Rev. Dr. Kenneth Torquil "Ken" Maclean

Rev. Dr. Kenneth "Ken" Torquil MacLean died on May 29, 2024 at the age of 97. He was a prominent Unitarian Universalist minister, in several US locations, for 54 years.

Ken was born on October 4, 1926, in Brooklyn, NY, to John A. MacLean and Josie MacLeod MacLean. He grew up in Cranston, RI, and graduated from Cranston High School (1944). He served in the US Army (1944-1946). He graduated from Brown University in 1949 and taught English and social studies at Alexander Hamilton High School in Los Angeles from 1951 to 1957.

Ken married Harriet L. Johnson in 1954. Harriet introduced him to Unitarian Universalism. He attended the Unitarian Community Church of Santa Monica where he became involved as a church school teacher, forum leader, and committee participant. He became deeply committed to the denomination. In 1960 he graduated from Harvard Divinity School as a Bachelor of Sacred Theology. In 1982, Meadville Lombard Theological School in Illinois conferred on him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity.

Following his ordination in1960 by Unitarian churches in Roslindale and West Roxbury, MA, Rev. Mac Lean served those churches and the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Church in Knoxville. He helped found the first Knoxville chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. From 1972 to 1992, Rev. MacLean served as senior minister of the Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Bethesda, MD. Upon his retirement, the Cedar Lane congregation honored him as their minister emeritus.

Following retirement, Rev. MacLean served as a visiting minister at the UU Church of the Desert in California. In 1993, the President of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) appointed him as a "Special Assistant for Interfaith and International Activities." In this role, from 1994 to 1999 he worked to strengthen UU heritage worldwide and helped organize the founding meeting of the International Council of Unitarian Universalists. Subsequently Rev. MacLean again provided his services to the Church of the Desert (1999-2006 and 2009-2012), and led them to build a new church home in Palos Verdes, CA.

In addition to his parish ministries, Rev. MacLean founded organizations within the UUA to improve financial circumstances for Unitarian churches and ministers. He helped establish the UUA's task force on AIDS. He works to support the ordination of ministers of religious education. In 2014 he received the UUA's Annual Award for Distinguished Service to the Cause of Unitarian Universalism.

In his spare time, he enjoyed swimming, piano, travel, and theater. He is survived by his partner Terry Watson and his son Derek MacLean.

A memorial service will be held at 2:30 p.m. on September 21, 2024, at the Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 9601 Cedar Lane, Bethesda, MD 20814.