Unitarians and Universalists migrated into what is now the Ohio-Meadville District from the northeastern United States. Today there are 44 Unitarian Universalist congregations affiliated with the UUA and five congregations in formation in the Ohio-Meadville District.
A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE OHIO-MEADVILLE DISTRICT
Its History and Organization
The Ohio-Meadville District was formed from churches of the Ohio Universalist Convention and the Meadville Unitarian Conference. We have a strong Universalist background with many of our rural churches coming from that tradition, including Westfield Center, founded 1821; Olmsted, founded 1834; Girard, founded 1853; and Bellville, founded 1854. Our strong Unitarian tradition includes Meadville, founded in 1825 and the Meadville Theological School. Our five largest churches, West Shore, Cleveland First, Columbus First, Pittsburgh First, and Toledo, were started as Unitarian churches. The Unitarian fellowship tradition of the 1950's and '60's added many smaller congregations to our district.
In 1963, at the 138th Annual Meeting of the Universalist Church of Ohio, held at the Akron church, all the necessary votes were taken to form the Ohio-Meadville District of the recently merged Unitarian Universalist Association, stipulating that the District be a continuing corporation. These Universalists (except southwest and west central Ohio) together with Unitarians of the Meadville Conference in this area (New York and Ontario became part of the St. Lawrence District) had planned ahead to move through the transition of merger of the two former structures of Universalism and Unitarianism. Rev. Donald Evans, superintendent of the Universalist Convention was slated to become the first District Executive, but he died on the floor of the meeting immediately following the recording of the vote. The Donald K Evans Scholarship Fund is named in his memory.
Rev. Russell Lincoln was subsequently hired as District Executive, with an office in Kent, Ohio. He served two years. Rev. Dr. Albert F. Ziegler became District Executive in 1965 and served until the denomination restructured because of limited funding in 1970. At that time he became the first Interdistrict Representative for the UUA in this area, giving his time and attention to three districts. The work of the District was done out of the home of the secretary/coordinator. Rev. William DeWolfe held the IDR position from 1974 until 1985, at which time the District began the new UUA Field Service Program. Rev. Carol Brody was hired as the first Field Service Consultant. Office space in a Presbyterian church in Columbus served as the District Office when Carol Brody was Field Service Consultant from 1985-1994. Rev. Sue M. Turner served as District Consultant from 1994-1998 and the office was moved to Akron.
In 1998, Rev. Rod Thompson was hired as the District Consultant. During his tenure, the district expanded its staff to include a half-time religious education consultant, a one-fourth time youth programs consultant and the office administrator was increased to full-time. Rev. Thompson also started several lay leader programs, including our Congregational Consultants, the ACT Team and Small Congregation Resource Liaisons. The office in Akron was closed during this time and moved to a small space in Lodi, OH. Each staff person began working from their own personal office space, except for the office administrator.
In 2004, Rev. Thompson resigned. The board originally decided to hire an interim district executive to serve during a two-year search period for a permanent District Executive. Rev. Tom Chulak, District Executive of the Saint Lawrence District, heard of our opening and offered an alternative – to try an experiment with a two-district model. During this time the Religious Education Consultant was moving into a co-employment arrangement with the UUA and SLD to be a full-time position. The board decided to enter into a two-year agreement to try this experiment. Rev. Chulak became the Acting District Executive of the OMD and remained the District Executive of the SLD. In addition, Jeanne Crane was hired jointly by the OMD, SLD and UUA as a Program Consultant for Growth and Leadership Development. These two, along with Karen Lapidus, who moved into the joint Program Consultant for Lifepsan Faith Development position, formed the staff for both districts. Other part-time staff positions in the OMD were continued as well. While the experiment was a success in several areas, it became clear that the congregations of the OMD needed a full-time District Executive to provide services. It was this realization that led to the board and Rev. Chulak deciding in June of 2006 to end the experiment and begin the search for a new District Executive.
The Rev. Joan Van Becelaere was hired in 2007. Following her hiring, the OMD moved to become part of the Northeast Regional Group, which eventually was renamed the Central East Regional Group, a cooperative of four UUA districts – Joseph Priestley, Metro NY, St. Lawrence and Ohio-Meadville. To learn more about CERG and it's work, please visit their website at www.cerguua.org.
The Ohio-Meadville District is governed by a board of trustees which is currently downsizing to 7 members, of whom four are officers, elected by delegates to the Annual Meeting. Programs and projects are carried on through a committee structure and staff support and direction. Staff members serve as liaisons to committees. During Rev. Chulak's time with the district, the board of trustees began the work of shifting from a pastoral governance model to a program governance model; created a new mission statement; and set short and long-term goals. In 2009 a Long Range Plan was completed and approved by the board.
