Beacon (Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Summit)

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Beacon Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Summit is a Unitarian Universalist ("UU") congregation in Summit, New Jersey, formally organized in 1908 as The Unitarian Church in Summit. It is active in social justice initiatives and received the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee Social Justice Award in 2010. It has also been recognized as an outstanding UU congregation by various UU groups and has one of the largest UU Youth Groups in the country. It features a "top - notch music program and has had a string of renowned preachers." In 2016, Reverend Robin Tanner was chosen as the Minister of Worship and Outreach and member of the Leadership Team which includes Executive Director Tuli Patel and Minister of Congregational Life Emilie Boggis.HistoryBeacon UU was founded by area residents who felt that Summit needed a liberal church, emphasizing ethics and love as the core of religion, and encouraging all members to search for their own religious truths. Parker D. King, a successful local businessman, was one of these. In the summer of 1906, he encountered a childhood friend, Unitarian minister Curtis Brown, on the Long Island Railroad. They discussed how to start a liberal church in Summit.Starting in January, 1907, King and a small committee planned a series of “Unitarian Meetings” in Summit, which took place on Sundays throughout that year. On January 14, 1908, a small group met in Summit to consider establishing a Unitarian congregation. The group was indecisive and hesitant, so Russell Hinman, a strong supporter of liberal religion, made a motion that they not found a Unitarian church in Summit. Having rejected this option, seventeen charter members proceeded to organize a Unitarian Church in Summit and called Reverend Brown to be its first minister.