April 10-April 12

This week I finished compiling metadata for Reverend Fuller's sermons given in 1961 and began scanning documents containing the sermons he gave in 1957. The reason for this is because there are no sermons given by Reverend Fuller after 1961 because that was the year he left. He must have left towards the end of the year because the final sermon of the year given in December was authored by Reverend Smith. In his final sermons, Reverend Fuller made it clearly known that he was leaving but he did not go into much detail why. What he did make clear was that he had enjoyed his time in Orlando and that he had the fondest of memories concerning the First Unitarian Church. This led him to make many poignant observations concerning Unitarian beliefs. It is certainly not surprising that he had felt so sentimental. He was around when the First Unitarian left their old location which was in Central and Rosalind. He was also there when the church school finished construction and was dedicated in 1960 after having construction begun in 1954. Indeed, it is no wonder that Reverend Fuller's final sermon was so touching.

Reverend Fuller's final sermon asked a deceptively simple question, what endures? Most protestants would say that it is the soul that endures but Reverend Fuller is not so sure. He has not seen enough evidence to be convinced that a personal soul endures after death and what even is the true nature of a soul. Reverend Fuller instead believes in a concept known as 'salvation by character', which was first coined and developed by Ralph Waldo Emerson. A famous influence on Unitarianism whose name was mentioned in many prior sermons. According to Emerson, it isn't so much saving your soul that is important but rather it is loving your brother that is the top priority. Man should focus on helping his fellow man more than about him or herself. This ties into Reverend Fuller's belief that it is the good a man does that endures.What also endures is man's never ending search for truth, beauty and justice. Over time nations disintegrate and generations fall and rise but the values that they saw as important will always last. Mankind, being intrinsically good, will search for these values as long as they exist as a species. The beneficial contributions they make to society will also last beyond them. Reverend Fuller may be leaving the First Unitarian Church, but he hopes that the good he did will last even when he is gone. Still, he confesses to being sad at the prospect of leaving, but change is a fact of life. This neatly ties into the other theological concepts he discussed in his sermons. According to Reverend Fuller, the universe is an ever changing process of different forces interacting with one another. Mankind is not alone, but rather part of the ever changing universe. Part of the creative process that runs it all that will, of course, always endure. After this sermon, Reverend Fuller would serve as a reverend in Syracuse and would pass away due to a heart condition in his native New England.