The Oklahoma Eagle Newswire
All Souls Unitarian Church celebrates 100 years in Tulsa on March 28, 2021. While the building remains closed for the time being due to the pandemic, All Souls continues to meet online via Facebook Live, Zoom, and the church website. Two special services will mark Centennial Sunday, with a traditional sanctuary service at 10 a.m. and a humanist service at 11:30 a.m. CST. All are welcome and encouraged to attend. Options and links for viewing services can be found at allsoulschurch.org/live.
The Charter forming All Souls Liberal Church was signed by 27 members at the YWCA building in March of 1921. Now known as All Souls Unitarian Church, All Souls is one of the nation’s largest Unitarian Universalist congregation.
All Souls Church, and its membership, has helped to shape Tulsa, including bringing different denominations and faiths together for Tulsa’s first Interfaith service and marching for civil rights in the 1960s, helping public schools integrate in the 1970s, addressing the AIDS crisis in the 1990s, and continuing to work toward LGBTQ, immigrant, and racial justice today.
“Those of us here today are dedicated to preserving the best of our traditions, continuing to share the good news of our liberal theology, and to growing the church so we will still be serving the people of Tulsa 100 years from now,” Senior Minister, Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar said.
First meetings were held downtown at Tulsa’s Old City Hall, then Temple Israel, and the Majestic Theater. The church’s first permanent home was in the building that now houses Fitzgerald’s Funeral Home at 14th and Boulder. In 1956, the church moved into its current location at 2952 S. Peoria Avenue.
