About Manatee UU Fellowship

Manatee Unitarian Universalist Fellowship was founded in 1959 by a group of 12 independent-thinking adults seeking a place to examine, expound and learn to live the UU principles along with four teenagers. They rented space in the Riverpark Hotel which is now the remodeled Hampton Inn on 10th St., downtown Bradenton. Sermons, procured from the Church of the Larger Fellowship, were read by a member and then discussed afterwards. In 1961 a new location was found on 67th St. W., where they continued to listen to readings of sermons from Boston, listened to recorded music, and drank coffee over conversation following the Sunday program.

As membership grew to 38 adults and 32 children and youth, an older home on 15th St. was available for $13,500. (This house had once been owned by the Green family, a prominent family in Bradenton history.) Members generously contributed towards the purchase, financing was arranged, and the first service was held in December 1963 using borrowed chairs. In 1970, due the generosity of a member the mortgage was paid off and the adjacent lot was purchased for parking.

The Women’s Alliance, organized in 1972, assumed responsibility for all the housekeeping and fundraising activities until committees were formed to carry on the work the Women’s Alliance had been doing. By 1980 adult membership reached 60 and more space was needed, resulting in the addition of what is now our sanctuary. A rotation of the same three speakers spoke on Sundays, with the fourth Sunday varying. Eventually live musicians replaced recorded music, Peg Henderson donated the baby grand piano, our choir was formed, our church year extended to include the summer months, and the Religious Education program grew in size and curricula. More recently the Social Justice Committee was formed, becoming a prominent part of the Fellowship’s activities and identity, our use of technology advanced in meeting sound and recording needs, and we have a web page that is our primary contact for guests in finding us.

Over the years improvements were made to the building by relocating the kitchen and setting up the office in what was the kitchen, improving the upstairs rooms for Sunday school, adding a deck (2002 designed by member, Ruth Warmington), expansion of the Manatee Unitarian Universalist Fellowship library, purchase of the two lots west of us for additional parking, new AC units, interior painting, new carpeting, establishment of our Memorial Garden, and more recently the updating of the exterior of the building.

After being lay-led for almost 50 years, a Ministerial Search Committee was formed and our first part time minister, Bonnie Devlin, was hired in 2006 to help meet the pastoral needs of our membership and then the Rev. Dee Graham served as our second part time consulting minister. We are excited to now have the Rev. Fred L Hammond as our full time Developmental Minister as he works together with us to meet the five goals we have set for our fellowship based on a congregational survey in Fall 2017.

Discussions about moving to a new location, adding to or remodeling our existing building, etc., seem to have settled on remaining where we are and improving our facilities to meet our needs.

Herb and Fleta Boyd, charter members from the original 12 adults who started our Fellowship, remained active members throughout their years and saw many changes.

Today, our shared vision will shape the future.