Since our beginning, Paint Branch Unitarian Universalist church (PBUUC)  has been made up of spiritually brave, curious, and compassionate thinkers and doers working always to make a difference for the good. We have a track record of standing on the side of love, justice, and peace. We have radical roots and a history of self-motivated spirituality. We think for ourselves and recognize that our beliefs are demonstrated by accomplishments more so than anything else.

A sermon on Threshholds and Paint Branch History, from February 2023.

The First 50 Years

In the early 1950s, the progressive Unitarian minister of All Souls Church in Washington, D.C., Rev. A. Powell Davies, organized a committee to bring Unitarianism to the rapidly growing suburbs of D.C. A group of All Souls members created the College Park Unitarian Center on at the University of Maryland and held its first service on October 17, 1954.

Rev. Davies served as minister of both All Souls and the College Park Center. His sermons to the Center were delivered over a telephone line. Center attendees organized as an independent congregation and called its first settled minister, the Rev. David Osborn, in 1957.

In 1960 the congregation purchased our current 5-acre site and voted to rename itself after the Paint Branch stream near the property. Construction at the new site began in 1963, and in 1965 the Paint Branch congregation moved into its first permanent structure, our current Religious Education (RE) Building.

During the 1960s, many Paint Branch members participated in Civil Rights actions. Rev. Osborn and others attended the 1963 March on Washington and the 1965 Freedom March in Montgomery, Alabama. Here in Maryland, Paint Branch members worked hard to desegregate the maternity ward at Holy Cross Hospital. It became the first local hospital to do so. Rev. Osborn left in 1970.

In 1971 the congregation called the Rev. Richard Kelley. He served until 1992 and still holds the title of Minister Emeritus. (The Kelley Room in the RE Building is named after him.) During his tenure, PBUUC

• established an ecumenical Women’s Center in 1975, one of the first of its kind in Maryland;
• joined, in 1977, the Community Ministry of Prince George’s County, which organizes overflow shelters for homeless people in church buildings during the cold winter months (a program now called Warm Nights), and
• completed construction of a separate building for adult services, our current Meeting House, and connected it to the RE Building by a wooden deck.

The Rev. Rod Thompson served as PBUUC’s third settled minister from 1992 to 1998. During his time, Paint Branch became a certified, UUA recognized, Welcoming Congregation to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons. Many church members took an active role in LGBT rights issues during this time.

In 1999, PBUUC called a married couple, the Revs. Barbara Wells ten Hove and Jaco ten Hove, to serve as co-ministers. Their dynamic Sunday services attracted new members and Religious Education was thriving.

Since 2000

A fire in December 2003, rendered our RE Building unusable. Insurance covered basic repairs, but we held a capital campaign to pay for improvements, including a wheelchair-accessible bathroom and a geothermal heating/cooling system, to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, and we celebrated the 50th anniversary of our congregation in October 2004.

In 2009, we called the Rev. Diane Teichert to serve as our minister. Rev. Teichert took up the call for LGBT rights, participating in demonstrations and refusing to sign marriage licenses in Maryland until all couples could legally marry in the state. She returned to marrying couples only after same-sex marriage was legalized in Maryland, and later the nation. Due to illness, Rev. Teichert was unable to continue her role as our minister and resigned in 2015.

During her illness and after her resignation, our congregation was served by the Rev. Russ Savage, Caretaker Minister, and Rev. Evan Keely, Interim Minister.

On Sunday, June 11, 2017, the membership voted to call the Rev. Rachel Rudd Christensen as our next settled minister. She accepted our call and began her ministry with us in August 2017. She was an inspiration, both spiritually and in social justice and a positive force in growing our church, making it even more inclusive and welcoming. She left PBUUC in 2020.

The membership decided to explore developmental ministry as a way to grow following a series of short term ministries and trauma. After a search, we asked Rev. Ann Kadlecek to be our Developmental Minister beginning in the summer of 2023. Rev. Ann led us through a series of difficult transitions. She spearheaded effective Zoom services during COVID. When it was discovered that our deck was no longer usable, and that our membership was declining and aging, she supported lay leaders in discerning next steps which led to putting our beautiful church home property on the market for sale. We secured a rental in the very welcoming University Christian Church facility in University Park, Maryland, and have been holding our services there since spring of 2022.

Where will we go from here? It is up to us to decide. A mission process has been developed to allow us to have the conversations needed to define who we are and what we want to accomplish as a congregation. We invite you to join us.