Welcome to Our Church Website

Bloomington Illinois church services have always had a reputation for being conservative, but all churches are not the same.  Bloomington first experienced a Universal Unitarian Church when in 1859, Kersey Fell, Jesse’s Brother, started a group with 20 or so members who met in Phoenix Hall on West Washington St. in Bloomington Illinois.   Since then a number of well-known figures in both Bloomington and Normal have been members including such names as Fell, Stevenson, Metcalf, Cook, Felmley, Schroeder and Whitten.

It was decided that our church needed a building of its own and construction for the first building began in 1866 on the corner of East and Jefferson Streets in Bloomington (now the site of National City Bank).  That building served the church’s congregation through several renovations for over 90 years.

When it became time to build again there was much debate over whether to rebuild on the downtown Bloomington site or to relocate altogether, possibly to the town of Normal Illinois.  Many of the current members were living in Normal at the time, and argued for the church to be located closer to them.  Normal Illinois church services tended to be conservative and a bit dry at the time and the residents of Normal were eager for a more progressive church to be located close to them.  Ultimately, the old lot was sold to Corn Belt Bank.  The Pantagraph Foundation, through Loring Merwin, chipped in $25,000 and in 1959 the congregation bought 1.8 acres “on the edge of town” that would be convenient for the people of both Bloomington and Normal.

Architect Eugene Asbury provided the design for the new church, construction began quickly and the first service was held here in September of 1960.  Five years later, growth in the church school prompted the addition of the new wing to the north and east of the sanctuary.