“Starr King: The Orator Who Saved the Union”

Lincoln called Unitarian minister Thomas Starr King “the orator who saved the Union.” Learn how his life and religious beliefs compelled him to speak against slavery and for social justice at a pivotal time in American history. What might he say about the challenges and obligations to social justice that Unitarian Universalists face today?

Steve Tipps’ curiosity about Starr King led to this readers’ theatre presentation developed in a 2015 sermon-writing seminar with Joan Kahn-Schneider and thanks the members of that workshop for their support and suggestions.  This play has been staged by UU churches in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Connecticut, and North Carolina.  Some readings and music in the service could have been heard in churches where Starr King preached.


Steve Tipps, UUFH member, guest speaker

Steve Tipps is a native Texan, but he managed to escape to North Carolina in 2002 with Becky Poplin, a native of Henderson County. He earned an undergraduate degree in mathematics and English at the University of Texas Arlington, a Master’s degree in Elementary and Early Childhood Education at East Tennessee State University, and a doctorate in Mathematics Education from Ohio State University. He calls himself a “mathematics missionary” due to his 40 years of teaching and consulting with teachers and students and his authorship of Guiding Children’s Learning of Mathematics from 1984 to 2019. Steve has served UUFH in many roles over the past 20 years. He became interested in Unitarianism after reading Transcendental writers in college.


Jenna Jaffe, guest musician

Jenna Jaffe has been performing music, dancing and making art since she was a child.  She has a vocal performance degree from the UC Santa Barbara and extensive graduate vocal work at the USC. Jenna is multifaceted. She is a multi-instrumentalist who has taught for thirty years. She is mixed media visual artist that focuses on equality for all life ( you can see her work at The Refinery, in Asheville). Jenna teaches ESL at AB Tech, is on the Board at AAPF, and both National & WNC Music Teachers Association.

In 2022 she received  a Tzedek Social Justice Impact Award for her musical and artistic work engaged in community activism and system change. 

In her “spare” time she  gardens, studies languages, mindfulness, and energy healing. She also performs regularly in Asheville NC.

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