I believe in the creative power at work in the Universe,
in the mystery of life,
in the divine in every person,
in the possibility of a better world,
in the lasting effects of all my actions,
in the redemptive power of love,
in the increase of knowledge through the use of reason,
in the respect for my own thoughts,
in honoring those who have fought
for new ideas
and in the reverence for all
that is true and good
and beautiful.
—Reverend Harold R. Dean, 1954
I have directed my life toward the ideals that my dearest teacher, Reverend Harold Dean, taught me when I was young. Through his ministry and the gesture of his life, he taught the joys of human possibility. Those joys are the foundation of church and congregational life. They are the very center of me.