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Sioux City
The First Unitarian Church of Sioux City
On Sunday morning, February 1, 1885, the Reverend Oscar Clute, Unitarian minister from Iowa City, spoke to a good crowd in the courtroom of the Woodbury County Courthouse. According to old records, his “clear reasoning and logical argument caused a very favorable reaction.”
A board of trustees was chosen and on March 11 Articles of Incorporation adopted. The group then bought a skating rink located at the corner of Sixth and Douglas and transformed it into a meeting house, which was dedicated on Easter Sunday, April 5, 1885.
To raise money for the operation of the new church, the ladies of the Circle sponsored a series of lectures by the Rev. Jenkin Lloyd-Jones, pastor of the All Souls Unitarian Church of Chicago. As the records state, this effort “enriched the church by the sum of $22.35 financially, and spiritually and intellectually beyond price.”
When enough funds were available, the congregation searched for a minister. One of those invited to speak on two Sundays in May was the Reverend Mary Safford. She created such a favorable impression that even those skeptical about a woman as minister were persuaded and the vote to select Miss Safford was unanimous.
A rapidly expanding congregation enabled the purchase of a lot in May 1877. Two years later, May 5, 1889, a new church was dedicated. Although incorporated as the First Unitarian, the church was usually referred to as the Unity Church. Membership was over 300 with an average Sunday attendance of 250.
Of the twenty-one ministers who have succeeded Mary Safford up to the present, some are outstanding. The first, the Reverend Charles E. Snyder (Aug. 1917–April 1931), a man of varied interests and accomplishments was listed in Who’s Who. Several years after the Depression years, John Brigham, another of the exceptional ministers, was appointed in December 1946. Among his many activities was a fifteen-minute Sunday morning radio program.
Seven months after Mr. Brigham became minister, the church was destroyed by fire “of unknown origin” on July 29, 1947. Thanks to the generosity of Jewish friends, services were held in the Jewish Community Center until the summer of 1948. A house was purchased in September 1948 and was used for five years until the congregation outgrew the facilities (that house is currently owned and lived in by a family in our congregation). In the spring of 1954, the church house of current location was purchased and the chapel was begun in August of that same year.
As we begin our second century, our history has run full cycle. We have just called our second woman minister, the Reverend Penelope Binger.