|
Church Staff Director of Religious Education Marlies Grogg, Program Assistant Ann McDermott, Youth Coordinator Sonny Munoz, Custodian
|
Minister Emeritus: Richard L. Allen
Richard
L. Allen, Ph.D., was minister of First Unitarian Church from
1980 to 1994. He was 55 when called to our church. Raised in
the Methodist Church, Dr. Allen decided in his late 30’s that he
didn’t want to spend the rest of his life being an engineer. As
he explains it:
"I was looking for more than that. I had a comfortable and not unsatisfying life, so it wasn’t an easy decision to make . . . I was living in Palo Alto, California at the time where I had become a Unitarian. It was my work in the church there that had been very satisfying. I’d found a group of people I liked. I had that not-uncommon Unitarian experience--‘These are my people!’ I didn’t know I had a people, but by the end of the service that first morning, my wife and I both had that feeling. It was almost like Saul on the road to Damascus."
It was from the experience at Palo Alto that Dr. Allen left his engineering position and started seminary at Harvard, with the intention of becoming a Unitarian minister. But, as Dr. Allen says, “I changed my mind while in seminary, went on to get a Ph.D. so I could teach, but when I got the Ph.D., there weren’t any faculty jobs. So I became a minister.”
Dr. Allen’s first church was in Honolulu, where he remained for four years before coming to First Unitarian Church in 1980. During the 14 years he was with us, the church went through several changes and “opportunities,” not the least of which was the collapse and financial problems associated with the Penn Square Bank. It was a difficult time, but with Dr. Allen’s leadership, the church continued and survived. It was Dr. Allen and his loving wife, Lois, who made us into a strong church community. Through Lois’ stewardship as Choir Director, the music program at the church flourished and continues as a strong part of our church today.
The First Unitarian Church celebrated its 100th Anniversary during Dr. Allen’s time with us and welcomed back many friends and several former ministers during the yearlong celebration. His retirement in 1994 was the culmination of a 14-year period of enlightenment for our church. As Dick would say, “You people were just what I needed, and I will always hold you deep within my soul as one of the most important parts of my life.”
Dick and his wife Lois retired to the San Francisco area, where they presently reside. Dick still preaches from time-to-time at UU churches in the area.
by Pat Corley |
