New and Updated Histories : Minnesota
Winona
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Winona
A new congregational history — Winona was not represented in Part 2 of the original.
A Short History of Four Congregations
One hundred and forty-three years ago, in 1864, the First Congregational Unitarian Church was organized in Winona, Minnesota, with the Rev. Henry Partridge Cutting. Two years later the congregation bought a building on Fourth between Lafayette and Walnut. For 21 years until 1885 this congregation was listed in the Yearbook of Unitarian Congregational Churches.
In 1888, the First Unitarian Church in Winona was organized with Walter Greenman settled as its first minister. In 1890, a beautiful church was built on the corner of Wabasha and Huff streets. Several ministers served this congregations over the next 23 years, one of whom also served the Unitarians in Arcadia, Wisconsin. After 1896 only occasional services were held in the church, and it was sold to the United Brethren in Christ in 1919. In 1911, the Winona congregation was formally “discontinued” after 23 years.
It was not until 1965 that the UU Fellowship of Winona was listed in the UUA Directory, but in 1978 it too “sadly dissolved from the active list” after 13 years.
Today we are the fourth founding of Unitarians in Winona. The current Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Winona began in 1987, some 123 years after those first Unitarians, and celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2007. The fellowship has met in a variety of settings, including the Winona Arts Center, the City East End Recreation Center, and the Valentia Arts Center. We have been at our current home in Lourdes Hall on Winona State University’s St. Theresa Campus since 2003. Our fellowship joined the UUA in April of 1999. We currently have 40 adult members and 25 children enrolled in religious education.