During the 1950s, University Unitarian Church members continued their work in the social justice arena, struggling to eliminate racial discrimination in housing. They protested nuclear testing programs. Members also supported young people and their connection to the university with an annual scholarship award.

In 1951, Mr. Roscoe Trueblood became minister of University Unitarian Church. Although he himself was more contemplative than activist, he said, “It is easier to imagine hot snow than an unconcerned Unitarian.”

Still, priorities and realities shifted during this time, and the Women’s Alliance struggled to attract members. Many younger women were now working or had no experience with volunteer service. The group scaled its activities back to sewing and knitting items for people in Korea and several countries in Europe, which were still recovering from wars. Perhaps today’s U-Knitarians are a legacy of that creative and helpful spirit.

Many of the names of church members in those years now grace our meeting and church school rooms – Pennell, Blakey, and more. Nathan Johnson, in whose namesake hall we assemble for coffee and treats, was the chair of the building committee during the construction of the new building on 35th Avenue.

At the end of the '50s, UUC was a bigger church with more diversity but less intimacy. Members met at "fireside” gatherings to get to know one another better.

The early 1960s bustled with four services. Under the direction of Elian Smith, 700 children attended the church school. In 1961, after several interim ministers, UUC called the Reverend Doctor Peter Raible to the pulpit. His was one of the longest-held and distinguished ministries in the history of Unitarian Universalism. Born into a family of ministers, Rev. Raible was a well-respected, active, and outspoken leader in the community.

This period was marked by busy church life and lots of fun – circles parties, a theater group, and The Upandos, who prosaically renamed themselves the Single Adult Group, or SAG. An interesting aside: it was during the '60s that UUC welcomed Robert Fulghum to its pulpit as Associate Minister.

There was a new effort to embrace singles and their families. This new social structure was part of a widening variety of social issues – Biafra relief, aimed at the sessionist area of Nigeria; protest of the draft and the war in Vietnam; the rights of migrant farm workers; nuclear testing and proliferation; race relations, voting, and housing; and women’s right to choose.

A summation of UUC’s legacy, Reflective Light, is not always cheerful about those years. As the church moved into the 1970s, we read that the congregation – reflecting its community – was “turning inward.” Boeing made massive layoffs, upending Seattle’s economy, which had relied on this single and controversial employer. Thousands of people moved away from Seattle.

Members and friends focused on local activism, such as saving Pike Place Market. The congregation struggled with the issues of its time, including how to help the families of divorce. Out of those turbulent times came a church-based community counseling service and hotline, the Unitarian Counseling Associates. The Feminist Alliance also began, focusing on women’s issues.