UU Belmont Alliance: Rev. Martha Durkee-Neuman

The Belmont UU Alliance is pleased to welcome our own Assistant Minister for Lifespan Faith Formation, Reverend Martha Durkee-Neuman, to join us for our next presentation on Thursday, May 8th at 11:00 am on Zoom. Rev. Martha will share about growing up UU, what led her to ministry, and her values in lifespan faith formation. Before becoming a minister, Martha was a community organizer, an electoral political trainer, and a youth activist. She will share about the experiences that brought her into ministry and what the journey has been like for a young woman in the faith -- including experiences with our Unitarian communities in the Khasi Hills in Northeast India, interfaith student organizing, and the fellowship movement in the United States. Martha will also talk about religious education at First Church in Belmont, what she has learned this year, and what the future of intergenerational community-building and programs looks like for our community. We look forward to welcoming you there.

There will be a brief Business Meeting at the very beginning of Martha’s presentation. Please contact Kathy Lind at kathyalind@aol.com for the Zoom link.

Our Story:

The Belmont Unitarian-Universalist Alliance is the oldest continuing meeting group at First Church. It was founded in 1890 as the local branch of the Alliance of Unitarian Women. When the Unitarian-Universalist Association was created, this Alliance became part of the Unitarian-Universalist Women’s Federation.

While it met at First Church in Belmont, the Alliance wasn’t part of the Church’s organizational structure. It had its own elected officers, dues, and bank account. Dues-paying participants were the official members.

The Alliance held monthly lunches which included either a presentation or an excursion. In earlier years, the organization ran the Rummage Sale, put on a music program and Wassail every December, and provided the reception following funerals. The group also contributed to church projects such as the restoration of the Tiffany Window.

Alliance bylaws were amended in 1999 to reflect the dissolution of the national organization and the absorption of the local chapter into First Church. The structure of the Alliance remained largely unchanged until 2014, when the group dropped the word “Woman,” from the title to make it clear all, not just women, are now welcome to join in.

Now a subcommittee of Adult Programs, the Alliance remains semiautonomous with its own bank account and elected officers. Because the group now holds its monthly meetings on Zoom, it no longer collects dues. At its May 2023 meeting the group declared that anyone who attends two presentations during a two-year period will be a voting member. The group votes to elect officers and approve expenditures. Officers include President Nicole Bernstein, Co-President Patricia Hawkins, Treasurer Miriam Baker, Secretary Mary Harrison, Program Committee Doris Hunter, and Technical Advisor Mark Rosenstein.