Join us for two festive events at the Morristown Unitarian Universalist Fellowship on Sunday, October 26th—perfect for families and friends of all ages! From 12:30 to 1:30 PM, head to Room B in the Gateways Building for Halloween Cookie Decorating with Mutual Morris. All materials and instructions will be provided, so just bring your creativity! All ages are welcome, though younger children may need a helper, and RSVPs are encouraged. Then, from 1:30 to 2:30 PM, the fun continues with our Trunk or Treat in the accessible parking lot next to Gateways at 21 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown. The lot will be filled with decorated trunks, candy, games, and face painting. This free, family-friendly event is open to the whole community—costumes encouraged! Everyone who comes in costume can vote for the Best Decorated Trunk, and those who want to add to the fun are invited to sign up and decorate a trunk of their own. Come for the cookies, stay for the community and Halloween cheer! 🎃✨

This Sunday, our service will feature a special ritual to honor our loved ones who have died. You are invited to bring a photo of your loved ones to place on our remembrance altar.

Do you have a love for little ones and a desire to support our growing community? We are looking for volunteers to help in our Child Care Room during Sunday services, caring for children ages 9 months–5 years. The Child Care Room is now conveniently located on the first floor in the Gateways Center —no stairs required! The service is streamed into the room, so children can feel connected while their families participate in worship. We are seeking people who bring warmth, patience, and a friendly spirit to this important role. Experience working with young children is helpful but not required. Most importantly, volunteers should have a genuine love for children, a desire to make a positive impact, and a willingness to work as a team. Volunteers will also be asked to complete a simple online background check. Serving in the Child Care Room is a joyful way to support families, build relationships, and make a difference in our community life. If you are interested in helping out, please sign up  on Realm  or contact Nick.

Those who attended a speech by Munroe Husband, received a history lesson in his remarks at the community room of the Morristown Trust Co. on Oct. 18, 1955. The outcome of that event was that in 12 days from that date, a steering committee and operating committees were formed and the first religious service held for the developing Morristown Unitarian Fellowship. The advertised topic for Husbands, who headed the Fellowship program for the American Unitarian Association, was “Who Are These Unitarians?” and he threaded the history of religious liberalism from Socrates through Bishop Arius and Michael Servetus, and through the origin of Unitarianism from the Pilgrims (Husbands did not mention Transylvanian Unitarians) and cited all of the social institutions started by Unitarians, according to the Fellowship’s first newsletter, published sometime in December before the 17th.. More is known about Husbands’ speech than about who attended the meeting as no list of names is known to have existed and there is no list of all who helped plan the October 18 meeting. One planner was Winfield Greenleaf, who wrote a letter to the editor of the Daily Record on October 12, noting he had read the previous days’ article about Husbands’ upcoming speech. Another worker was almost certainly Eleanor Mason, who was the last remaining founder active with the Fellowship until her death in 2014. The main driver was Marshall Deutsch, who worked with Husbands to plan the meeting and put together the publicity campaign surrounding it. Marshall worked alongside his wife, Judy, who reached out to her acquaintances. In her memoirs (a loose collection of narratives in the Fellowship library), Mason said she met the Deutsches while attending a service at the Summit UU church. Judy Deutsch asked Mason, “‘Would you like to help start a fellowship closer to home?” Mason reported she replied ”Let’s do it” and Mason said she and the Deutsches “phoned a long list of people.” (Both families were also members of the Morristown Cooperative Nursery, founded a few months before the Fellowship.) Key groups tapped for possible attendance were local Unitarians, apparently obtained from the AUA, although no list survives, the Cooperative Nursery and League of Women Voters. The October 18 attendance figure should be considered soft. The number 50 was reported in a Fellowship newsletter of 1956, which reviewed the first year and an attendance 60 was reported in the Madison Eagle on November 24. A newspaper article in the Dec. 8, 1955 Daily Record claimed 100 members—there was technically nothing to be a member of—and it’s not clear if that meant those that attended the Husbands’ speech or the first service of October 30 and subsequent services. The 100 figure looks like PR puffery. We can identify some connections that drew people together outside of the organizations already mentioned. Marshall Deutsch, Arthur Babson and John Doczi all chemists, worked at Warner-Chilcott—which would become Warner Lambert. Larry Churchill, Stuart Lloyd, Edward Zajac and George Perry were employed by Bell Laboratories. Greenleaf’s letter and a follow on by Deutsch on October 17 said Unitarianism had a special appeal to “engineers, scientists and other professional men”, There would be a lot of those when the congregation formally organized. Paul Tweed and Marsh Seiding did not work at the same company but both were involved with explosives—Tweed at Picatinny Arsenal and Steiding at the Hercules Powder Co. at one point (but not when the Fellowship was organized). Other known Unitarians in the group were John and Vera Doczi, George and Dorothy Perry, and Robert and Evelyn McCready. Jean Merritt and Joan Wetton were among the founding board members of the Masterwork chorus when it hired its first conductor in November 1955 and Stuart Lloyd and Ted Newlin were also members of that body—the December 1955 newsletter noted five Fellowship members also sang with Masterwork. The largest number of founders came from the LWV. These included Mason, who helped start the LWV in Newark, Del., before moving to New Jersey; Judy Detusch, Dorothy Churchill, Dorothy Perry Joan Wetton and Lila Youngquist. Also named as “Fellowship participants” in the first newsletter were LWV first vice president, Lee Bell, and Frances Livingston, who did not join the Fellowship, while LWV president, Marjorie Olsen “attended one of our meetings [as services were called]” It would be a busy time the rest of October. The steering committee first met on October 23 with Greenleaf as chair; Mason, secretary, Robert McCready, treasurer. It is not known if the committee chairs were named on October 23 or slightly later with the steering committee announced on October 31 in the Daily Record. Steering committee members with assignments included the religious education committee, chaired by Gerald Quinlan; membership and hospitality by Doris Babson, Anthony Parella as secretary and Robert McCready as treasurer. Marsh Steiding headed the by-laws committee and Marshall Deutsch was in charge of the publicity committee; Vincent Richards, the program committee; Steiding, the publications committee. The next Sunday, October 30, the Fellowship held its first service at the former Morristown YMCA building at the south-east corner of Washington Street and Western Avenue, opposite the Morris County Courthouse.. Geenleaf probably had something to do with the speed at which a facility was found. He was a member of the Y’s board of directors and was chair of its membership committee. It would be the Fellowship’s home for almost two years. And whatever the October 30 topic, there were seven more services before a single person signed the membership book.

How much do the Fellowship’s young people (grades 3 through 8) know about climate change and solar energy? Quite a lot, as Green Earth Ministry members Dave Horst and Linda DeLap discovered during a religious education class on October 19. After a review of climate science, Dave demonstrated concepts of electronics using a light-emitting diode, a small solar panel, and a tiny electric motor. Did you know that solar panels contain diodes? LEDs are diodes that turn electricity into light, and solar panels are diodes that turn light into electricity! The class ended with the children looking out a west-facing window in Room 302 to view the Fellowship’s recently completed solar installation.

SOME ANSWERS TO THE HARD QUESTIONS FROM THE MORTGAGE PREVENTION FOCUS GROUPS: Q:  Are we really going to be “done” after this?  Won’t there just be another campaign?   A:  Not unless 1) we really need it and 2) you say so! We cannot fundraise for more than the members approved. Right now, that’s limited to the remaining $300K.   The $300,000 is what remains after one single, multi-part Project.  Not a series of separate ones (though we did hold separate votes for the pieces, as we determined the budget needed.) Before this (long) campaign, MUUF: Had not had a capital campaign for over 30 years. Lots of deferred maintenance! Did not have a  Capital Reserve fund – now we have money set aside Did not have an administration and a Facilities committee staying on top of needed maintenance and repairs (no more deferred maintenance!) Most non-profits have capital campaigns only every 10-15 years.  Fellowship Members will decide if and when we need another one. Q:  Wasn’t a lot of the cost due to neighbors’ concerns and lawsuit?    A: Only about 11% of the total ~8.5M, of which we already raised $8.2 $275,000 was spent on Addressing public concerns to get Zoning approval (this was budgeted and  approved; higher cost & took longer than expected, but within the approved contingency)   $660,000 was spent on legal fees  –(NOT budgeted, but approved before incurred!) We did not pay a dime to the plaintiffs.  They settled by agreeing we could exist in peace as long as we remained a religious institution and planted a few more trees, and agreed to a few minor use restrictions.   Q:  Many members are tired of the constant emphasis on $$.  A: We hear you (and, we are, too!). BUT WE ARE SO CLOSE – WE CAN ALMOST TASTE IT!   (The alternative is to increase our budget by 10% so there’s no getting away from the pesky $$) What you can do (besides donating $$): HELP PROMOTE EVENTS OUTSIDE MUUF. There’s an ad to share outside MUUF for the Stearns Matthews concert November 15! We welcome your ideas on to whom we should promote it! We’ll do the same for the Gala Celebration and Art Sale February 28!   There will be discounts for both events if you bring a friend/non-member… VOLUNTEER to  help with those events (PUBLICITY, SET UP, CLEAN UP, DONATE FOOD AND WINE) help us make visits come with new ideas!  We already are pursuing one idea from the Focus Groups – stay tuned! KEEP IT POSITIVE! When you hear people are tired, remind them we are soooo close to finished and then that will be that!!!

It's not too late to submit your service auction items! We can help you put together an idea or enter it into the auction! We are especially in need of dinners and group activities! Contact ServiceAuction@muuf.org or call Kim Dunn-Meynell

MUUF’s Trunk or Treat is almost here—Sunday, October 26th at 1:30 pm in our new parking lot! Never been to one before? Trunk or Treat is a safe, fun twist on trick-or-treating: kids walk from one creatively decorated car trunk to the next, collecting candy and goodies along the way. It’s festive, family-friendly, and a great way to celebrate the season together! Here’s how YOU can join the fun: Decorate your car trunk (spooky, silly, or totally unique!) Donate candy, treats, giveaways, or water Volunteer to help out before, during, or after the event It’s a wonderful way to create lasting memories for our kids, their friends, and our community. Need inspiration? Check out these trunk-decorating ideas . Ready to pitch in? Sign up here . Let’s make this year’s Trunk or Treat the best one yet!

First – in case you missed it, please check out our special announcement last Sunday at the end of the September 21st service! It starts at minute 52.13. The Fellowship’s Capital Campaign is now in its final phase, which we like to call “Mortgage Prevention. As of today, we have enough in pledges to pay off all but about $300,000 to avoid needing a mortgage. (A 15-year, $300,000 mortage would cost about $30,000 per year – right out of the Operating Budget. Every $10,000 we reduce the total needed by “prevents” the need for $1,000 to be paid to the bank – PER YEAR FOR 15 YEARS – rather than for our own programming!!) We have a plan to raise the rest – but first, let’s bask in what we have accomplished! Here is just a sampling of what what we did since 2018! We fixed the parking And Built More! Kitchen porch! Kitchen porch! Fixed the drainage and added outdoor lighting! Front steps yikes! Did I say drainage? WOW! The roof … VERY SCARY All Better! We Added Solar Panels And more stuff All that cost about $4 million. As you can see, it wasn’t just the Addition! It is all paid off! (Solar was funded separately at approximately $180,000, with some loans to be paid back from solar earnings when the system goes live). So now – it’s time to look to the future. The building is nice – but our LEGACY will be what we do with it. When you authorized us to raise the $4.5 million for the new Addition, you agreed we could leave $400,000 to be covered by a mortgage. If necessary. The outstanding construction loan is due next August. We originally borrowed $2M, but now it’s down to a little over half a million. As of last August, our pledges covered all but $396,000. So we have raised $100,000 in this past year. But now we need to get the remaining $300,000 in 11 months! Here’s the plan: Save these dates: October 19 , November 15 , December 14 and February 28 ! It occurred to me that we raised the $8.2 million or so because, from 2012-2014, we shared information and generated enthusiasm and were powered by the dreams we shared and built together in a series of meetings and focus groups open to all. I figured it was time to do a sort of mini-version of that collective work as we pivot towards our future. So, October 19 we will ask you to consider: what is the FUTURE enabled by our new Addition – without a lingering loan? We will invite you to dream of future joys that will get your giving juices flowing. We’ll be starting that conversation with emails and phone calls to listen to you. We will tell our story and answer questions and together consider what the Fellowship has brought and can bring to the Morristown community for the future, especially if we can avoid any debt! Unlike the Building Project, any mortgage loan would be paid from our Operating Budget (Don’t forget to turn out for the Service Auction Kickoff on November 8, our biggest Operating Budget fundraiser of the year!) We also will have fun along the way as we fundraise for Mortgage Prevention! Last Saturday we had a marvelous time at the Swing Band concert fundraiser, which brought in 77 people and raised $1800 after some modest expenses. But look what is coming up! Stearns is a fantastic cabaret performer - and he was also our beloved music director from April 2018 to June 2022. We are hoping for a sellout for his upcoming concert and will be reaching out to the wider community, including his many friends, to do so. Tickets are $40. I just learned that our Middle School youth will be holding a bake sale to benefit Mortgage Prevention! Individual “asks” and visits will continue, especially for folks who are newer to the Fellowship. We will take a break for our  70th Anniversary celebration  at the end of January – which should provide more opportunities to dream for our future as we celebrate our past! And then we will close the campaign out with a bang with our Gala in February, with an internationally honored young Barbershop Quartet, First Take, serenading us as we participate in a fabulous Art Show and Sale curated by our own Nina Nemeth and catered by Ken Nemeth. Admission price is still TBD, but we envision a sliding scale to make sure we maximize returns but also remain financially accessible to all. Stay tuned for more information. Oh and one more thing: we have 4 named spaces in Gateways that have been funded by naming gifts: The Al and Minda Chu Family Hall the Loe Family Courtyard of Compassion The Uhrhane Wilson Welcome Gallery the Morgenthaler Ferm Our Whole Lives OWL Classroom We have room for at least 2 more, and additional spaces in the Mansion! Gifts are totaled across all the phases of the campaign since 2014, and many of you are close to the amount needed to name a space! Qualifying amounts include: $400,000 for the remaining classroom in the Addition or Room 204 in the Mansion; $450,000 to name the Kitchen, $350,000 to name other classrooms in the Mansion. Gifts can be anonymous, and doesn’t have to be a family name! (Think: The Green Earth Ministry classroom, the Stone Soup Kitchen … The Sophia Lyons Fahs Library …) Finally – if you have an outstanding pledge, please consider completing it sooner rather than later if you can. Every $10,000 paid towards Mortgage Prevention this year instead of in 2026 will save $600. I’ve just accelerated as much as I could on my pledge, so I urge you to do the same. VOLUNTEER TO HELP! We could not have done any of this without your time and talent – added to the treasure we have gratefully received. Beth Hayward already is volunteering to help with Stearns Matthews concert. The Middle Schoolers are organizing the bake sale in December. Nina and Ken Nemeth are on board for the Gala. What can you do? We need help with the campaign too – help run the Focus Groups, write thank you’s, make calls to set up visits or as so many have done, sign up to get trained as a visitor! Please email us at drww@muuf.org to volunteer your time and talents to help each other bring this campaign home! THANK YOU!!!

Here is yet another opportunity for input to how we operate and what our future will be! We have had some great, thoughtful responses to the questionnaire so far. PLEASE  take the time to answer the questionnaire and come for a readout and further discussion on Sunday in the Library. (ALSO: THERE WILL BE PRIZES) Here is yet another opportunity for input to how we operate and what our future will be! Don’t waste it by passing this by. (DID I MENTION: PRIZES?) We will provide a full recap once the survey is complete, but here’s a taste: Q: "What can we use our budget for if we don’t need to pay down debt?" A: Investing in larger events that might pay down the debt in larger chunks at the same time reaching into the pockets of outside our membership so we don’t constantly expect the membership to keep giving more and more and more. A: More events that are open to the public to increase visibility. A: We can use the money to help others and to heal the Earth. A: Host more open discussions on social justice issues A: Better hours for valued staff, better collaborative activities for all We need to hear from you, too! (ALSO: PRIZES)

Our Service Auction Kickoff is less than 3 weeks away and the final day to submit your service auction offerings is October 26th. It's not too late to get your submissions in! We are especially in need of dinners and activities that can be shared with others. Come talk to us at the Service Auction table during coffee hour. We can help you put together an idea or enter it into the auction. You can also purchase your kickoff party tickets today using a credit card, check or good old cash. Don’t miss out on this great event! We'll even help you find a ride. Act Now. Buy your tickets today! (Need help? Send a note to ServiceAuction@muuf.org or call Kim Dunn-Meynell)

During the Sunday service on June 22, Lilli Keating spoke about her upcoming trip to Transylvania, searching for ancestors. Below is a video of her Reflection, but I recommend watching the whole service: it was very good. By chance, Lilli’s ancestral home is only an hour from our Partner Church in Sinfalva, and Lilli visited them as well. She was accompanied by her sister Kati Sowiak, her niece Janine Antalffy, and cousin Eniko Antalffy from Hungary. While they were there, they attended a Sunday service on 9/14/25, and Dénes preached the sermon. Below, you can find an email from Dénes about the visit, as well as the English text of his sermon that day. If you are interested in our Partner Church connection, contact Gabor Kiss.