1983 – 1988 Jeanne Foster Beaufort Hill: Finally the Fellowship felt itself solvent enough to look for a half time minister. Jim Steffens and committee recommended the Board hire Rev. Hill as half time minister. She would continue living in Berkeley while completing her doctoral dissertation at Starr King. Jeanne, formerly married to a Unitarian minister, was a published poet, college teacher and mental health specialist and had a master’s degree in philosophy. On her weekends in town, she often stayed with Marion Erickson or Fred Herman and Mary Menz.

She had office hours on Sunday afternoons, “Breakfast with Jeanne” at Lyon’s Restaurant on Mondays and, later on, “Sunday evenings with Jeanne”. She continued with sermon talkbacks, Easter flower communion, classes and services for new members, pulpit exchange and led classes on meditation. We started a special Christmas Eve collection, to be put to use at the minister’s discretion.

Marion Erickson, Fred Herman and others continued to provide Sunday services centering on various themes; education in theology, ethic values, the spiritual journey, personal enrichment and problem solving.

At the Annual Meeting in 1985 we voted to include enough money for a full-time minister in the 1985-1986 budget. We called on Rev. Hill to fill the position in 1988. At first she accepted the position, only to give it second thoughts and finally decide that it was not the time for her to take a full time position.

During this time we built the patio between the Sanctuary and the Block Building. Walt Lab designed it and the Gloria Zellmer Memorial Fund paid for it.

Lee Binna, who was taking care of the grounds, proposed that the fellowship “Adopt a Plot”, hoping this would provide better upkeep and a sharing of the work.

Jim Steffens established a committee to focus on long-range goals (3 to 10 years).

Katherine Holmberg updated the library using the Dewey Decimal system.

In an attempt to get an accurate and correct membership list, we established an official membership book. Once the new members decide to join the Fellowship, they are asked to sign, with their signature witnessed by a board member or the minister.

Religious Education:

Mary Menz taught a curriculum featuring famous people who have contributed to our lives. Zoe Teufel and children had a Halloween collection for UNICEF, made ornaments and decorated the Christmas tree.

Religious Education attendance was poor; 3 – 5 children on average. We called a special meeting in January 1985 to discuss the future of the program. We decided to discontinue the Religious Education program for the remainder of the year, but to continue nursery care for the young children. Ted Pack’s yearly focus in 1986 would be the study of the bible with a Unitarian slant, with 6-12 attending. Leah Frew would teach holidays and holy days; one of her classes made a Chinese New Year Dragon.

Social Action:

Some of the issues were: The Sanctuary for Central American refugees, Peace/Life Center, Women’s Resources Center, Children’s Crisis Center. We voted to support a moratorium on uranium mining in Arizona. We passed Fred Herman’s 1985 resolution to divest from firms doing business with South Africa. We declared our church property a nuclear free zone.

In 1986 Marion Erickson convinced us to sponsor a Hmong refugee family, the Thaos. They attended services faithfully at the Fellowship for a number of years. It was a sponsorship mainly in name only, outside of a few donations of furnishing and clothing, but we valued their loyalty to the Fellowship. Many members purchased Song Thao’s beautiful “Pan Dao” (stitchery handiwork). We bought, framed and hung a story cloth.

Other groups continued to use our facility. One of them was the Jewish Reform group, Temple Oho Likuahr, who rented space for their Friday worship services for six years.

Activities:

Fund raising continued with silent auctions, youth group luncheons, cabaret night, canvass dinners and wine tasting. We had a workshop with Robbie Cranch (Vision and Growth), singles adult program (Discovery) and dream workshops. Many of the same social events continued, along with two joyous occasions; the 20th anniversary of residing on Keirnan Rd. 1964-1984, and the 80th birthday party, in February 1985, honoring Lois LeBaron, Fred Johnson, Thelma Zingle and Roy Hall.