First Unitarian Church of Baltimore

Specialties

First Unitarian Church of Baltimore (Universalist & Unitarian) raises the beacon for social justice, liberal religion and hope in Baltimore and the world. We meet for a Celebration of Life and for Religious Education each Sunday at 11:00 a.m. We are a diverse congregation where some of our people wear their Sunday best, others dress in business casual, and many «come as they are.» We have organ music and heartbeat drumming, songs and poetry, a thoughtful sermon and a time for self-​reflection and community support.

History

Established in 1817.

Free thinkers and adventurous entrepreneurs migrated to Baltimore after the War of 1812 was finally stalemated and trade on the Atlantic was normalized. These innovators formed a religious community known as the First Independent Church of Baltimore in 1817, commissioned and erected a Sanctuary designed by a world class architect Maximilian Godefroy in 1818, and installed their first minister in 1819. Rev. Jared Sparks used his time in Maryland to become chaplain to the US House of Representatives and to collect the writings of George Washington, which he later published when he became a professor of Harvard College. In the 1870s, the church began to engage in community labors and built a Parish Hall to serve the community. In the 20^th century, they changed their name to First Unitarian, and in the 1930s they merged with Second Universalist to become the church we are today. We are «Standing on the Side of Love» with people working to build justice today.

Meet the Manager

David Carl O.

Manager

Rev. David Carl Olson became the Minister of First Unitarian Church of Baltimore (Universalist & Unitarian) in 2009.