In Part 1, I noted that opposition to consolidation was strong in the North Branch churches, with the possible exception of Athens.  Herbert Campbell, the long-time Clerk of the congregation, and his wife Mazie supported consolidation.

The Athens congregation, which had no building and only a handful of members, experienced a sudden influx of new members in 1960.  Two couples from the recently-closed Church of the Messiah in Philadelphia joined in July, and, a few months later, Harry Means’ wife Marguerite joined by transfer, probably from Towanda.

Why would four Philadelphians join a tiny, homeless congregation that was 150 miles away?

The two couples, James and Ethel Weakley, and Ethel’s son Richard Edwards and his wife, were longtime Universalists. They probably knew Harry Means from his time in Philadelphia.  James Weakley was also involved in the anti-merger movement.

Maybe the Weakleys and the Richardses could not find an anti-merger congregation nearer to their home.  But why choose Athens over, say, Towanda, which was the largest of the North Branch congregations?  Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I think Harry Means was trying to shore up support for the rebellion in his least supportive congregation.

Athens Clerk Herbert Campbell also suspected an ulterior motive in the new members.  He wrote to the head of the Universalist Church of America (UCA) in May, 1961:

“Two couples from the defunct Messiah Church, of Philadelphia, have transferred to the Athens Church.  Presumably they would guard against the possibility that any of their dollars might find their way into the heathen works of Liberalism!”

The North Branch churches dug in their heels in the fall of 1960.  The local newspaper reported in September that those four, along with three other churches in northeastern Pennsylvania, would refuse to join the merged organization.

At a meeting in Philadelphia in April, 1961, opponents of consolidation organized the national Committee for Continuing Christian Universalist Churches (CCCUC).  Harry Means was elected secretary-treasurer; James Weakley was elected vice-president.  Means told a Bradford County newspaper that this new organization took issue with the UCA over its

“extreme liberal views… It has abandoned traditional Universalism by embracing Humanism and other philosophies that deny the existence of God and refuse to accept the spiritual leadership of Jesus.”

The Unitarian-Universalist merger was finalized in May, 1961, when the constitution and bylaws of the new UUA were approved.

During the summer of 1961, Harry Means went on a “preaching mission” through the Southern states, possibly to drum up support for the CCCUC among the Universalists in the “Bible Belt.”

Means resigned from the North Branch churches in December, 1961, to accept a call to the Universalist church in Hopkinsville, KY.  There he continued his activities in the CCCUC for a few years.  The movement appears to have died out by the mid-1960s.  Means left active ministry about 1965.

The North Branch congregations were left to struggle with their relationship to the new UUA.  A few months after Means’ departure, the North Branch called the Rev. Albert D. Bell, whose nine-month pastorate was, unfortunately, even more disruptive than Means’ was.

But Athens learned a lesson and moved on.  In the aftermath of Bell’s resignation in March, 1963, Athens member Hazel Campbell Boyd wrote to UUA leadership:

“I believe this has shown us that we need to accept the Uni-Uni merger.  This is the opinion of a few and we need to sell it to the rest.  I feel we were influenced and led astray at the time of voting.”

In 1965 the Athens congregation voted in favor of a different merger: with the Sheshequin congregation.  That marriage has lasted over 50 years and is still going strong.