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The First Unitarian Church of Rochester is located at 220 Winton Road South in Rochester, New York, U.S. The congregation is one of the largest in its denomination, the Unitarian Universalist Association. The non-creedal church conducts programs in the areas of spirituality, social concerns, music and arts. The church was organized in 1829. In the 1840s it began attracting a group of social reformers from Quaker backgrounds, one of whom, Susan B. Anthony, became a leader of the women's suffrage movement. In 1848, two weeks after the Seneca Falls Convention, the first women's rights convention, which was held at Seneca Falls, New York, a follow-up women's rights convention was organized at the First Unitarian Church of Rochester. Abigail Bush was elected to preside even though the idea of a woman chairing a public meeting was considered too daring for some of the leaders of the emerging women's movement who were present. Concern with social issues has been a recurring theme in the church's history. In the late 1800s the church provided evening classes and other activities for children in the church's low-income neighborhood. At the turn of the century, church members played leading roles in the campaign to open the University of Rochester to women and in the local, state and national campaigns for women's suffrage. In the 1930s the church provided office space for Planned Parenthood when other accommodations were difficult to find. In 1988 the church began providing classroom support to Rochester city schools. In 2006 the church initiated a program to improve the quality of life in a small township in Honduras. In 2009 it established a talk line to offer non-judgmental support to women who have had abortions. First Unitarian's building was designed by Louis Kahn and completed in 1962. It was described as one of "the most significant works of religious architecture of the century" by Paul Goldberger, a Pulitzer-Prize-winning architectural critic.〔 Its exterior is characterized by deeply folded brick walls created by a series of thin, two-story light hoods that shield windows from direct sunlight. The sanctuary's complex ceiling has light towers in each corner to bring in indirect natural light. The story of the design process that Kahn followed at First Unitarian has been described as "almost classic in architectural history and theory". Kahn began by creating what he called a Form drawing to represent the essence of what he intended to build. He drew a square to represent the sanctuary, and around the square he drew concentric circles to indicate an ambulatory, a corridor and the church school. In the center he placed a question mark to represent his understanding that, in his words, "the form realization of Unitarian activity was bound around that which is Question. Question eternal of why anything."〔 ==Congregation, beliefs and programs== With a membership of about 1000,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= First Unitarian Church )〕 the First Unitarian Church of Rochester in Rochester, New York, U.S., is one of the largest in its denomination, the Unitarian Universalist Association.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Largest Congregations in the Unitarian Universalist Association )〕 Its senior minister is Kaaren Anderson.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Church Staff )〕 The church conducts three weekly worship services, two on Sundays and one on Saturdays.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=New Here? )〕 The church is non-creedal, having, in the words of its web site, "No single religious text. No ten commandments. No creed to which you must agree ... This respect for individual particularity and openness to diverse sources of wisdom means our community is packed with a wide array of perspectives and beliefs."〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Beliefs and Values )〕 The church's mission statement is: "Creating connection by listening to our deepest selves, opening to life's gifts and serving needs greater than our own - every day!"〔 The church school has a stated goal of encouraging children "to seek their own truths, to clarify their values, and to live lives of meaning inspired by those values."〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Children and Youth Religious Education )〕 The church operates on a Policy Governance system by which the board of trustees focuses on the long-term goals of the church while the parish minister oversees its operation. The board specifies the results expected from the parish minister and sets limits for his or her activities. The board does not specify how those expectations should be achieved, but it does evaluate the results.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Governing Policies of the First Unitarian Church )〕 Officers of the church are elected by annual congregational meetings.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Bylaws of the First Unitarian Church of Rochester )〕 In the 1970s the church developed a task force system to coordinate its activities in the area of social concerns. Members interested in a specific activity gather signatures to qualify as one of the church's task forces, which, if approved by the congregation, will be eligible to receive funds from the church budget. Oversight is provided by the Social Justice Council, which is composed largely of representatives from the task forces. Through this system, the church sponsors projects that provide classroom support for Rochester schools, temporary shelter within the church for homeless families, free Sunday suppers at a Catholic Worker program, improvements to the quality of life in a small township in Honduras, and other projects that focus on such issues as peace, reproductive rights, and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender concerns. The Council also oversees grant programs that provide financial support to community organizations.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Social Justice )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= A Social Justice Council Guidebook )〕 The church's music and arts programs include a choir, a house band, a handbell choir, a drama group, a chamber music series, a coffee house and an art gallery.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Worship )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Music and Arts Groups )〕 Interest groups sponsored by the church include Soul Matters groups that focus on monthly worship themes, several types of meditation groups, Wellspring groups with programs of daily spiritual practice, Buddhist groups, qi gong, tai chi, book discussion groups, and several types of support groups.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Small Groups )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「First Unitarian Church of Rochester」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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