Underwood Church was born out of the struggle for justice.  In 1843, a group of members of the Greenfield Baptist Church (now First Baptist) in West Allis separated over the question of slavery.  Initially the Hart’s Mills (Wauwatosa) church was part of a circuit of four churches served by the Greenfield pastor, Elder W. R. Manning.  On October 11, 1845 the Wauwatosa Baptists became an independent church.

            One of the new church’s first acts was to deny membership to anyone owning slaves or supporting slavery.  The church members also worked to elect antislavery candidates to public office, helped to fund an abolitionist newspaper, The American Freeman, and gave refuge to fugitive slaves.  Harriet Denny Underwood’s family was among the first to engage in this illegal but righteous activity.

            In 1842, the year Harriet married Enoch Underwood, her mother and step-father, Lucinda and Samuel Dougherty, hid Caroline Quarelles for several weeks on their farm in Pewaukee.  Caroline had fled slavery in St. Louis and was the first person conducted by the Underground Railroad through southeastern Wisconsin to freedom in Canada.  Harriet and Enoch also kept a station of the Underground Railroad in their house in Wauwatosa to shelter fugitive slaves.

            Enoch Underwood became the first permanent pastor, serving for almost forty years.  His ordination in December 1849 was not recognized for several years because of the slavery issue.  In 1853 the congregation changed its name to First Baptist Church of Wauwatosa.

            Later in 1906 our church renamed itself in Rev. Underwood’s memory.  The congregation has erected three church buildings, all of which remain to this day.  The meeting house completed in 1853 was the first church building of any denomination in Wauwatosa.  It was moved to the Wauwatosa Cemetery, first being used as a chapel and later a storage shed.  Plans are being made to restore the building to its earlier state.

            The second edifice, erected in 1888, is now home to the Latvian Lutheran church whose members fled the Soviet invasion and occupation of Latvia.  Our present building, across the street from the old church, was dedicated in 1954.  All three buildings were designated as Milwaukee County historic landmarks in 1991.  The elevator was installed in 1998, making the building handicapped accessible.

            At Underwood Church’s 150^th anniversary in 1995, our church was fortunate to see all this history come to life as descendants of the Underwood family and the Quarelles family were united for the first time, through the efforts of the late Jean Lavold, Church Historian, and Dr. Reid Trulson, pastor at the time.

            The ministry which began with giving shelter to fugitive slaves has continued in other forms throughout our church’s life.  After World War II our members sponsored people from Germany, Holland, and Japan for resettlement in the United States.  Since then people from Cuba, Vietnam, Romania, Liberia, the Congo, and most recently a Somali Bantu refugee family, have been helped to establish a new life here as they fled repression in their home nations.

            Our members have consistently been involved in ministries which seek to bring justice to all people.  Our church family is active in ministries that offer a hand up rather than a handout:  Habitat for Humanity, the Milwaukee Christian Center, Project Focal Point, and the Restorative Justice program.  Underwood Church is a welcoming and affirming body of believers, welcoming sexual minorities and families in all their forms.  Our desire is to grow as a multicultural and multiethnic congregation where ALL people feel welcome.

            We are striving to offer our community and the world living proof that Jesus Christ is our peace who makes strangers into friends, who breaks down the dividing wall, between persons. (Ephesians 2:12-14)