In 1985 an advertisement in the local St. Augustine newspaper invited persons interested in forming a Unitarian Universalist group to a meeting. In response, to the surprise of the organizers, twenty-five people met at Ted Karam's house, and the UU fellowship of St. Augustine was born.

In the Jacksonville area, a Universalist church existed at the time of the Civil War, and a Unitarian church was established in the early 20th Century. The Jacksonville UU church has, until recently, served as the sponsor of the St. Augustine Fellowship.

During the first several years, the St. Augustine Fellowship met every other Sunday night. Initially, Dr. Harry Stafford served as the acting minister; later, Dr. Mounir Sa'adah, a longtime Unitarian Universalist minister,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 gave a lift to the Fellowship by his six-month residence in 1988-1989. With increased enthusiasm and membership, the schedule was extended in 1989 to a weekly Sunday morning meeting at the local Duplicate Bridge club.

April 1990 saw another change as the Fellowship moved to a church building on State Road 3 which provides adequate seating, musical equipment, and facilitities for a church school. The Fellowship plans for this building to be its permanent home. At the time of the move to State Road 3, the Fellowship became the first local organization to take part in the State of Florida Adopt-A-Highway program.

Currently (2005), we have over 70 members and a dozen more "friends" of the fellowship.