I’ve been trying to find out something about Preston Bradley. He was the minister of People’s Church in Chicago from 1912 to 1976. At its peak, People’s Church reportedly drew 4,000 people each Sunday, presumably over the morning and evening services, probably the largest Unitarian church of all time. Beyond that, Bradley’s radio broadcasts reportedly reached five million people. These figures may be exaggerated — Bradley has been accused of inflating the size of his congregation and the number of his radio listeners — but he certainly reached a great many people, most people than just about any other Unitarian minister; his closest competitors are Theodore Parker and Norbert and Maja Capek.
But there’s not much about him online. This post collects some of the information that I’ve been able to dig up. Feel free to link to more material in the comments.
In 1929, the Universalists took notice of Bradley in an article in The Universalist Leader (vol. 32 no. 47):
“One of the most interesting preachers now in the Unitarian Church is the Rev. Preston Bradley of the People’s Church, or Uptown Temple, in Chicago. It is safe to say that for the first time a considerable number of his ministerial colleagues have become acquainted with him. Dr. Bradley began his ministry as a Presbyterian, but soon found his views expanding and gradually he outgrew the creed of his church. In due time he separated from his denomination and with his congregation carries on an independent movement. Feeling the need of fellowship and the advantages of union with some denominational body, they affiliated with the Unitarians seven years ago. One of the best and biggest sessions of the conference was held in his church. The Uptown Temple is a fine new building, in proportions and arrangements not very different from the well known Tremont Temple in Boston, but much more artistic. It seats about thirty-six hundred people and it is filled every Sunday morning.”
When the People’s Church voted to affiliate with the Unitarians, there was an article in the American Unitarian Association’s Christian Register (7 February 1924) — notice that a different attendance figure is reported here:
“Dr. Preston Bradley is minister of the People’s Church in Chicago, Ill. This church was founded by its present minister twelve years ago, and is now one of the most largely attended liberal churches in the world. Its Sunday morning attendance is upward of two thousand. Services are conducted in the Pantheon Theatre on Sheridan Road north of Wilson Avenue. The church voted recently to affiliate with the Western Unitarian Conference, the American Unitarian Association, and the National Federation of Religious Liberals.”
This excerpt from “Another View of Preston Bradley,” by Judy Thornber, gives a sense of the impression Bradley made as a preacher:
“As a true admirer who heard Preston Bradley on the radio and in person at his church, I saw no sign of megachurch techniques. Bradley did not ‘orate.’ He spoke in a personal, conversational way, revealing his own feelings and thoughts and his high aspirations for what people could do. He acknowledged that times were difficult and many people had enormous problems. It was, after all, the Depression. He did his best to provide hope to his following, without mention of God or Jesus, and to engage in citywide social action with various civic organizations. This man was not an Elmer Gantry type egoist. He was passionate about empathy and support for those with troubles, but not in a ‘theatrical’ way. His true genius was that he simply talked directly to his congregation, both on the radio and in the church, as if they were intelligent people who wanted to lead good lives. He tried to encourage them and keep their hope alive.
Thornberg goes on to offer some excellent advice that probably still holds true for today’s Unitarian Universalists ministers:
“Since few of today’s UU ministers can grow membership the way Bradley did, we should seriously study his sermons to understand why they spoke so clearly to people and were so well received by the public. When Bradley spoke, you felt he was speaking to you one on one. He shared himself. He did not pretend to have all the answers. He did preach that hope could be nurtured by persevering and by focusing on leading a good life according to our own best lights.”
With that brief introduction to Bradley’s life and work, here are some of the online resources I’ve found.
Preston Bradley online
N.B.: You must look at the comments for Lisa DeG’s extensive list of links to Bradley material.
About Bradley
1. Time magazine article on his 25th anniversary, 26 April 26 1937.
“The [25th anniversary] jubilee was that of the world’s largest Unitarian church (2,500 members), founded with 67 members in 1912 by a rotund, swarthy little man who today is Chicago’s most popular Protestant pastor.”
2. “Another view of Preston Bradley,” Judy Thornber, 14 July 2015.
Personal memories of Bradley; see excerpt above.
3. Patrick Murfin’s brief biography of Bradley
This is the only biography of Bradley that I’ve been able to find online. That the “Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography” does not have a biography for Bradley may seem like a curious omission, given that Bradley was one of only a handful of Unitarian or Universalist ministers of a 20th C. mega-church (a mega-church is defined as a church with a Sunday attendance of over 2,000; remember, that’s attendance, not membership). Beyond that, because of his radio broadcasts Bradley was arguably one of the most widely-known Unitarian ministers of the mid-twentieth century. Furthermore, Bradley actively promoted social justice, which seemingly would pique the interest of today’s Unitarian Universalist scholars. However, Bradley holds little interest for today’s UU scholars, and that may be for a number of reasons: Bradley trained for ministry at Moody Bible Institute rather than at an elite theological school; Midwestern and Chicago Unitarianism is generally undervalued by UU scholars; and Bradley remained a Christian Unitarian long after that became unpopular. Perhaps his worst sin, though, was that he was a wildly popular preacher, and we UUs seem to be uncomfortable with the fact that our religion actually holds attraction for the common person.
Bradley’s written work
1. A copy of The Liberalist, a publication of People’s Church that mostly featured Bradley’s writing; from May, 1960.
2. “Mystery of Life” in The Unitarian Christian, periodical dated Dec., 1950.
3. Along the Way: An Autobiography, 1962. Hosted at the Internet Archive; if you have an account with the Internet Archive, you are able to “borrow” this book and read it for free online.
Audio of his radio sermons
1. The Harvard Square Library website has audio for six of his sermons (oddly enough, linked to from a webpage describing how Bradley inspired the soap opera “The Guiding Light”)
The sermons are:
“An Inspirational Message in Troubled Times” (25 January 1943)
“What is Christianity” (18 January 1959)
“Thanksgiving Sermon” (November, 1960)
“The Religious Atheist” (12 April 1964)
“Meeting Criticism” (24 October 1965
“The Pastor in the Blizzard” (N.D.)
2. Illinois Digital Archive has audio for one of his sermons
The sermon is:
“Education Decisions” (10 March 1939)