ed Cahill declared in an anniversary letter to the church. Whitney Young was a black member of the Board of Trustees. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Sam Williams, another outstanding black minister, were guests in the pulpit.

The Work of UUCA
(1)http://www.uuca.org/us

(2)http://www.uuca.org/newcomers/what-is-unitarian-universalism

(3)http://www.uuca.org/newcomers/what-is-unitarian-universalism/history-of-unitarian-universalism

(4)http://www.uuca.org/us/our-history

(5)http://www.uua.org/leaders/environment/greensanctuary/index.shtml