The Universalist Church of Urbana was chartered on May 17, 1859. It was the days
of Abraham Lincoln serving as a circuit rider in Central Illinois. He visited one of the
early church services held in a local meeting room. He was criticized for having
attended such a service. Lincoln replied that of all the doctrine’s he’s heard,
Universalism was the easiest one to defend. The fledgling church didn’t have the
resources to build a structure until after the Civil War, when they built a brick church
at the corner of Green & Birch. Be sure to check out more of that story in the article
titled ‘Our Church Home’ in this issue of eNews.