Dear historophiles (or all who are curious about St. John’s origin story),   

You now have access to a new way to engage with the stories of St. John’s founding, building and people, on a digital timeline: https://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/1753717/History-of-St.-Johns-Unitarian-Universalist-Church/#vars!date=2020-03-15_20:30:14!

Please note that by clicking on the wrench at the lower right corner, you can adjust your personal view of the timeline without changing the “official version.”

Although I created this timeline in anticipation of last Sunday’s service celebrating our church history, particularly its German heritage, I believe it also presents an opportunity to add many more stories, especially relatively recent ones.  Thank you to all the people who took the time to record an event or two on index cards in Krolfifer. We look forward to receiving more stories from the people who took home index cards or prefer to participate virtually and send an email to programming@stjohnsuu.org or Deb Combs, our church historian to gather, curate and sequence. 

While you may have focused on names and dates related to recognized leaders and events such as wars and treaties, we are interested in person stories related to YOUR experience whether marking a shared life event such as a marriage or child dedication or  a recollection of special time for you such as when you felt you belonged here.

By the way, in the German language the word “Geschichte” is used both for history as a school subject and story more generally, with meaning determined by context and article “a” vs. “the.”

Looking forward to learning more not only about the official history but also herstory and your story,

Marie Inanli, Co-director of Religious Life