From 1964-1968, Rev. Jack Taylor was the minister at UUCUC and the Director of the Channing- Murray Foundation. On August 8, 1977, he reflected on some of the challenges of his tenure.

“As we packed to move from Amherst to Champaign-Urbana, a cloud, no larger than a hand, appeared on the horizon. That cloud was to obsess the nation, UU’s, and the C-U community for the duration of my ministry. The cloud was Vietnam. What I didn’t know at that time was that I would be granted one year of reasonable church normality – the expansion into a new building, the concerns of growth, participation in obvious ‘good’ causes like Selma and racial desegregation and the enthusiasm of two decades of UU expansion – before the military explosions in Vietnam, and the concomitant value explosions in American society, fractured our

institutions and lives.

“Student power, Black power, anti-war, anti-draft and drug movements tore at the fabric of the UU church. Threats to status and stability were everywhere. The church was expected to be an agent for change, a spokesman for morality and a pillar of stability at the same time. No social issue could be ignored from the pulpit and, as I now look back over my notes, no issue was ignored. It was a time immediate commitment regarding immediate controversies, and no minister wants to be in such a situation. Decisions were made, sermons preached and stands taken which could not help but destroy friendships. These, as far as I am concerned, were the darkest moment of the four years.”