Centre County Unitarian Universalist Fellowship marks 75 years of ‘community togetherness’

The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Centre County, an inclusive, community-focused church, is marking its 75th anniversary this month with a number of events that honor its roots.

Located at 780 Waupelani Drive in Ferguson Township, the fellowship is a non-dogmatic church that follows three mission statements: “to articulate and promote liberal religion,” “to provide a spiritual home for persons who seek to know the truth for themselves” and “to inspire and empower individuals to live out their values and principles in the community, both within and beyond our walls.”

One of the congregation’s defining values is that it’s accepting of people from all walks of life, regardless of their political party, religion, race, sexuality or physical abilities.

“I think that our willingness to invite anyone into this congregation and support them says a lot about how we do things here,” said Sue Smith, who’s been a UUFCC member with her husband, Ron Smith, since 1970. “[The UUFCC] places a large emphasis on community togetherness, which are big reasons why both Ron and I became members.”

The fellowship was founded in 1950 by Unitarian Penn State students who shared a vision of fostering an inclusive and welcoming spiritual community.

Initially, the group operated as a student-run organization, but began welcoming other, non-student members when university professors and staff members showed interest in the group’s open-minded approach to spirituality and its dedication to social justice.

During and after the Vietnam War, the church began its “Extended Families” project, which was developed to help Vietnamese refugees settle in the State College area, according to a press release about the church’s anniversary.

In the church’s first decade of operation, services were held at the houses of its members. Eventually, they were moved to the Friends Meeting House, then an Odd Fellows Hall. In 1960, the church’s first official home was built on Glenn Road, and in 1991, the congregation moved to its current Waupelani Drive home.

Today, the fellowship is made up of around 300 members that all adhere to the church’s eight main principles — dignity, kindness, truth, spirit, democracy, justice, web of life and its newest principle, love.

Tracy Sprowls, the church’s reverend, said that when she talks about her fellowship’s desire to help the community, she isn’t just talking about UUFCC members and church attendees — she’s talking about every community surrounding the church, too.

“A lot of our fellowship’s members are very involved in the communities that they live in, which is just one way that we’re trying to help better the lives of those around us,” Sprowls said. “That community help — that love — shouldn’t be exclusive to just our church’s members. Everyone should get to feel it, which is a defining principle of our beliefs.”

Those beliefs are why the church offers a broad variety of services to not just its members and attendees, but to anyone interested in them. One of these services is the Our Whole Lives comprehensive sexuality education program, which provides kids with age-appropriate information on justice, equality, their bodies, their identities, their relationships and their health.

According to Sprowls, around 40 kids attended the last program session, with 37 of them belonging to other local church congregations. Some UUFCC members also participate in various regional social justice initiatives, such as local protests, civil rights demonstrations and environmental advocacy events.

The fellowship also allows for the gathering space of its church to be used by those who need it, whether they’re a congregation member or not. Musicians typically use the space for recording or practice, given that it was architecturally designed with music in mind — which is another important part of the church to its members.

“Music is a wonderful thing in that it brings people together,” said Carol Pollard, a UUFCC member since 1966. “When the main gathering space was built, we actually instructed the architect to make it so that it would be good acoustically... We all love to sing and make music together, and when we’re not doing that, we love to gather and listen to people playing music together.”

Music isn’t the only community-building activity carried out at the church though — members enjoy gardening and hosting meals with one another as well. This weekend’s 75th anniversary celebration will also see some community-involved activities being carried out.

On Friday, the church held a storytelling event where members shared personal stories about their time with the fellowship in a “Moth Radio Hour-like” setting.

Saturday will largely be a setup day for Sunday’s activities, which kick off at 10 a.m. with a special 75th anniversary service. Three surprise guests will be in attendance at the service, where the church’s past leaders and new members will also be recognized.

A potluck luncheon will be held after the service, where a host of other activities will then kick off, including a building tour, tree plantings, a scavenger hunt, kid activities, henna tattoos and a community art project.

One of the congregation’s most anticipated activities though is the burial of a time capsule, which will contain “various memorabilia,” including a chalice, a recent copy of the CDT and biographies of many of the church’s members and attendees. A date for the opening of the capsule has yet to be decided.

“All in all, I think we’re going to have a great celebratory weekend with a lot of fun things to do,” Sprowls said. “Like we do with our congregation in general, we encourage anyone and everyone interested to attend the celebration, where you will be welcomed with open arms.”

More information on the celebration can be found on the church’s website.

This story was originally published May 2, 2025 at 4:37 PM.