Unity Church of Greater Hartford, 1932-2009:

Seventy-seven Years of Light and Love

IMPORTANT DATES

Established 1932

Incorporated 1951

Member of the Association of Unity Churches since 1966

Church building in South Windsor dedicated 2005

MINISTERS

1932 - 1948 Harriet Gilbert, Founding Minister

1948 - 1950 Edna Titus, Senior Minister

1950 - 1957 Faith Cornwall, Senior Minister

1967 - 1996 Merton Thorpe, Senior Minister

1996 - 2008 Raymond Russell Shea, Senior Minister

2008 - 2009 Philip Smedstad, Interim Minister

2009 - Ed Townley, Senior Minister

A BRIEF HISTORY

Harriet Gilbert was the founding minister of Unity Church of Greater Hartford. She pioneered the ministry at 926 Main Street in Hartford in 1932. She remained until she made her transition on July 7, 1948.

The second minister was Edna Titus of the Cambridge group in Massachusetts, who served from October 11, 1948 until 1950. She had previously lived in St. John’s, New Brunswick, Canada.

Next in succession was Faith Cornwall, whose ministry extended from 1950 to 1957. Her years of service were marked by two moves in location. First, on March 1, 1953 the congregation moved from 926 Main Street to 721 Main Street in downtown Hartford. On February 14, 1954, the church’s home was moved again, this time to 730 Farmington Avenue in West Hartford, formerly the Stoner mansion.

Merton Thorpe, a Canadian, was the fourth minister; his tenure covered the years from August 1957 through his retirement in June 1996. He was ordained in June 1958 after being an Associate Minister to the well-known Unity minister Eric Butterworth in Detroit, Michigan. During Rev. Thorpe’s ministry many improvements were made to the West Hartford building, which was an imposing landmark down the hill from West Hartford Center.

(OVER)

The fifth minister, Raymond Russell Shea is a licensed and ordained minister from Unity School of Christianity who began his ministry here on July 1, 1996. He and his wife Susan served Unity Church of Greater Hartford for twelve busy years, during which time the congregation grew in numbers, energy and visibility, eventually outgrowing the space and parking limitations of its West Hartford home. On May 15, 2005 the congregation dedicated their newly-built church in South Windsor. Three years later, On April 1, 2008, Rev. Shea resigned so that he and his wife could move to Tennessee to fulfill family obligations.

The Board of Trustees worked closely with the Association of Unity Churches to assure a healthy transition to new ministerial leadership. Rev. Philip Smedstad was hired as a one-year interim minister to provide support and guidance through the sometimes challenging selection process. He and his wife Lura worked closely with groups and individuals to define the congregation’s vision and ministerial expectations.

After an extensive search process, Rev. Ed Townley was named to the position of Senior Minister, effective July 1, 2009.

ABOUT REV. ED TOWNLEY

Licensed and ordained in 1991, Rev Ed served ministries in Beaverton OR, Chicago IL and Dallas TX before coming to Hartford. Noted for his understanding of the Bible and his commitment to the creative process as an essential part of our spiritual purpose, he hosts a weekly Bible discussion on unity.fm, and answers questions on scripture from all parts of the world through “Interpret This” on the international Unity website, www.unity.org.

Born and raised in Western Pennsylvania, Rev Ed had an extensive career in theater – as actor, director and writer – before his own Twelve-Step recovery program led him to Unity, and eventually to Unity’s ministerial school at Unity Village, MO (outside Kansas City).

Rev Ed has continued to express his theatrical talents during his years of ministry. Spirit Expressing, his personal ministry, has sponsored acting and playwrighting workshops, and has developed and presented short plays on spiritual themes for Sunday services and special events. In addition, his ministries in both Chicago and Dallas offered multiple-performance runs of plays such as “A Man for All Seasons,” “Spoon River Anthology,” and “Miss Witherspoon.” “If Children Remember,” a Christmas musical based on a story by L. Frank Baum with book and lyrics by Rev Ed and music by Ed Tossing, has had a number of performances over many holiday seasons in both Chicago and Dallas.

Rev. Ed Townley was officially installed as Senior Minister by Unity Church of Greater Hartford during the Celebration Service on September 20, 2009 – launching the next chapter in the church’s already distinguished history.