Our congregation was started when a group of 22 people interested in Unitarianism began meeting in homes, and by 1954 a  Religious Education program was started. The children met Sunday mornings in the cafeteria of Brush school, which the congregation rented.  By 1956 the Fellowship purchased a building on Elm Street and the first service held in this new space was March 3, 1956.  During the 1960s and 70s the Fellowship was extremely active in the intense social movements of that era: integration of schools,  restaurants, and housing, and opposition to the Vietnam War.  The Fellowship also participated in the restructuring of the Carbondale City Government.

By 1997 it became apparent that the Fellowship needed a new building, as the present one was in bad condition and would be too expensive to remodel. Property on the corner of Sunset Drive and Parrish Lane was acquired.  For years there had been conversations about calling a minister.  We learned about  the  Extension Ministry Program which aids congregations in selecting their first minister. We were fortunate by means of this program to select as our first minister in history, The Reverend Bill Sasso, who served the Fellowship from August 1999 until retiring in June of 2012.

After years of planning and fund raising, construction for the current facility began in June, 2003.  The first service in the new building was held March 28, 2004.  In 2012 the Reverend Don Vaughn-Foerster joined us to assist with our transition to our next settled minister.  The Reverend Sarah Richards became our second minister in the Fellowship’s history.  Rev. William Sasso received the status of Minister Emeritus on February 24, 2019.  In May of 2021 the mortgage for the North Parrish Lane building was completely paid off.