In March 2007, Nancy Works sent a letter in response to a request by Sally Babbitt and Doris Jones, detailing some of her memories during her tenure as UUCUC’s Chair of the Board of Trustees in the early 1990s. She had a rough time and was clear about what caused the challenges. 

In response to a question about remembering “joyful happy times,” she replied, “I served during a period of great crisis, and I honestly do not remember anything but serious dedicated work on the part of the entire board. We were not ever joyful because we feared that the church was being ripped apart by two strong determined factions. Nobody was in any mood to compromise over our great problem – whether or not to move the organ from the former Unitarian Church (Channing Murray building). My personal belief was that we should move the organ, as our instrument no longer worked, and the organ in the Channing Murray building was both neglected and abused. I personally saw paper plates of pizza on the organ over there several times.”

Further in her letter, she says she wants “to try to convey to a peaceful stable church what it was like to be Board Chairman at such a difficult time.” She goes on to describe some of the conditions surrounding the moving of the organ from Channing Murray to UUCUC. 

“Roland Liebert was Chairman of the Board of Trustees and I was Vice Chairman when the questions of moving Channing Murray’s organ to Green Street [UUCUC] arose. The question divided the congregation at Green Street. Channing Murray, of course, did not want their organ removed. Many Green Street members were also loyal members of Channing Murray. Roland was one of those people. As Board Chairman it was his duty to lead the Board to a decision concerning the organ. He could not or would not do that. I cannot say what he felt, only what I saw. Roland acted more and more uncomfortable and conflicted. He did not want to even discuss the problems. Emotions ran high, and one member, Vashti McCollum, even threatened to chain herself to the organ pipes if we tried to move it!

“Finally one Friday, to my great shock and consternation, Roland Liebert resigned his position as Board Chairman, and I had to get up in the pulpit the following Sunday, and announce Roland’s resignation and my assumption of the chairmanship. At that time I knew I was in no way prepared to take over at such a contentious time. The congregation was at war with itself. I was appalled and frightened.

“I do not remember exactly how it transpired, but a woman (minister?) from the Central Midwest District came to Urbana and called a meeting of our church and I assume Channing Murray folk also. That minister conducted the meeting and ramrodded the decision through that the organ would be moved. Many people were upset, some even outraged by what they saw as her high-handed behavior. I remember Murrell Jones being so angry that he stalked out of the meeting.

“So the organ was moved. Many of us were on hand at Channing Murray, outside the building and across the street, as the organ and its pipes were removed. Many people were crying. Some were muttering angrily. There had been talk of calling in the police if necessary.

“At the time of the conflict we lost quite a number of our members. Many of us were horrified that members of a church family could act so hatefully to each other. The organ incident precipitated the organizational division of the Green Street Church and Channing Murray legally. We learned at great cost how very different the two institutions were, and likely still are.”

Sally and Doris asked Nancy what she would have done differently. As was true throughout her letter, Nancy didn’t pull any punches. “I would not have accepted a position on the Board if I had had any idea of the conflicts that were brewing. During our problems, if I could have found another UU church, I would have left our church. There was no way I could have been a member of Channing Murray. As a former Episcopal, I think of my church and congregation as a spiritual home and a place of dignity. For me Channing Murray was a liberal political organization. There was nothing spiritual about it. It was just one more college student organization on campus, and a radical one at that. However, I had two children in the church school, and because of them and their needs, my UU beliefs and a strong sense of duty, I was bound to stay. Somebody had to be strong.”