Chronology

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1. Civil rights era · 1945–1975

2. 1953–1993
   Storyline · 13 events · Chapel Hill Binkley Baptist and the Community Church of Chapel Hill

   The Community Church of Chapel Hill formed in 1953 as an interracial congregation and started an integrated preschool in 1955; Binkley Baptist organized in 1958 under Robert Seymour. The Baptist association refused Binkley membership in 1966 over its open membership, the state and Southern conventions disassociated from it in 1992, and the Community Church joined the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1993.

3. 1953
   Founding or opening · Chapel Hill Community Church of Chapel Hill forms

   An interracial congregation organized with Charles M. Jones as minister.

4. 1955
   Founding or opening · Chapel Hill Community Church starts an integrated preschool

   The congregation’s preschool admitted children across racial lines.

5. 1959
   Naming or commemoration · Chapel Hill Community Church dedicates its first building

   The building housed worship, classes, and offices.

6. March 9, 1966
   Publication, speech or performance · Community Church, Purefoy Road, Chapel Hill Herbert Aptheker gives his evening talk at the Community Church

   Kept off campus, Aptheker gave his evening talk to about 350 people at the interdenominational Community Church on Purefoy Road. Paul Dickson then announced a Free Speech Defense Fund to pay for a lawsuit.

7. 1970
   Construction or physical change · 106 Purefoy Road, Chapel Hill Cogswell/Hausler design a new sanctuary for the Community Church on Purefoy Road

   In 1970 the firm added a two-story International Style sanctuary with stained siding and large south windows to the Community Church at 106 Purefoy Road, tied to the congregation's plain brick building of 1957 by George Matsumoto through a glass link. The integrated, nondenominational church had been founded in 1953 by the Rev. Charlie Jones and members who left Chapel Hill Presbyterian with him.

8. Recent decades · 1976–2026

9. January 23, 1993
   Law, policy or court · Chapel Hill Community Church joins the Unitarian Universalist Association

   Members approved affiliation after years of discussion.

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Compiled and maintained by the Friends of the Orange County Public Library from county records, the sources named on each card, and the index’s event pages. Last updated October 1, 2026.