We are a Welcoming Congregation and the header photograph shows the rededication ceremony for our Gay Pride Flag, which was purchased and secured with a GoFundMe after the theft of our original flag.
Past, Present, Future
DDUUC is governed by a Board of Trustees. The board meets at 7 p.m. on the fourth Wednesday of the month at the church. All are welcome. DDUUC is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association and thereby follows the Seven Principles of that denomination. More about Unitarian Universalism at UUA.org.
In the beginning we were thirteen, former members of the Washington Crossing Unitarian Universalist Church, sitting around a dining room table discussing what direction, if any, to take. We needed a religious home; had not found what we wanted when we visited the already existing UU churches in the area. It was decided that we form our own religious community.
On January 31st, 1994 we held our first service at the Old Heidelberg Restaurant in Hamilton Township. They made the coffee. We held services in the back room. Religious Education was in the restaurant proper or the parking lot. From the beginning we held services every Sunday, except during the summer. Services were lay-lead and got better and better over time. We were off and running. We had our Charter Service on Easter Sunday that year at the Dorothea Dix Chapel, on the grounds of Trenton Psychiatric Hospital.
We soon moved to the Dwier Center in Groveville, NJ, where we stayed for a few years. Members from the Universalist Fellowship of Burlington County visited with us for a year and then joined with us in September 2002. eight members from the Burlington Fellowship have remained as active members of DDUUC. We found kindred spirits among them.
In 2005 we moved to the Crosswicks United Methodist Church where we rented their community hall. It felt like a more permanent home. Our space could be set up and it would stay the same from week to week. At one time we had 23 adult members and 13 children. People came. People stayed. People moved. People left. The children grew up. At that time, we also decided to leave Metro New York District and become members of the Joseph Priestley District. Six members from the Burlington Fellowship have remained as very active members of DDUUC. After we moved to Crosswicks, new people joined us. We had a sign, although a little one, that could stay out front.
Our membership has seen a turnabout in the last three years. For a while, after the original children grew up and left we had only a couple of children. They too grew up and we were left with no children. In the past three years children have returned and we have nine now enrolled in religious Education classes. Young families are once again a part of us.
In 2010 we purchased a new building and relocated to Bordentown, NJ as the beginning of being a permanent presence in an area that is without much a liberal religious presence. Our sign is larger, our space more flexible and permanent. We have services and programs that fit in with our philosophy. We can make a difference in the larger community.
Posted by Chris Kaden on January 23, 2010