In 1950 John and Myra Bregger and Ray and Muriel Rutledge joined with
ten Unitarians in Greenville to form the Unitarian Fellowship of Greenville.
For a time the two couples journeyed to Greenville, but eventually there
were enough Unitarians in Clemson to organize the Unitarian Fellowship of
Clemson, South Carolina in March 1954 with twelve charter members. Meetings
were held in the homes of various members.
For the first ten years, through 1964, Ray Rutledge served as President
and John Bregger as Secretary. In 1958 the Fellowship began meeting in the
Clemson Y.M.C.A. In 1964 the membership still stood at twelve. However,
through the untiring efforts and enthusiasm of the members, by 1974 the
membership had increased to fifty, and had outgrown the facilities at the
'Y.'
The decision to buy a lot on Pendleton Road and build a church was reached
in 1978 and immediately fund raising efforts were started. Construction
was begun in 1979 and completed in 1980. On April 20, 1980, the members
celebrated the dedication of the new Clemson Unitarian Fellowship building.
Rapid growth of membership resulted in adding the Religious Education wing
in 1984 and an enlarged parking lot in in 1986-88. Merrill and Charlotte
Palmer brought a regular music program to the congregation in the 1970s.
In 1987 Dillman Sorrells, a longtime member, was ordained to the Unitarian
Universalist Ministry by the Fellowship of Clemson.
In 1988 the congregation changed its name to the Unitarian Universalist
Fellowship of Clemson, South Carolina, to reflect the previous merging of
the national Unitarian and the Universalist Associations. In 1994, the present
meeting room was added along with substantial renovations to the existing
building in order to accommodate a growing congregation. The congregation
had several short-lived experiments with professional ministry in the 1980s.
In 1996 the congregation voted to initiate a process of seeking a full-time
minister. As a result of that effort, with the support of the UUA and a
grant from Chalice Lighters in the Thomas Jefferson District, Reverend Cynthia
Prescott was appointed Extension Minister by a vote of the congregation
in December 1997 and began her shared ministry with the congregation in
February 1998. She was called as a settled minister in 1999.
Another important addition to staff was a Director of Religious Education,
beginning in 1999 with Janie Shipley as a consultant, followed by Georgeanne
Stafford in the dual role of administrator and DRE and then Ginny Parrish Loy as
our third DRE.
In 1999 the congregation had the opportunity to buy the two lots next door,
one fronting on Pendleton Road and one fronting on Gregory Street. In 2001 UUFC
purchased the adjacent building now known as Founders' House, built an
environmentally responsible parking lot with grassed parking spaces supported by
plastic grids, and renovated the building to use for office and meeting space.
Other important milestones in recent years were earning the designation as a
Welcoming Congregation in 2005 and a Green Sanctuary in 2007. These two efforts
reflect the congregation's long history of commitment to social justice and
environmental responsibility, values that we try to live in our individual lives
as well as in our fellowship life.
