William D. Hammond
Boone County, MO (1939-40)
Calloway County, MO (1939-40)
Rush Hill, MO (1939-40) (presumably all part-time)
NY Society for Ethical Culture, NY (1942-45)
St. Louis, MO, Society for Ethical Culture (1943-45)
Chicago, IL Society for Ethical Culture (1945-46)
Chicago, IL (Unitarian) (1946-50)
Grosse Pointe, MI (1950-64)
Fort Wayne, IN (Mich-Ohio District Exec.) (1964-70)
Wayzata, MN (1970-74)
Asheville, NC (1974-83)
By all accounts, the Rev. Hammond was the right person at the right time for GPUC. We were meeting in the Carter House on Rathbone and Jefferson when he arrived. His inspirational and thoughtful sermons and caring ministry grew our membership to 260 in 1958. Rev. Hammond saw the membership through the trials of building a new church, our current home, to handle the crowds. During his tenure, our church was advertised as providing “Religion for the Modern Thinker."
Rev. Hammond was a man of many interests. He had a great interest in astronomy and semantics and taught both subjects in the adult education program of the Grosse Pointe Public Schools. He was one of the founders of the Greater Detroit Memorial Society, which addressed unfair funeral practices. He was also one of the founders of the Michigan Area Council of Liberal Churches, a predecessor of the Unitarian Universalist District of Michigan.