We Have a Candidate! — And Then We Didn’t

In April 1986, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Lansing believed its long search was finally over. After nearly two years without a settled minister, a candidate had been selected, a candidacy week was scheduled, and a congregational vote was approaching.

Within weeks, however, the process took an unexpected turn: the candidate withdrew prior to the scheduled vote, and the search continued.

“The Search Is at Its End”

By April 1986, the congregation had been without a settled minister for nearly two years. Following Rev. Denise Tracy’s ministry (1976–1984), Rev. Maryell Cleary had been serving as interim minister while the Search Committee did its work.

The April 7, 1986 issue of the Liberal Express captured the mood in its opening line: “The search is at its end — we have a candidate!” After “long weeks and months of reading and judging, listening and judging, talking and judging,” the Search Committee introduced Rev. Davidson Loehr as the person they were “proud to present.”

Loehr was, at the time, finishing his doctoral dissertation at the University of Chicago on the linguistic philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein — a theologian, philosopher, music theorist, writer, photographer, gourmet cook and baker, and Vietnam veteran who had most recently been working as a hospital chaplain on the “heavy” wards at Northwestern Memorial. He would be ordained that spring at the Farmington UU church. Had the vote gone forward, our congregation would have been his first settled ministry.

The Search Committee secretary, Frank A. Pinner, wrote the announcement with evident warmth. Loehr had said that since receiving the congregation’s informational packet the previous November, our church had been his “favorite.” “It shows,” Pinner wrote, “we have had more communication of every kind with him than we have had with any other potential candidate.”

Everything about the introduction suggested alignment, enthusiasm, and momentum.

The congregation was invited to meet him during a candidacy week, May 4–11, culminating in a vote requiring a three-fourths majority to extend a call.

1986 Search Committee: FR: Bill Benallack, Alice Hill, Alice Erickson, Lynn Scott, BR: Jim Smith, Marianne Davis, and Frank Pinner. (2007.0051)

Meanwhile, the Church Kept Being the Church

One of the things that stands out in reading old newsletters is how much else was happening at the same time. A congregation in the middle of a ministerial search is still a congregation — still gathering, still celebrating, still doing the ordinary things that make a church a church.

That April, a Sunday service titled “Celebration of the Arts — The Humor in Creativity” brought together music, drama, poetry, and storytelling. Members were invited to bring childhood photos for a “tree of life.” The Membership Book was opened for signing, with the congregation invited to “share your gifts, your talent, your time.” The Annual Meeting was on the schedule, as was a Passover Seder centered on hope for freedom from cruelty and war. Gourmet dinners, wine tastings, softball leagues, and retreats rounded out the calendar.

None of that stopped because a search was underway. Life kept going — as it always does.

The Turn No One Expected

Then, the search was no longer over.

The May 12, 1986 newsletter reported that Davidson Loehr had withdrawn his candidacy before the scheduled May 11 congregational meeting. He indicated that the fit did not feel right. Those who had gathered were stunned.

The newsletter offered no further explanation — only the fact of it. After months of searching and weeks of anticipation, the process ended not with a vote, but with a withdrawal. For a congregation that had just read “we have a candidate,” the reversal must have landed hard.

What Followed

The search continued. Rev. Robert Lehman served as interim minister through the regrouping period, and in 1987 the congregation called Rev. Dr. Angeline Theisen as its next settled minister — a ministry that would shape the congregation in its own significant ways.

The road was longer than anyone had hoped in April 1986. But the congregation found its way.

Rev. Robert Lehman. (2008.0560)

A Familiar Season

Our congregation is now in the early stages of considering its next ministerial search, with a transitional minister expected to join us in August 2026. The specifics are different. The feeling — the particular mixture of uncertainty, hope, and the ongoing work of being a congregation together — is not.

The April 1986 newsletter is a reminder that these seasons have always been part of our life together. Searches take longer than expected. Outcomes surprise us. Interim ministers hold us steady. And through all of it, the church keeps meeting, keeps singing, keeps opening its membership book, and keeps showing up.

Forty years ago, our predecessors in this congregation faced a stunning reversal and found their way through it. That’s worth remembering — and worth carrying forward.

Seeking Your Input

If you were part of the congregation during this period, your memories matter to this project. What do you remember about how the church responded to the 1986 transition? How did it feel from the inside — in worship, in religious education, in the hallways before and after services?

Written recollections are welcome, as are photos, bulletins, letters, or home recordings you may have held onto. Even fragments help. If you have something to share, or simply a story you've never written down, please reach out at uucgl.archives@gmail.com.

Acknowledgment

This post was researched and written by Ed Busch. AI writing assistants — Claude and ChatGPT — were used to help organize and refine the presentation of archival content. The research, archival work, and interpretive judgments are his own.

About the Author

Ed Busch is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Lansing and serves as the volunteer archivist for the congregation. He is retired from Michigan State University, where he worked in digital preservation and archives.

Through the UU Lansing Archives project, he enjoys uncovering stories from church newsletters, board records, photographs, and local history sources to help connect the congregation’s past with its present.

Ed also serves on the UU Lansing Stewardship Team and helps with Building and Grounds projects. He is currently working with other members of the congregation on landscaping and preparations for the dedication of the church’s historical marker on May 31.

Sources

Liberal Express newsletters, April 7 and May 12, 1986. UU Church of Greater Lansing archives.
https://atmospherepress.com/interview-with-davidson-loehr/
https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B001K7NSOW/about