FAQ
Why do people want to remove Thomas Jefferson’s name from the name of our church?
In recognition of the evolution of context around Jefferson’s name, and the impact this name has on a diverse and progressive community, the Board of Trustees and many TJMC-UU members have come to the conclusion that using the name Thomas Jefferson is not the best choice for the church to fulfill its mission going into the future.
It is with great love and respect for our community that we seek to adapt to the needs of our time. With racial justice as a core value of today’s progressive movement, we acknowledge the pain, offense, and disrespect Jefferson’s name causes to members of our community and surrounding communities who are Black, Indigenous and people of color.
We have been informed that our name serves as a barrier to people of color and to multiracial families who might otherwise worship with us, and so we work to stop causing harm, and we strive to be inclusive, welcoming, and respectful.
How will we choose a new name?
If the motion to change the name passes on September 27th, the next step will be for the Task Force to gather input from the congregation and collect suggestions for a new name. The Board will set the terms for the discussion and voting process of a new name. The final name will be selected using the democratic process at a congregational meeting.
Can we also consider changing the word ‘church’ in the name, to something like UU Congregation, Fellowship, or Society?
If the congregation votes Yes to changing the name to something other than TJMC-UU, then all variations of a new name can be discussed and considered.
When did the church first begin using the name Thomas Jefferson?
The following is from the church history: The group that would eventually found the church began meeting as the Jefferson Unitarian Society in 1943. The American Unitarian Association bought the land for the Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church in 1946. Between 1954 and 1961, the name was changed to Thomas Jefferson Memorial Unitarian Church. Between 1980 and 1982, the church name was changed to its current form: Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church – Unitarian Universalist.
Are we under any UUA-related obligation to keep the name Thomas Jefferson? Are we required to maintain any Thomas Jefferson Memorial in our congregation?
No. The Task Force has contacted the UUA and reviewed the church charter and the answer is no to all of these questions.
We have been issued a signed letter from the Executive Director of Finance of the UUA stating that we are under no obligation to keep the name Thomas Jefferson as a part of the Unitarian Universalist congregation in Charlottesville.
We have the autonomy and congregational polity to name our church according to the needs and desires of our community, and we are under no obligation to keep or display any objects, likenesses, or artifacts of or from Jefferson of the TJMC name, in or around our congregation.
As a congregation, we will be able to make decisions together about how and where we might create educational displays that tell the stories of our congregation, including but not limited to the evolution of our congregation’s name over the years. There will be opportunities for congregational input about all of these important questions, and if our name does change, we can work cooperatively together to tell these stories in ways that makes sense to us today.
Our Purposes and Principles, our Covenant, and our Mission Statement, will guide us to do all of this with love and respect for one another and for all people as we create our solutions together.
I’ve heard Thomas Jefferson was Unitarian. Is that true?
It’s complicated. Jefferson was baptized, raised, and married in the Church of England, the state-established church of Virginia before the Revolutionary War. Throughout his life, Jefferson regularly attended services at the Church of England and its successor, the Episcopal Church in America. It is unclear if he went through communion or confirmation, important coming of age rites in Anglicanism. Jefferson routinely disagreed with the dogma of the church, and refused to be a godfather to baptized children because of his beliefs. Jefferson expressed sympathy to Unitarianism in his life for its values of religious freedom. When he lived in Philadelphia, he did attend the Unitarian church there. In an 1825 letter, Jefferson wrote “I must therefore be contented to be an Unitarian by myself” however he never formally left the Episcopal church and had his children baptized and married there.
This name change issue was so divisive in the past; why do people keep bringing it up? Why did the Board vote to endorse and support changing the church’s name?
As long as the name Thomas Jefferson is on the UU church in Charlottesville, there will be UU members who will work to change it.
At one time the name Thomas Jefferson meant something different than it does today. We have been made aware by our Black neighbors in our local community, and by Black UUs and UUs of color in our larger denomination, that the name Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church causes harm and is a barrier for us to be able to engage fully in the anti-oppression work which we built into our church’s Covenant and Mission statement.
At this point in our community and nation, our name is no longer welcoming or acceptable to a significant number of people of all races. Our church’s name is now considered to be controversial and divisive and it will continue to attract negative attention, and more importantly, it will continue to cause harm.
Did Thomas Jefferson lead or found a Unitarian gathering here in Charlottesville? Did he have a connection to the land that our church sits on?
No. Our founders used the name Thomas Jefferson, but it was not founded by him.
If we change the name of the church, won’t we be throwing away our history and erasing the work of the church founders?
No. We want to honor the UU values supported by our church founders by creating a welcoming congregation that allows all people to interact with our congregation in a way that is respectful and affirming. As long as the name of the church interferes with that goal, we feel we are failing to honor the legacy of the original church charter. Our faith calls us to be seekers of truth, and as seekers we must be willing to adapt and change our perspective when new information is brought to our awareness.
If we change the name of the church, are we expected to throw away the legacies of all the founding fathers and thinkers? Who’s next, George Washington?
Our task at hand is not to stand in judgement of history, our job is to ask, “Is this the best name for our church to carry us into the future?” and, “Does the name Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church serve our mission?” The legacies of other slave-owning historical figures can be reckoned with in their own way. It is not our job to judge them here (although many of us do), it is our job to make our church the best it can be and live consistently within the values of our faith.
We are not “throwing away the legacy” of Jefferson, or condemning him and declaring his contributions to be without value when we vote to change the name of this congregation.
Our members who admire Thomas Jefferson and his work can still proudly vote Yes to changing the name of the congregation. A Yes vote to help us move forward with a new name is not a Yes vote for demonizing Jefferson. It’s an acknowledgment of the complexity of a human, fallible man. And it is the recognition that, although he may be a hero for some, he is for others the man who enslaved their great-great grandmother and whose name creates pain, exclusion, and harm. This dichotomy of experiences with the name Thomas Jefferson is why the issue continues to arise within our church, and it is the facts within this dichotomy that threaten to put our beloved community on the wrong side of history and of the dismantling racism movement.
If we change the name of the church, how will we recognize the importance of the separation of church and state that Jefferson supported?
One of Thomas Jefferson’s most enduring legacies is his support of religious freedom and the separation of church and state. As UUs, this freedom is at the very core of our theology. The recognition of the importance of religious plurality, as well as humanist teachings, is reflected in our Sources (the document which lists the six sources of our UU living tradition).
Our Purposes and Principles reflect our values of liberty; a free and responsible search for truth and meaning; the importance of democracy; freedom; acceptance of one another; as well as justice, equity and compassion in human relations.
Across the nation UUs are engaged in efforts to protect and uphold the wall of separation between church and state. For example, The Rev. Dr. Neal R. Jones, Senior Minister of Main Line Unitarian Universalist Church in Pennsylvania, serves as the Chair of the organization, Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The UU congregation Rev. Jones serves is named after a geographical area, not a person.
We do not need to have a church named after a particular historical figure in order to have members, friends, and ministers who work passionately and actively to further our Unitarian Universalist values.
It is our UU teachings that guide us to “live our values”, and so we recognize that it is not the name Thomas Jefferson that expresses our support of freedom of religion, it is the practice of supporting and sharing Unitarian Universalism with those seeking a community of free thinking spirituality. We promote and support freedom of religion by supporting and nurturing our progressive church.
It has also been pointed out to us that there is some irony in using a political figure in the name of a religious institution. To have true separation of church and state, a church should not have the name of a government figure.
Another important thing to note, our very long name buries the identity of our denomination. We are often called “The Thomas Jefferson Church” which leaves out our most powerful testament to religious freedom, the Unitarian Universalist faith. To boldly claim our name as UUs, and remove ourselves from the political figure of TJ, is owning for ourselves the values we ascribe to Jefferson.
People are offended by the name Thomas Jefferson, shouldn’t they do more research on the man to fully appreciate his contributions?
If we strive to be inclusive and welcoming, we cannot demand academic credentials from our visitors and congregation. Thomas Jefferson’s name exists in the popular imagination in an evolving context and we are taking the opportunity to evaluate the impact the name has on our ability to succeed with our church and faith’s mission. Deciding the value of the name for the future growth of our church is our task at hand.
I know a black person who admires Thomas Jefferson and is not bothered by the name. Who’s to say the name is offensive?
As is true of all people, Black people are not a monolith. You will always find some Black people, some Indigenous people, some white people, some Latinx people, some Asian people, who are or or not offended, hurt, or angry about a particular word, phrase, expression, or name of an organization.
The fact that some Black people, or people of color in general, like the name Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church, does not negate the experiences of hundreds and thousands of people across the country who are asking for our institutions to rename themselves in order to stop causing alienation and harm.
As a progressive congregation working to be allies of oppressed and marginalized people, it is our responsibility to listen to individuals, leaders, and organizers in the impacted communities.
We have the opportunity to absorb what we are hearing about how our name, what our name represents to marginalized people, and how it is negatively impacting our neighbors’ ability to trust and respect us as partners and allies.
This is our chance to listen and address how our name welcomes or alienates those who enter our doors for worship, for weddings, to access our Food Pantry, to attend community events in our buildings, or who see our name when they are passing by our building, working with us in IMPACT interfaith community organizing, or when viewing our church banner or our church tee shirts or signage at vigils and social justice events.
The cry has been resounding and clear: change your name.
While changing our name is an important step, if we want to live up to our church’s Covenant and Mission Statement, we recognize our congregation needs to put significant energy into more deeply impactful work to address the priorities of the Black Lives Matter Charlottesville dismantling racism movement.
Is it common for Unitarian Universalist congregations to be named after people?
It is rare for congregations in the Unitarian Universalist Association to be named after people. Many are named after their location.
Task Force member Matthew Diasio has been looking up the UUA’s list of member congregations in regions on the East Coast. Those were chosen because they are most likely to potentially have ties to influential figures in the early history of the United States, similar to ties people may have assumed that congregation has to Thomas Jefferson. (As mentioned above, the congregation does not have ties to Thomas Jefferson.) Of the 546 congregations in the New England and Central East Regions and in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, 11 are named after specific people who aren’t considered divine or otherwise holy. This suggests that the broader movement avoids the potential connotations of naming a congregation after a person.
No UUA member congregations in Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont, Florida, South Carolina, Washington DC, or West Virginia are currently named after non-religious figures. There are two UU housing cooperatives named after people in Boston, and their website says they are very specifically meant to encourage people to model the namesakes’ values.
We are the only congregation in Virginia named after a person.
Two in New York are named after people. Pullman Memorial Universalist Church was named in honor of George Pullman’s family, as he donated the money for founding the church in memory of his parents. May Memorial UU Society is named in honor of one of its ministers from the 19th century, a well-known abolitionist.
The Dorothea Dix UU Community in Bordentown, New Jersey seems most similar to our circumstance in being named after a prominent American who lived nearby in the 19th century, Dorothea Dix, but doesn’t have a direct connection as the congregation was founded in the early 2000s. https://dduuc.org/about/ Dix is best known for her work in mental health advocacy, though was not an abolitionist.
In Pennsylvania, there are two congregations named after American historical figures. There is a Thomas Paine UU Fellowship in Collegeville, PA. Matthew does not know if they have a connection to Paine. There is a Joseph Priestley UU Fellowship in Lewisburg, PA. Priestley was an important founding figure in Unitarianism in Great Britain and helped establish Unitarian congregations in Britain and the United States (including the Unitarian church Jefferson attended). Priestley also preached against slavery. The Lewisburg congregation does not seem to have a connection to Priestley, as it was established in 1962.
Two in Maryland are named after people. One is named after A. Powell Davies, a Unitarian minister in the 20th century who doesn’t seem to have a direct tie to their congregation. Interestingly, they also just changed their name: from Davies Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church, to Davies Unitarian Universalist Congregation. “Church” was changed to emphasize openness to people who do not identify as Christian and “memorial” was dropped because of confusion about it being a funeral home. https://daviesuu.org/davies-name-change/) Another Maryland congregation, Channing Memorial Church is named after Unitarian theologian William Ellery Channing. They are based near Baltimore, where Channing gave his famous 1819 sermon defining “Unitarian Christianity” in America and Channing gave a speech at the the Unitarian Society that was a precursor to the congregation http://channingchurch.org/channing-history/)
One in North Carolina (Outlaw’s Bridge Universalist Church) seems to be named after both its location but also Julia Kent Outlaw, who preached Universalism to the children who would grow up to found the church.
In South Carolina, Clayton Memorial Church seems to be named after a nearby cemetery.
Emerson UU Congregation in Georgia is named after Ralph Waldo Emerson, but has no connection to him. The name was chosen by vote when it was founded in the 1980s.
There are some ambiguous cases where the person is a divine figure or saint or other religious figure, which is worth commenting on, but also feels distinct. One church in Massachusetts is “First Christ Church” and another is named after St. Paul. Another New York church is named after St. Paul. One in Rhode Island is named “Church of the Mediator”, but many Christian churches use Mediator to refer to God.
Why should the name be changed now? Is this part of a trend of organizations changing their name?
The call to examine how the name Thomas Jefferson impacts our congregation’s ability to reach a diverse audience has been discussed for more than 5 years. Some long-time members have told us that the name has concerned them for longer than that. The current initiative is inspired by the increased focus on addressing racial justice issues within the UU faith and the country.
As we aspire to greater inclusivity, wholeness in our faith, and compassion for those we impact, the time to address this issue is appropriate for this moment.
TImeline of the last five years is available at this link.
Jefferson was a man of his time, wasn’t slavery considered normal and morally accepted in his era?
Jefferson was concerned over the morality of slaveholding, even if he didn’t move to free his own enslaved laborers. Concerning contemporary and future developments in slavery, Jefferson wrote that “Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever.” (Notes on the State of Virginia, QUERY XVIII).
During Jefferson’s life, slavery was practiced by some and abhorred by others all around the world. We should not erase the humanists and abolitionists, who were also men and women of their time, with the insinuation that Jefferson’s perspective was the only way of thinking in that era.
For example, at the same time Jefferson and many landholders in the South owned humans as forced laborers, there were many states where this practice was prohibited. There are only 160 miles between Charlottesville and the Pennsylvania border, yet the two places had distinctly different laws regarding slavery. In 1780 Pennsylvania passed the Abolition Act, creating a pathway to freedom for enslaved people in that state. This was 20 years before Jefferson became president. Jefferson was only one version of the men of his time. While he was president, he was the leader of both slave and free states and fully knew the contradictions of his defense of slavery.
Frequently Asked Questions Regarding the Initiative to Change the Name of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church – Unitarian Universalist.
How will we choose a new name?
If the motion to change the name passes on September 27th, the next step will be for the Task Force to gather input from the congregation and collect suggestions for a new name. The top suggestions will be put up at a future Congregational Meeting and the new name will be decided by a majority vote.
Can we also consider changing the word ‘church’ in the name, to something like ___ UU Congregation, Fellowship, or Society?
*If* the congregation votes Yes to change the name to something other than TJMC-UU, then all variations of a new name can be discussed and considered. There would be a process to gather lots of ideas and feedback, lots of opportunities to discuss what we want our new name to be, and what we don’t like about various new name ideas, if this September Congregational Vote on the change the name motion does pass with the needed 80% Yes votes. Then we would schedule a subsequent congregational meeting (not yet scheduled, and timeframe not yet determined) to discuss the finalist choices, and we would vote to select one of the finalist choices as our new name. The new name may or may not contain the word ‘church’ (congregation, society, etc… – It all depends on what the congregation wants to do. Democracy and community decision-making in action!
Why do people want to remove Thomas Jefferson’s name from the name of our church?
In recognition of the evolution of context around Jefferson’s name, and the impact this name has on a diverse and progressive community, your Board of Trustees and many TJMC-UU members have come to the conclusion that the name Thomas Jefferson does not serve the church’s mission and goals going into the future.
It is with great love and respect for our community that we seek to adapt to the needs of our time. With racial justice as a core value of today’s progressive movement, we acknowledge the pain, offense, and disrespect Jefferson’s name causes to members of our community and surrounding communities who are Black, Indigenous and people of color. We have been informed that our name serves as a barrier to people of color and to multiracial families who might otherwise worship with us, and so we work to stop causing harm, and we strive to be inclusive, welcoming, and respectful.
When did the church first begin using the name Thomas Jefferson?
The following is from the church history: The group that would eventually found the church began meeting as the Jefferson Unitarian Society in 1943. The American Unitarian Association bought the land for the Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church in 1946. Between 1954 and 1961, the name was changed to Thomas Jefferson Memorial Unitarian Church. Between 1980 and 1982, the church name was changed to its current form: Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church – Unitarian Universalist.
Are we under any UUA-related obligation to keep the name Thomas Jefferson in our church name, or as a part of any of the names of our building, our rooms, or our physical space? Are we required in any way to maintain some kind of Thomas Jefferson Memorial as a part of our congregation?
No. The Task Force has contacted the UUA and reviewed the church charter, and the answer is no to all of these questions. We have been issued a signed letter from the Executive Director of Finance of the UUA stating that we are under no obligation to keep the name Thomas Jefferson as a part of the Unitarian Universalist congregation in Charlottesville. We have the autonomy and congregational polity to name our church according to the needs and desires of our community, and we are under no obligation to keep or display any objects, likenesses, or artifacts of or from Jefferson of the TJMC name, in or around our congregation. But of course we have the option to move some of our historical signage to another part of our grounds, and create plaques or other ways of contextualizing and teaching newcomers and visitors and future generations about our history of our name and its changes over the years, if our name does in fact change. As a congregation, we will be able to make decisions together about how and where we might create educational displays which tell the stories of our congregation, including but not limited to the evolution of our congregation’s name over the years. There will be plenty of opportunity for congregational input about all of these important questions, and if our name does change, we can work cooperatively together to tell these stories in ways that makes sense to us today, while we operate in the context of our modern-day mission and covenant, and mindful of how we contextualize our stories and our historical objects so that future congregants can understand and learn and ponder these important questions of nomenclature, holding up what we honor, what’s in a name, and how do we talk about our history while the world is changing? Our Purposes and Principles, our Covenant, and our Mission Statement, will guide us to do all of this with love and respect for one another and for all people as we create our solutions together. .
I heard someone say Thomas Jefferson wasn’t even a Unitarian. Is that true?
It’s complicated. Jefferson was baptized, raised, and married in the Church of England, the state-established church of Virginia before the Revolutionary War. Throughout his life, Jefferson regularly attended services at the Church of England and its successor, the Episcopal Church in America. It is unclear if he went through communion or confirmation, important coming of age rites in Anglicanism. Jefferson routinely disagreed with the dogma of the church, and refused to be a godfather to baptized children because of his beliefs. Jefferson expressed sympathy to Unitarianism in his life for its values of religious freedom. When he lived in Philadelphia, he did attend the Unitarian church there. In an 1825 letter, Jefferson wrote “I must therefore be contented to be an Unitarian by myself” however he never formally left the Episcopal church and had his children baptized and married there. Unitarian Universalist have long claimed Thomas Jefferson as our most famous Unitarian, but that statement is debated by some people and accepted by others. Even given all that, however, the fact that he may not have formally joined a Unitarian church is not the reason why so many people want to change the name of the Charlottesville UU church today; it’s beside the point.
This name change issue was so divisive in the past; why do people keep bringing it up? Why did the Board vote to endorse and support the changing of the church’s name?
As long as the name Thomas Jefferson is on the UU church in Charlottesville, there will be UU members who will work to change it.
At one time the name Thomas Jefferson meant something different than it does today. We have been made aware by our Black neighbors in our local community, and by Black UUs and UUs of color in our larger denomination, that the name Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church causes harm and is a barrier for us to be able to engage fully in the anti-oppression work which we built into our church’s Covenant and Mission statement. At this point in our community’s history, and in our nation’s history, our name is no longer welcoming or acceptable to a significant number of people of all races. Our church’s name is now considered to be controversial and divisive and it will continue to attract negative attention, and more importantly, it will continue to cause harm. .
Did Thomas Jefferson lead or found a Unitarian gathering here in Charlottesville? Is that why our church founders named the church after him? Did he have some sort of connection to or history with the land that our church sits on?
No. Our founders just namAny institution using the name Thomas Jefferson, but was not even not founded by or touched by him, is likely to be asked why it continues to choose to keep naming itself after Thomas Jefferson given how aware we are now about the impact his legacy has on people in the community. It is especially important for a Unitarian Universalist church such as ours, a church which has undergone a thorough mission/covenant creation process in which we democratically voted to adopt a Covenant Statement and a MIssion Statement in which we declare that we will “nurture our inclusivity”, that we are committed to “promoting social justice in our congregation and in the wider community,” and that of the three bullet points in our Mission Statement, the very reason for our being, one of them is that we seek to have a lasting influence on local, national and global programs that promote equity and end oppression, It is currently a barrier for us to be taken seriously or trusted by many of the groups and organizations in our local community and in our national denomination that are working to dismantle racial oppression and white supremacy, because we have not yet changed our name to something which does not have us named after a slaveholder. Our name is not only unwelcoming to religious liberals who seek a church that is fully inclusive of and consciously welcoming to people of color, it is also holding us back from being able tob even partner with key groups in our community who are
If we change the name of the church, won’t we be throwing away our history and erasing the work of the church founders?
No. We want to honor the UU values supported by our church founders by creating a welcoming congregation that allows all people to be a part of, or interact with, our congregation in a way that is respectful and affirming. As long as the name of the church interferes with that goal, we feel we are failing to honor the legacy of the original church charter. Our faith calls us to be seekers of truth, and as seekers we must be willing to adapt and change our perspective when new information is brought to our awareness.
If we change the name of the church, are we expecting American society to throw away the legacies of all the founding fathers and thinkers of a different era? Who’s next, George Washington?
Our task at hand is not to stand in judgement of history, our job is to ask, “Is this the best name for our church to lead us into the future?” “Does the name Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church serve our mission?” The legacies of other slave-owning historical figures can be reckoned with in their own way. It is not our job to judge them here (although many of us do), it is our job to make our church the best it can be and live consistently within the values of our faith.
We are absolutely not “throwing away the legacy” of Jefferson, or condemning him and declaring his contributions to be without value when we vote to change the name of this congregation. Our members who admire, cherish, and love, Thomas Jefferson and his work, can still proudly vote Yes to changing the name of the congregation. A Yes vote to help us move forward with a new name is not a Yes vote for demonizing Jefferson. It’s simply an acknowledgment of the complexity of a human, fallible man. And it is the recognition that, although he may be a hero for some, he is for others the man who enslaved their great-great grandmother and whose name creates pain, exclusion, and harm. This dichotomy of experiences with the name Thomas Jefferson is why the issue continues to arise within our church, and it is the facts within this dichotomy that threaten to put our beloved community on the wrong side of history and of the dismantling racism movement.
If we change the name of the church, how will we recognize the importance of the separation of church and state that Jefferson supported?
One of Thomas Jefferson’s most enduring legacies is his support of religious freedom and the separation of church and state. As UUs, this freedom is at the very core of our theology. The recognition of the importance of religious plurality, as well as humanist teachings, is reflected in our Sources (the document which lists the six sources of our UU living tradition).
Our Purposes and Principles reflect our values of liberty; a free and responsible search for truth and meaning; the importance of democracy; freedom; acceptance of one another; as well as justice, equity and compassion in human relations.
Across the nation UUs are engaged in efforts to protect and uphold the wall of separation between church and state. For example, The Rev. Dr. Neal R. Jones, Senior Minister of Main Line Unitarian Universalist Church in Pennsylvania, serves as the Chair of the organization, Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The UU congregation Rev. Jones serves is named after a geographical area.
We do not need to have a church named after a particular historical figure in order to have members, friends, and ministers who work passionately and actively to further our Unitarian Universalist values.
It is our UU teachings that guide us to “live our values”, and so we recognize that it is not the name Thomas Jefferson that expresses our support of freedom of religion, it is the practice of supporting and sharing Unitarian Universalism with those seeking a community of free thinking spirituality. We promote and support freedom of religion by supporting and nurturing our progressive church.
It has also been pointed out to us that there is some irony in using a political figure in the name of a religious institution. To have true separation of church and state, a church should not have the name of a government figure.
Our very long name buries the identity of our denomination. We are often called “The Thomas Jefferson Church” which leaves out our most powerful testament to religious freedom, the Unitarian Universalist faith. To boldly claim our name as UUs, and remove ourselves from the political figure of TJ, is owning for ourselves the values we ascribe to Jefferson.
People are offended by the name Thomas Jefferson, shouldn’t they do more research on the man to fully appreciate his contributions?
If we strive to be inclusive and welcoming, we cannot demand academic credentials from our visitors and congregation. Thomas Jefferson’s name exists in the popular imagination in an evolving context and we are taking the opportunity to evaluate the impact the name has on our ability to succeed with our church and faith’s mission. Deciding the value of the name for the future growth of our church is our task at hand.
I know a black person who admires Thomas Jefferson and is not bothered by the name. Who’s to say the name is offensive?
As is true of all people, Black people are not a monolith. You will always find some Black people, some Indigenous people, some white people, some Latinx people, some Asian people, who are or or not offended, hurt, or angry about a particular word, phrase, expression, or name of an organization.
The fact that some Black people, or people of color in general, like the name Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church, does not negate the experiences of hundreds and thousands of people across the country who are asking for our institutions to rename themselves in order to stop causing alienation and harm.
As a progressive congregation working to be allies of oppressed and marginalized people, it is our responsibility to listen to individuals, leaders, and organizers in the impacted communities.
We have the opportunity to absorb what we are hearing about how our name, and what our name represents to marginalized people and how it is negatively impacting our neighbors’ ability to trust and respect us as partners and allies.
This is our chance to listen and address how our name welcomes or alienates those who enter our doors for worship, for weddings, to access our Food Pantry, to attend community events in our buildings, or who see our name when they are passing by our building, working with us in IMPACT interfaith community organizing, or when viewing our church banner or our church tee shirts or signage at vigils and social justice events.
The cry has been resounding and clear: change your name.
While changing our name is an important step, if we want to live up to our church’s Covenant and Mission Statement, we recognize our congregation needs to put significant energy into more deeply impactful work to address the priorities of the Black Lives Matter Charlottesville dismantling racism movement.
Is it common for Unitarian Universalist congregations to be named after people?
It is rare for congregations in the Unitarian Universalist Association to be named after people. Many are named after their location.
Task Force member Matthew Diasio has been looking up the UUA’s list of member congregations in regions on the East Coast. Those were chosen because they are most likely to potentially have ties to influential figures in the early history of the United States, similar to ties people may have assumed that congregation has to Thomas Jefferson. (As mentioned above, the congregation does not have ties to Thomas Jefferson.) Of the 546 congregations in the New England and Central East Regions and in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, 11 are named after specific people who aren’t considered divine or otherwise holy. This suggests that the broader movement avoids the potential connotations of naming a congregation after a person.
No UUA member congregations in Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont, Florida, South Carolina, Washington DC, or West Virginia are currently named after non-religious figures. There are two UU housing cooperatives named after people in Boston, and their website says they are very specifically meant to encourage people to model the namesakes’ values.
We are the only congregation in Virginia named after a person.
Two in New York are named after people. Pullman Memorial Universalist Church was named in honor of George Pullman’s family, as he donated the money for founding the church in memory of his parents. May Memorial UU Society is named in honor of one of its ministers from the 19th century, a well-known abolitionist.
The Dorothea Dix UU Community in Bordentown, New Jersey seems most similar to our circumstance in being named after a prominent American who lived nearby in the 19th century, Dorothea Dix, but doesn’t have a direct connection as the congregation was founded in the early 2000s. https://dduuc.org/about/ Dix is best known for her work in mental health advocacy, though was not an abolitionist.
In Pennsylvania, there are two congregations named after American historical figures. There is a Thomas Paine UU Fellowship in Collegeville, PA. Matthew does not know if they have a connection to Paine. There is a Joseph Priestley UU Fellowship in Lewisburg, PA. Priestley was an important founding figure in Unitarianism in Great Britain and helped establish Unitarian congregations in Britain and the United States (including the Unitarian church Jefferson attended). Priestley also preached against slavery. The Lewisburg congregation does not seem to have a connection to Priestley, as it was established in 1962.
Two in Maryland are named after people. One is named after A. Powell Davies, a Unitarian minister in the 20th century who doesn’t seem to have a direct tie to their congregation. Interestingly, they also just changed their name: from Davies Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church, to Davies Unitarian Universalist Congregation. “Church” was changed to emphasize openness to people who do not identify as Christian and “memorial” was dropped because of confusion about it being a funeral home. https://daviesuu.org/davies-name-change/) Another Maryland congregation, Channing Memorial Church is named after Unitarian theologian William Ellery Channing. They are based near Baltimore, where Channing gave his famous 1819 sermon defining “Unitarian Christianity” in America and Channing gave a speech at the the Unitarian Society that was a precursor to the congregation http://channingchurch.org/channing-history/)
One in North Carolina (Outlaw’s Bridge Universalist Church) seems to be named after both its location but also Julia Kent Outlaw, who preached Universalism to the children who would grow up to found the church.
In South Carolina, Clayton Memorial Church seems to be named after a nearby cemetery.
Emerson UU Congregation in Georgia is named after Ralph Waldo Emerson, but has no connection to him. The name was chosen by vote when it was founded in the 1980s.
There are some ambiguous cases where the person is a divine figure or saint or other religious figure, which is worth commenting on, but also feels distinct. One church in Massachusetts is “First Christ Church” and another is named after St. Paul. Another New York church is named after St. Paul. One in Rhode Island is named “Church of the Mediator”, but many Christian churches use Mediator to refer to God.
Why should the name be changed now? Is this part of a trend of organizations changing their name?
The call to examine how the name Thomas Jefferson impacts our congregation’s ability to reach a diverse audience has been discussed for more than 5 years. Some long-time members have told us that the name has concerned them for longer than that. The current initiative is inspired by the increased focus on addressing racial justice issues within the UU faith and the country.
As we aspire to greater inclusivity, wholeness in our faith, and compassion for those we impact, the time to address this issue is appropriate for this moment.
TImeline of the last five years is available at this link.
Jefferson was a man of his time, wasn’t slavery considered normal and morally accepted in his era?
Jefferson was concerned over the morality of slaveholding, even if he didn’t move to free his own enslaved laborers. Concerning contemporary and future developments in slavery, Jefferson wrote that “Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever.” (Notes on the State of Virginia, QUERY XVIII).
During Jefferson’s life, slavery was practiced by some and abhorred by others all around the world. We should not erase the humanists and abolitionists, who were also men and women of their time, with the insinuation that Jefferson’s perspective was the only way of thinking in that era.
For example, at the same time Jefferson and many landholders in the South owned humans as forced laborers, there were many states where this practice was prohibited. There are only 160 miles between Charlottesville and the Pennsylvania border, yet the two places had distinctly different laws regarding slavery. In 1780 Pennsylvania passed the Abolition Act, creating a pathway to freedom for enslaved people in that state. This was 20 years before Jefferson became president. Jefferson was only one version of the men of his time. While he was president, he was the leader of both slave and free states and fully knew the contradictions of his defense of slavery.