History of the Second Unitarian Church of Omaha 

Marcia Leise, Archivist

August 2009 (Rev. 9/4/2009)

Our foundation comes from the Unitarian tradition in the city of Omaha. The First Unitarian Church was founded in 1869. Its distinguished ministers have included Newton Mann, Robert French Leavens, John Cyrus, and Robert Weston. William Howard Taft laid the cornerstone of First Unitarian Church’s present building in 1918.

Rev. Robert Weston, minister of First Unitarian Church in 1960, became aware that with the growing membership, there was the potential for a second Unitarian church in the growing west area of Omaha. In 1963, after a few weeks of debate, the congregation voted by more than a three-quarters majority to purchase the property at 117^th St. and West Center Road for $50,000.  Within ten years, the West Meeting House became inadequate in space so the property was sold in order to buy the former Westwood Baptist Church at 3012 South 119^th St. 

On Sunday, January 13, 1974 First Unitarian Church joined with the new West Omaha Unitarian Church to dedicate the facilities to the greater glory of the cause of liberal religion. First Unitarian minister Rev. Van Vanstrom directed the service. 

In 1975, three events nearly ended the West Omaha “experiment”.  First, West Omaha suffered a leadership crisis. Second, First Unitarian church became convinced that West Omaha was an unwarranted financial drain on church funds that were always short. The third critical event was the resignation of Vester Vanstrom, who had served as minister of First Unitarian for 10 years. Rev. Vanstrom was a dynamic minister, active in issues of social justice. Vanstrom, along with other Unitarian ministers, took part in the memorial march in Selma, Alabama, for the Unitarian civil rights martyr, Reverend James Reeb. 

Initially, new members recruited “out west” became members of First Unitarian Church. This was a fatal flaw in the plan to become a full-fledged church because until West Omaha became entirely independent of First Unitarian Church, success was not going to be realized. The result in early 1976 was a congregational vote that provided the following:                                                                                                   

1. West Omaha Unitarian would found a new church independent of First Unitarian Church.                                                   
2. The new church would receive $10,000 in “seed money”.
3. After 2 years, if the new church were still operating, it would receive the deed to the present church building. 

On Incorporators’ Night, May 23, 1976, thirty-seven persons signed the Articles of Incorporation, which legally established Second Unitarian Church of Omaha as a church in the State of Nebraska. On October 23, 1976, the Unitarian Universalist Association in Boston received into membership in the Association, the Second Unitarian Church of Omaha, Nebraska. On Sunday 24, 1978 the President of the Board of First Unitarian presented the deed of the Second Unitarian Church to its Board.

The Unitarian Universalist Association in Boston sent Rev. Deane Starr to serve as an extension minister for the three months of January through March 1977. Rev. Starr worked closely with individuals and committees involved in every area of church life to provide the guidance and organization that would carry them on with confidence after he had left Omaha. Under Rev. Deane Starr’s leadership, membership more than doubled to about 70.

Rev. Betty Pingel, who had just graduated from the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, was installed as the first minister of Second Unitarian on January 8, 1978. One of Rev. Pingel’s most enjoyable endeavors during the time she was minister at Second Unitarian was to make Unitarian Universalism better know in the community and to give it credibility via her weekly radio programs. The contents were printed in a book she entitled Relationships with Life. Quoting from this book: “It is true that Unitarian Universalism … makes no promises that we have the answers or even that answers are ultimately discoverable. But we do offer acceptance of the questions… We offer faith that one can come to peace with the ambiguities of being human.” 

In June 1981, Rev. Pingel left to serve as minister in Fresno, California. She said that the spirit of Second Unitarian comes from the willingness, even the eagerness, to accept all who come here, without judgment or demand for conformity. 

A congregational survey was distributed in 1981 to poll the membership on attitudes and preferences in regard to the church program and minister. The focus of interest was overwhelmingly on the Sunday morning service, with emphasis on the minister delivering sermons that showed warmth, a concern for the human condition, and a relatively high intellectual content.

On April 19, 1982, Rev. Jane Mauldin was ordained and installed as minister of Second Unitarian. Rev. Mauldin had a Doctor of Ministry from Meadville /Lombard Theological School, University of Chicago.  She resigned in January 1986 to work with the Extension Department of the UUA to pursue her interest in the ministry of starting new congregations. In her final message she observed: “Second Unitarian Church is very strong at the present time and is in good shape to weather a change in ministerial leadership.” 

The next minister, Rev. Carl Schmitthausler, was installed at Second Unitarian on March 22, 1987, but his ministry lasted only 13 months. The reasons for his resignation included his preaching style, disagreement over responsibilities in the congregation, and personality conflicts. Both minister and congregation agreed that it was a mismatch.

During the next eleven years, the congregation was lay led. In August, 2000, when there were 104 active members, the Extension Ministry Office of the Unitarian Universalist Association helped Second Unitarian by sending, with congregational approval, Rev. Dr. Joshua Snyder, who had recently earned a Doctor of Ministry degree at the Meadville Lombard Theological School at the University of Chicago. The Social Justice Committee sponsored many activities that year in the spirit of our tradition of social activism and community outreach. Many were connected to our alliance with OTOC. Rev. Joshua Snyder resigned after eight years to serve a church in Wilmington, Delaware.

Pastor Stephen Sinclair, a recent graduate of Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago, joined us as an Interim Minister on September 7, 2008. On August 15, 2009, Rev. Nancy Haley joined us as our next interim minister. She has a Masters of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School and is currently a Doctorate of Divinity student at Meadville Lombard Theological School.

The Second Unitarian Church of Omaha was founded by a small but hardy band of pioneers motivated in part to seek religious freedom, in part to develop a Unitarian Universalist branch in growing West Omaha, and in part simply because they wanted to be pioneers. As the congregation matured, some felt separated from their mother church, but most have come to appreciate the existence of two Unitarian Universalist churches in the city.

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