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* From Gov. Pritzker’s inaugural address…
[Illinois] is where, on the Sunday morning after the Great Chicago Fire, Reverend Robert Collyer, pastor of the First Unitarian Church, an immigrant, an ardent anti-slavery abolitionist, and a women’s suffrage advocate, stood amidst the broken ruins of his once grand church and brought hope and vision to his devastated congregation. His parishioners gathered around him, the sun peeking through gutted walls and splintered beams, an overturned column serving as his pulpit.
His words that morning have survived the 147 years since he delivered them…a testament to their power and truth:
“What is lost?” he asked. “First, our homes. Second, our businesses. But these are temporary. … We have not lost our geography. Nature called the lakes, the forests, the prairies together in convention long before we were born, and they decided that on this spot a great city would be built. … We have not lost our hope. … The fire makes no difference to me. If you’ll stay here, I will. And we’ll work together, and help each other out of our troubles.”
Since Reverend Collyer’s time, Americans have often had to gather in broken cathedrals – some of stone and glass – some of aspirations and promises – to reaffirm our faith in one another.
We find ourselves at such a moment now.
* Wrong Unitarian church…
2/ At time of the Fire, the Rev. Robert Collier/Collyer, whom gov quoted, was at 2nd Unitarian Church. That's the one that burnt down. https://t.co/nZllxv4zta #twill
— Alex Keefe (@akeefe) January 14, 2019
3/ Collier/Collyer had worked with 1st Unitarian, Schwartz tells @WBEZ. Per its website, @firstuchicago survived the fire and served as a refuge for victims. No immediate response from the gov's folks. #twill https://t.co/rY7QAW8Q8V
— Alex Keefe (@akeefe) January 14, 2019
*** UPDATE *** From Gov. Pritzker’s office…
On the church, that’s our bad. We should have been more clear that the fire destroyed the Second Unitarian church and not the First.
Interesting historical fact: there were two Robert Collyers – Robert Collyer, who preached at the First Unitarian Church and then was drafted to preach at the Second Unitarian Church – so he preached at both. There was also another Robert Laird Collier who became pastor of the First Unitarian Church (see the same section of the Our Roots page, under 1857-1871).
In the spirit of Rev. Collyer, we ask your forgiveness.
Nicely done.
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 3:28 pm
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That’s right…now it’s coming back to me. The First Unitarian Church was destroyed by locusts.
Comment by Colin O'Scopy Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 3:32 pm
To: The Governor’s office
Subject: Google is your friend
Body: see subject
Comment by Precinct Captain Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 3:35 pm
This isn’t “great”…
How they handle it now, this will be the first chance to show how this Crew handles mistakes… as an administration.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 3:37 pm
Guess his whole administration is an epic failure, huh?
Comment by Alrighty then Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 3:37 pm
Details matter, but I’m certain that Rev. Collyer would be more concerned with the message than the messenger.
Comment by Midstate Indy Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 3:37 pm
As Oops go - this is far easier to see as an honest mistake than Rauner’s “I called Madigan and talked to him.” lie on the 2014 election night.
Comment by Name Withheld Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 3:38 pm
Is the only thing he got wrong saying 1st instead of 2nd? Is everything else correct? My fingers are crossed that this is the biggest mistake he makes during his tenure as governor.
Comment by Montrose Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 3:39 pm
Meh, he was off by 1…
Comment by OneMan Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 3:40 pm
Wrong church, wrong pew… a forgivable sin.
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 3:40 pm
Proof - as if we needed it - that Illinois still needs @RadicalCandor and BTIA.
Comment by Mockingjay Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 3:40 pm
Amateur research mistake. Smh. Attention to detail kiddies.
Comment by ;) Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 3:41 pm
UUer’s hold no malice toward Gov. Pritzker for this. Not in their nature. Metaphor still works. Please move along. Thank you.
Comment by The Bashful Raconteur Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 3:41 pm
And that’s how the extra raises for the comms team were canceled.
Comment by lakeside Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 3:42 pm
pastor of (one of)the First Unitarian Church(es),
It’s not about being right.
It’s about not being wrong.
Comment by Leigh John-Ella Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 3:45 pm
Really, is this any worse that Rauner’s non-Lincoln quote?
Comment by Morningstar Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 3:48 pm
Oh come on. I’m a stickler, and even I don’t care about this one. The guy worked at both churches. The church actually burned down. It’s just the wrong number.
Am I the only one who remembers the little girl who thought Rod was Mayor Daley?
Comment by Soccermom Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 3:50 pm
Welp, guess the entire inauguration is void now!
Comment by Buford Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 3:50 pm
This matters, but probably only to the members of those churches. Sloppy though. Tighten it up.
Comment by Excessively Rabid Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 3:54 pm
Perspective;
Possibly citing the wrong church in a story. Not great.
Saying he spoke to the Reverend or saying he personally heard the Reverend say that - really bad.
It takes nothing of tone or tenor away from this really great speech.
Perspective.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 3:54 pm
1st? 2nd? It was in the top 5, OK?
Comment by 47th Ward Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 3:58 pm
===On the church, that’s our bad. We should have been more clear that the fire destroyed the Second Unitarian church and not the First.
Interesting historical fact: there were two Robert Collyers – Robert Collyer, who preached at the First Unitarian Church and then was drafted to preach at the Second Unitarian Church – so he preached at both. There was also another Robert Laird Collier who became pastor of the First Unitarian Church (see the same section of the Our Roots page, under 1857-1871).
In the spirit of Rev. Collyer, we ask your forgiveness.===
I wrote…
===How they handle it now, this will be the first chance to show how this Crew handles mistakes… as an administration.===
… handled it perfectly… including “in the spirit” bit.
Nicely done, indeed.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 4:05 pm
==Meh, he was off by 1… ==
I say he was off by 100%. /s
Comment by Whatever Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 4:06 pm
Blame it on Madigan….
Comment by Wylie Coyote Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 4:06 pm
I’m fairly cynical, and even I have to acknowledge that the mea culpa from the Governor’s office — “In the spirit of Rev. Collyer, we ask your forgiveness” — is pretty good.
Comment by thunderspirit Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 4:07 pm
Rod would have doubled-down and tried to direct $1 million to a school at the first unitarian church to restore it after the fire.
Comment by Ok Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 4:09 pm
=At time of the Fire, the Rev. Robert Collier/Collyer, whom gov quoted, was at 2nd Unitarian Church=
In fact, those are two different people. Robert Collyer was a minister-at-large at First Unitarian, and later became minister at what is now Second Unitarian (at the time, it was called Unity Church), and was there at the time of the Chicago fire.
But also at the time of the fire, First Unitarian had a minister named Robert Laird Collier.
No wonder there was confusion.
Comment by JoanP Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 4:13 pm
I agree with OW. Nicely done.
Comment by FormerParatrooper Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 4:13 pm
Hey look, as a Unitarian Universalist, I’m just unbelievably jacked about being mentioned in anything. Since Garrison Keilor no longer mocks us on Prairie Home Companion, we’ve been in quite a dry spell.
Pritzker better clarify though that he is still Jewish. UU’s will claim anyone who changes a tire in the church parking lot let alone a Governor who mentions us in his inaugural address.
Comment by Honeybear Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 4:14 pm
Ha, I was typing while you were updating.
Comment by JoanP Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 4:14 pm
Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?
Comment by titan Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 4:15 pm
And that, was a Pro response! Well played kiddies! Rock on this year.
Comment by ;) Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 4:18 pm
To err is human. It seems that folks who are generally true to themselves and honest have far less trouble owning their mistakes. This was a very small one and handled with grace. nicely done.
Comment by What's in a name? Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 4:25 pm
Pitch perfect. The raises are back on.
Comment by lakeside Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 4:30 pm
What Honeybear Said.
Comment by West Sider Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 4:44 pm
Who knew you needed two Unitarian churches in 1872?
Reminds of the story of the old Norwegian rescued after being stranded alone on a South Pacific island for 30 years.
The rescuers were amazed at the home he’d built for himself, all by himself. And they were confused by two other nearby structures.
“What’s that one?” they asked.
“That’s my church,” the old Norwegian replied cheerily.
“What’s that other building?”
The old Norwegian turned grave and said darkly: “That’s the church I used to go to.”
Comment by wordslinger Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 4:45 pm
You pay the kind of money he is they better be good, fast and on point.
Well done
Comment by DuPage Bard Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 4:50 pm
=Who knew you needed two Unitarian churches in 1872?=
There were more than two.
Third Unitarian was founded in 1868. There was also a Fourth Unitarian Church, founded in 1869. Fourth was re-organized as All Souls Church by Jenkin Lloyd Jones (Frank Lloyd Wright’s uncle).
Comment by JoanP Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 4:57 pm
“Well done” would have been not having to issue a correction about the Chicago Fire when the founding of 1871 has been a cornerstone of your campaign and your family nearly controls the Chicago Historical Museum.
Also, the problem isn’t that you should have been more clear, or that there were two Robert Colliers. You burned down the wrong church.
But hey, we forgive you.
Comment by Mockingjay Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 5:02 pm
“=Who knew you needed two Unitarian churches in 1872?=
There were more than two.”
Wouldn’t that make it Multitarian?
Comment by a drop in Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 5:09 pm
Unitarians don’t want salvation, they want closure.
- Garrison Keillor
Comment by Soccermom Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 5:29 pm
Let me guess . . . . . no one on this thread vowed to spend less time on minutiae and get a life as a New Year’s resolution . . . . . . . . . ..fair enough.
Comment by Truthseeker Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 5:41 pm
Very nicely done
Comment by Present Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 6:22 pm
What do you get when you cross a UU with a Jehovahs Witness?
Someone who knocks on your door for no apparent reason.
Comment by Honeybear Monday, Jan 14, 19 @ 6:41 pm