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Des Moines
First Unitarian Church of Des Moines
During the first week of June in 1877, the Rev. J. R. Effinger of Keokuk, Iowa, came to Des Moines, a city then of some 16,000 residents, “to confer with the liberal element for the purpose of effecting regular services.” He spoke to about 30 persons in a hall in downtown Des Moines. On August 7, the First Unitarian Church of Des Moines was formally organized. Nine individuals are listed as charter members.
Sylvan Stanley Hunting became the first regular minister for the Des Moines society, and his years of service (1880–1886) were not easy ones. During his first cold Iowa winter, he tried to hold services in an unheated hall and “people nearly froze and would not come out.” His net income for preaching in 1882–1883 was $33. Despite the hardships it was in his tenure that the society built its first meetinghouse. The wooden building, dedicated Dec. 3, 1882, cost around $9,000.
Women played a strong role in the early history of the church. The society’s second minister was Ida C. Hultin, who came from Algona, Iowa in October 1886 and resigned in 1891 because of ill health. The fourth minister was Mary Augusta Safford, elected in 1899, who served until 1910. Two other women ministers spelled Miss Safford at times during her tenure.
A new church was built during Miss Safford’s ministry. The building was dedicated April 5, 1905 and was to serve as the spiritual home of the Des Moines Unitarians for 51 years. The church’s new pipe organ was a gift of Miss Safford, who also at that time paid off the society’s entire indebtedness of about $5,680. She was elected pastor emeritus upon her retirement in 1910. A bronze plaque memorializes Miss Safford in a room that bears her name in the present meeting house. Following her death in 1927, an editorial in the Des Moines Tribune noted that, “It can be said of Miss Safford that everybody who knew her is better for her example and her affirmative leadership.”
The Des Moines Society is indebted to an English Unitarian minister for its “Hymn of Valor,” used most of the time at the conclusion of Sunday services in Des Moines and by a number of other churches and fellowships. Henry J. Adlard came to Des Moines in 1924 and remained until 1928 when he returned to England and served a Unitarian church in Bath. He wrote the words and music for the “Hymn of Valor.”
The active involvement of the society in concerns of the community was particularly evident during the trying times of both World Wars. In World War I, thousands were stationed at Camp Dodge near Des Moines. The church opened its building for the entertainment of servicemen and volunteers from the society staffed the facility. Curtis W. Reese was minister at this time. Reese delivered a sermon in 1917, “A Democratic View of Religion” that became instrumental in the formative stages of the Humanist movement in the United States. When the American Humanist organization was formed in 1941, he became its first president. The Des Moines society also was active in providing relief for the suffering people of Europe following World War II. Under the tireless leadership of then minister Grant A. Butler and his wife, Calla, the Des Moines church stood second only to All Saints Unitarian Church of Washington, D. C. of all Unitarian societies in the United States for contributions to the Unitarian Service Committee’s effort for help to Europe.
The third and present meetinghouse for the First Unitarian Church was dedicated in October 1957. It is located on a 4½ acre site given to the society by Amos Emery, a Des Moines architect, as a memorial to his parents who had long been identified with the church.
Over its history of more than 108 years, 23 ministers have served the Des Moines society. The longest tenure was held by John Isom, installed in 1961 and retiring in 1974. He was given the title of minister emeritus in 1975. He and Mrs. Isom remain active in the church. Kenneth Hurto was elected in 1975 and resigned at the close of 1985 to take a pulpit in Alexandria, VA. The society with a current membership of 237 begins 1986 in search of a new minister.