The Rev. Robert M. Hemstreet

The Rev. Robert M. Hemstreet  — UU Humanist, creator of the Thanksgiving cider and cornbread communion, and lifelong searcher — died on February 11, 2015 at the age of 84.

Church life and work were early influences in Bob’s life. His grandfather was an Episcopal priest, with a ministry to the deaf. Mentored by a local Episcopal priest, Bob served as an altar boy in the church. But he was also was exposed at a young age to broader theological education, being raised in Canton, New York, where his grandmother rented rooms to students at the nearby St. Lawrence University Theological School. Ever curious and eager to learn, the story goes that young Bob spent many evenings with his ear pressed to a bedroom door, intently listening to the students’ theological discussions, all of which no doubt influenced his later religious journey.

Robert Merrill Hemstreet was born on May 25, 1930 to Albert B. and Beatrice Merrill Hemstreet. He earned a B.A. from New York University in 1952, and was drafted into the U.S. Army, receiving an honorable discharge in 1955. He went on to study at Crane Theological School of Tufts University, graduating with a M.Div. degree in 1964.

Ordained by the First Unitarian Church at Hamilton, Ontario, Canada in 1964, he served there from 1964 to 1968. From 1969 to 1972 he served as Minister-at-Large to the Greater Wilmington Council of Unitarian Universalist Societies, ministering half-time to fellowships in West Chester, PA and Newark, DE. Moving to full time ministry in Newark from 1972 to 1975, he also served as weekend minister in York, PA in 1973-74. He went on to serve as minister to the UU Church of Flushing, NY from 1976 to 1995, where he was elected Minister Emeritus in 1999.

Always active within the wider community and UU movement, he served as President of three UUMA Chapters (St. Lawrence, Joseph Priestley, and Metro NY), member of the Board of the Metro NY District, Trustee of the St. Lawrence Foundation for Theological Education, and member of the Flushing Interfaith Clergy Group. He founded and was elected President (1988) of Unitarian Universalists for Socialism, and was a faithful attendee at the annual Institute for Religion in an Age of Science at Star Island. The Thanksgiving Cornbread and Cider Communion that he wrote has been widely anthologized and is now a feature of many UU congregations across the continent.

Bob got his start in the anti-racist and socialist movements in his mid-teens, as a follower of C.L.R. James, an activist and author from Trinidad and Tobago, remaining an activist for the disenfranchised for his whole life. When the call came from Dr. Martin Luther King in 1965 for clergy to go to Selma, a former congregant of Bob’s felt it was so important for him to go that he emptied the cash register in the store he owned and gave Bob the $300 — Bob answered the call.

He was also dedicated to bettering his community and the world as an active member of the International Association for Religious Freedom, serving as the IARF American Chapter President from 1981 to 1984, and traveling to Europe several times.

Closer to home, he founded the original Queens chapter of Amnesty International during the 1970s, and served on the boards of the Queens Historical Society, the Queens Council of Churches, and the Queens Network for Intergroup Harmony.

Olav Nieuwejaar remembers Bob as “a wonderful man with a keen intellect and a great sense of humor, especially in the form of a practical joke.” Once, in an attempt to prove the uselessness of the self-proctored psychology test then used by the UUA for screening prospective ministers, he and some fellow Crane students together took the test as one person, creating a character with a real name but a totally fictionalized history. Olav recalls, “…before very long, the test was removed from the list of hoops we had to jump through and the Department [of Ministry] got serious about psychological screening.”

Bob’s interests were deeply embedded in his work. He found joy within social justice work and preaching; was an avid article-clipper; and appreciated reading, writing, and music. His wife Wendy remembers Bob as one who was “always searching,” even in his final days.

He is survived by his wife, Wendy Moscow, to whom notes of condolence may be sent at 25-18 Union Street, #5E, Flushing, NY 11354. His memorial service was held on March 21, 2015 at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Queens. Contributions in his memory are encouraged to the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, 689 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA  02139-3302 (http://www.uusc.org).