Adapted from histories written by past SLUU Presidents Mark Dahm & Margie Hallmark

The Early Years

In the fall of 1997, a small and dedicated group of people met to start a new congregation.  This congregation grew from attendees of the UU Church of Clearwater.  The first meetings took place at various homes.  After several weeks, we began meeting under the pavilions of Philippe Park in Safety Harbor for our initial lay-lead services and planning sessions. Our award-winning newsletter was started during this period and helped us share the information necessary to start a new church.

We moved several times before finding our present location.  From 1997-2000, we rented the Italian American Club in Clearwater, the Oldsmar Rec. Center, and the Oldsmar elementary school. In April of 2000 we found, funded and purchased our current property on Burrell Road.  In June of 2000, we moved in and held our first service under the beautiful oaks in the back part of our property.  Since then we have erected a Pavilion, renovated a barn into a cottage for classrooms, created a Butterfly Garden, a Memorial Garden, a labyrinth, a playground, a fire pit and have hosted numerous events from picnics, concerts and festivals to our biannual Wine Tastings.

Our Vision

In December 1997, two of our members attended the New Congregation training at the UUA in Boston.  They developed an “impossibly ambitious” timeline for the creation of a new church and entry into the UUA.   Early in 1998, we crafted our vision, mission and covenant.  We selected the name Spirit of Life, which was not even under consideration until the very day the name was chosen.  In the year 2000, we began the Welcoming Congregation program and voted unanimously to state that we indeed are a Welcoming Congregation. 

Ministry

In June of 1998, we voted unanimously to ask Carole Yorke to become our minister.  She was installed in the following August.  In the spring of 2005, we said good-bye to Carole after several years of wonderful leadership, guidance, and service.  Shortly thereafter we welcomed our current part-time consulting minister Alec Craig.

Awards & Honors

• 1999 Excellence in RE award from the Florida district
• 2001 Our LifeLines newsletter won an award for quality from the Florida UUA district. 
• 2002 SLUU received a grant from the Liberal Religious Educators’ Association to help us maintain and expand our wonderful, all-volunteer RE program.
• 2004 Two of our members received awards from the Florida District UUA: the Unsung UU Hero Award and the Excellence in Religious Education Award.

We celebrated our 10th anniversary in 2007!  We look forward to many more!