Rev. Stephen Furrer And Unitarian Universalist Clergy Sexual Misconduct Cover-Up - What's The Connection?

Rev. Stephen Furrer was added to the list of Unitarian Universalist Ministers Who Resigned Fellowship Pending Misconduct Reviews in 2023. By stating that Rev. Stephen Furrer was being investigated for Conduct Unbecoming (sexual misconduct), the UUA's official list of UUA Clergy Removed or Resigned from Fellowship with Completed or Pending Misconduct Investigations makes it clear that he was being investigated for clergy sexual misconduct when he resigned.

 

It is my understanding that when a Unitarian Universalist minister resigns fellowship in the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association during a 'misconduct review' this ends the investigation. Needless to say, ending a clergy misconduct investigation before it is completed effectively conceals clergy misconduct that has not yet been discovered in the investigation process. . .

Rev. Daniel Harper's Yet Another Unitarian Universalist blog post titled 'More alleged misconduct, and a glitch in the notification system' sheds some light on the Rev. Stephen Furrer case that you will not find on the UUA website.

Rev. Harper writes -

I received an email today signed by Sarah Lammert, the executive secretary of the Ministerial Fellowship Committee (MFC) of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). The MFC was notifying congregational leaders that Rev. Stephen Furrer had resigned from fellowship with the UUA rather than face a “Full Fellowship Review…for sexual misconduct.”  

This corroborates what I said above about resignations terminating full investigations for clergy misconduct, sexual misconduct or otherwise. Without a full and complete investigation of the clergy misconduct being investigated, some of it, even much of it, never comes to light. . . It's a partial cover-up.

Rev. Harper goes on to say -

Mostly when these emails are sent out, there is just the simple notification that the minister has either resigned from fellowship before charges could be brought, or was removed from fellowship. Unusually, this email added: “The Rev. Furrer served many congregations as a settled or interim minister over more than four decades as a minister. In reviewing his record, it became clear that the Rev. Furrer had a broader pattern of boundary violations which impacted at least four of these congregations in differing degrees.”

So it is unusual aka not normal for these emails, that are only sent out to UUA 'religious professionals', to go into any detail about the clergy misconduct that was under investigation.

Quelle surprise. . .

But this UNusual addition is quite revealing. It makes it clear that Rev. Furrer served many UUA congregations as either a settled minister OR an interim minister over a span of more than four decades aka forty years, and that in reviewing the existing four decade record of Rev. Furrer, it became clear to the UUA's very aptly named 'Ministerial Fellowship Committee' that the Rev. Furrer had a broader pattern of boundary violations which impacted at least four of these congregations in differing degrees.” 

Allow me to spell it out for U*Us. . .

According to the UUA's 'Ministerial Fellowship Committee' aka MFC, Rev. Stephen Furrer seems to have already had previous clergy misconduct complaints brought against him that did not result in him being removed from Fellowship or resigning Fellowship while a clergy misconduct review was being done. How else could the MFC determine that 'the Rev. Furrer had a broader pattern of boundary violations which impacted at least four of these congregations in differing degrees'?

That 'differing degrees' is a red flag in and of itself.

It suggests that at least some of the 'degrees' of Rev. Furrer's 'boundary violations' were probably quite serious. . .

No?

Rev. Daniel Harper thoughtfully provides a complete list of the many UUA congregations Rev. Stephen Furrer served over the span of his four decade career as a misconducting UUA minister -

1981-1982 Asst. Minister, Berkeley, CA [not clear if this is the Berkeley fellowship or the Berkeley church Confirmed this was the Berkeley church]
1983-1987 Settled Minister, West Redding, CT
1987-1988 Interim Minister, Saco, ME
1988-1991 Settled Minister, Vineyard Haven, MA
1991-1993 Interim Minister, Berlin, MA
1993-1999 Settled Minister, East Suburban Pittsburgh, PA [presumably part-time, combined with the following two contract positions:]
1994-1996 Contract Minister, Morgantown, WV
1996-1999 Contract Minister, Indiana, PA
1999-2000 Interim Minister, Binghamton, NY
2000-2009 Settled Minister, Santa Fe, NM
2009-2010 Interim Minister, Santa Monica, CA
2010-2011 Interim Minister, Long Beach, CA
2011-2013 Interim Minister, San Francisco, CA
2013-2014 Interim Minister, Redwood City, CA
2014-2016 Interim Minister, Fullerton, CA
2016-2017 Interim Minister, Rancho Palo Verdes, CA
2017-2018 Interim Minister, Livermore, CA
2018-???? Developmental Minister, Bellevue, WA [a quick glance at their website shows this was through at least 2021]

What I find quite interesting about this list is that it shows that Rev. Stephen Furrer served as an 'interim minister' for much of his career. Interim ministers serve UUA congregations for a year or two between 'settled ministers' or 'contract ministers', some of whom resigned or were removed from Fellowship for clergy misconduct of their own. . . To be clear, I am not saying that some, or even any, of the UUA ministers whose congregations Rev. Furrer served as an interim minister after they left them for one reason or another are themselves guilty of clergy misconduct of one kind or another, but that is probably worth looking into in light of the fact that a group of interim ministers who decided to count how many UUA congregations had been affected by clergy sexual misconduct had stopped counting when they reached four hundred aka 400 aka 40 percent of UUA congregations. . .

The question arises as to when the first clergy misconduct complaint was brought against Rev. Furrer.

Was it early in his career?

Did it, or subsequent clergy misconduct complaints, precede his long career as an 'interim minister'?

If so, which seems not only possible but quite probable. . . why did the UUA arrange to have a minister who was credibly accused of clergy sexual misconduct serve multiple UUA congregations as an interim minister?

Rev. Harper goes on to write -

Presumably the UUA will contact those four congregations. And perhaps the UUA will contact all the congregations the Furrer served.

Why would Rev. Harper make those seemingly quite naive presumptions when he knows full well that Rev. Stephen Furrer, to say nothing of multiple other alleged or actual misconducting UUA ministers. . . resigned from fellowship with the UUA precisely because he would rather not face a “Full Fellowship Review. . . for sexual misconduct”?

If the UUA, and its aptly named Ministerial Fellowship Committee, genuinely wanted clergy misconduct to be fully investigated they would not allow UUA clergy the option of avoiding “Full Fellowship Review” by resigning would they?

Rev. Harper writes -

But there are others of us who might have reasons for wanting to know if Furrer had served a particular congregation — for example, a minister or DRE thinking of accepting a job at a congregation may want to do a little research to see if a congregation has a history of past clergy misconduct (something congregations frequently neglect to tell job applicants).

Quelle surprise. . .

UUA congregations frequently 'neglect' to tell job applicants, i.e. prospective future ministers and Directors of Religious Education, that their congregation has 'a history of past clergy misconduct'. All part of Unitarian Universalism's past, and apparently ongoing. . . culture of secrecy surrounding, and thus concealing, clergy misconduct of all kinds.

Rev. Harper also makes it clear that once Unitarian Universalist ministers are 'out of fellowship', 'they disappear from the UUA Directory'. He deems this 'disappearance' as being 'appropriate', even though he duly notes that 'the UUA Directory is the only place where you can find a public list stating which congregations a given minister has served. The unfortunate result is that histories of clergy misconduct may be obscured.'

Histories of clergy misconduct may be obscured?

No.

Histories of Unitarian Universalist clergy misconduct definitely ARE obscured by this long-standing UUA policy.

Can U*Us say 'systemic clergy misconduct cover-up'?

Speaking of histories of Unitarian Universalist clergy misconduct being 'obscured'. . . it's not just a question of UUA clergy misconduct being 'obscured' by a decades old, if not centuries old. . . culture of secrecy and concealment aka cover-up. Top-level UUA leaders, and prominent UUA clergy, engage in spreading misleading misinformation and demonstrably false disinformation about Unitarian Universalist clergy misconduct that includes, but is by no means limited to. . . child sex abuse.

And speaking of the concealment of child sex abuse most certainly committed by certain Unitarian Universalist ministers. . . can the UUA, and it's ever so aptly named 'Ministerial Fellowship Committee', explain why it is that the name of Reverend David Gregory Kohlmeier aka Rev. David Miller Kohlmeier, who was arrested on felony charges related to his 'attempts to use social media platforms to contact minor children to have sexual relations with the children' in September 2022, pleaded guilty to felony attempted involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child under 16 in March 2024, and was later sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 11½ to 23 months in the county jail in late October 2024, has yet to be added to the UUA's list of 'Ministers Removed from Fellowship by the Ministerial Fellowship Committee' in early 2025, even though Rev. Daniel Harper reports elsewhere that the MFC finally got around to removing Rev. David Kohlmeier from Fellowship in October 2024?