Howard Thurman (1899–1981) was a theologian, minister, author, and civil rights spiritual leader. He became one of the most influential religious thinkers of the twentieth century. He was born in segregated Daytona Beach, Florida and was raised by his grandmother, who had been enslaved. He became a Baptist minister and later the Dean of Chapel at both Howard University and Boston University. Thurman co-founded the interracial and interfaith Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples in San Francisco in 1944 — one of the first intentionally interracial churches in America. He influenced leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, especially Martin Luther King Jr. Thurman believed that every person possesses sacred worth and that silence and contemplation are essential spiritual practices.

The Annual Meeting of the Sedona Unitarian Universalist Fellowship will be held in the New Room immediately following our Service.