Stevens Chapel

The First Universalist Society of Holmes Hole (a village in the town of Tisbury) was established in 1860 by Brother Bruce of Sippican following several itinerant Universalist and Unitarian minister Vineyard visits to preach during the 1700 and 1800’s. It met in the abandoned Congregational church on Spring Street which is now the Tisbury Town Hall.
In 1867 Rev. Daniel Waldo Stevens was sent by the American Unitarian Association as a missionary to minister to the seamen using the outer Holmes Hole harbor when in need of refuge, repairs or supplies. Rev. Stevens established the Seamen’s Reading Room and Chapel on a bluff overlooking the harbor which was heavily used by ships traveling between Boston and New York.

As Brother Bruce had moved on and the Universalists were having difficulty finding a minister for each Sunday, the American Unitarian Association offered Rev. Stevens to provide their Sunday services on a contract basis in addition to his regular duties. Thus the First Universalist Society changed its name to the Church of the Unity. This arrangement lasted only four years as by 1880 the Church of the Unity had failed. By then, many townspeople were attending the Chapel Sunday services.
The Seamen’s Reading Room and Chapel flourished until the death of Rev. Stevens in 1891. Rev. Stevens had been interested in a church being built here. The Stevens Memorial Chapel was built and paid for near Rev. Stevens Reading Room and Chapel in 1896 by the Channing Conference of the American Unitarian Association. The Unitarian Society of Vineyard Haven, (formerly Holmes Hole), was formed two years later. The first Society president was Capt. Gilbert L. Smith, a retired whaling captain who served 27 years. Capt. John Reynolds, also a retired whaling captain, served for the next seven. The Parish Committee solicited funds for the minister’s salary and the Women’s Alliance raised the funds for all other operating expenses.

The chapel was moved to its current location in 1904 and funds were raised to purchase our Hook and Hastings organ in 1905.
With only two brief exceptions, ministers were available only in the summer. Sometimes services were held in homes with sermons being read. However the Women’s Alliance met all year.

By 1942, following WW I, the depression, and facing WW II, the Women’s Alliance folded. The congregation had not attracted new, younger members. Facing failure, the American Unitarian Association and the Channing Conference introduced Rev. Karl Nielsen who helped the congregation reform to become a summer church with a budget and a pledge campaign. Rev. Nielsen was the winter minister in Sarasota, FL. In addition to summer Sunday services, he began a series of Forums (discussions of current topics) for which the speakers were the intellectuals amongst the summer residents. These were very successful.
Following the merger of Unitarians and Universalists in 1960, the Society became the Unitarian Universalist Society of Martha’s Vineyard. The Channing Conference sold the Chapel to the UUSMV Trustees for $1.00 in 1963. When the distinguished Rev. Max Kapp came to be our minister in 1970, the Society again began year-round services. In the 1990’s efforts were made to have a Religious Education program and for a while in the 2000’s this program was vibrant.  In 2005 UUSMV became a Welcoming Congregation.