Polly Guild's Sense of Mission

The Rev. Polly Guild died at her home near Boston MA on November 7. She was the Minister Emerita of the Follen, Massachusetts, Unitarian Church, and one of the founders of the International Council of Unitarians and Universalists. She and her husband Ted Guild were dedicated UU's and long-time international enthusiasts. In the late 1980's they combined these interests when they accepted the task of International Co-ordinators for the UUA, as volunteers. In this role they made contact with most of the existing U-U organizations and groups in the world, and were instrumental in helping to plan and fund the founding meeting of the ICUU. Polly worked with the ICUU as volunteer program coordinator for many years, she helped develop the first ICUU web site, took care of archives, and helped to make the ICUU known within the UUA.

Many ICUU member congregations and leaders were personal friends of Polly's. She sponsored students and helped ministers in need, she contributed to building projects in India, a community bank in the Philippines, she was a beloved mentor to U-U's in Pakistan, the Czech Republic, Hungary, the Khasi Hills, and more. Through these relations and projects her goodwill will continue to help Unitarian-Universalism grow and prosper for many years to come. We will miss her presence, but her spirit will live on through us.

ICUU Program Co-ordinator Jill McAllister paid tribute to her writing: “Polly Guild was a mentor for me, and a good friend, for more than 15 years. Her dedication to the wide-world of Unitarian Universalism, and to the global U-U movement, inspired and instructed me. We worked together in ICUU meetings and conferences around the world, and in UUA events and programs here at home. Her easy way of being a friend and supporter to so many is one of the things I will always remember, and I hope that some of that friendly spirit of hers will live on in me and through me as we continue the work which was so important to her.”