In Memory of William “Bill” Alberts (October 26, 1926 – March 22, 2021)
We offer our condolences to the family and colleagues of the Rev. Dr. William “Bill” Alberts, who died on March 22, 2021, at the age of 94.
Bill was born on October 26, 1926, in Williamsport, PA to Ralph Stanford Alberts and Nellie (Marks) Alberts. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from Lycoming College, PA in 1951, following which he earned his Master of Divinity from Westminster (now Wesley) Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. (1954). In 1961, he received his Ph.D. in psychology and pastoral counseling from Boston University, MA. His doctoral research involved developing an attitude scale which measured ministers’ attitudes toward delinquency on an authoritarian-supportive continuum.
Rev. Alberts served as a minister of United Methodist Churches in MA and PA from 1949 to 1973. For many years, he was attracted to Unitarian Universalism, the attraction created by this theological movement toward a universal ethic of humanness and justice. While a United Methodist minister in the early 1960’s, he regularly attended meetings of the North Shore UU Ministers’ Association and was accepted as an ex officio member of that group. In 1961, he began the process of applying for fellowship as a UU minister but his desire to create a meaningful ministry in Methodism led him to not complete the process at that time.
In 1973, two months after performing the marriage of two male members of Old West Church in Boston, MA, Bill was forcibly retired from the United Methodist ministry. His resulting landmark lawsuit created new case law protecting the rights of confidentiality of ministers and others and is detailed in his book, The Minister Who Could Not Be Preyed Away.
For several years he worked as a contributing editor/columnist for The Boston Ledger, as an advocate, counselor and evaluator in two court related programs, and taught at Roxbury Community College, MA. His commitment to non-sectarianism, respect for individual differences, recognition of the wisdom of others and tradition of demanding justice and self-determination for all people continued.
On November 19, 1978, Rev. Alberts was installed as minister of The Community Church of Boston (CCB), MA. CCB participated in the Central American sanctuary movement by providing sanctuary for a Guatemalan refugee for two years. He made several trips to Nicaragua and El Salvador during the period. The weekly Sunday services provided a platform for well-known speakers dealing with peace and justice issues. Rev. Alberts was granted preliminary fellowship in the UUA ministry in 1981 and final fellowship three years later in 1984.
Following CCB, Rev. Alberts served as interim minister at the First Congregational Society, Leominster, MA (1991-1992), and as an affiliate minister at the North Fork UU Fellowship, NY (1996). In 1992, he became full-time chaplain at Boston Medical Center and remained there for over 20 years. It was this experience that inspired his book A Hospital Chaplain at the Crossroads of Humanity.
Rev. Alberts’ ministry placed priority on learning, knowing and engaging the views, concerns, interests, ideas, abilities and creative possibilities of the members of a congregation. He wrote extensively about racism and published over 100 articles on religious, racial, civil rights, gay and lesbian and political issues. His commitment to the struggle for liberation and justice for people of color, gay, Central Americans, the poor and oppressed are reflected in many of his writings, some of which include:
The ‘White Magic’ of Systemic Racism, booklet published by the BillEva Press, 1977; reprinted in THE CRISIS (Journal of the NAACP), November 1978; “The Racism of Equality,” THE BOSTON LEDGER, July 20-26; and “Life’s lessons from our patients: The diversity of divinity, Connections, monthly newspaper of Boston Medical Center, March 1994.
Rev. Alberts was a member of the UUMA. He was also very active in the community serving as a member of Boston’s Black Ministers’ Alliance, the Massachusetts Chaplains Association and Advisory Committee, and the Civil Liberties Union of MA. He was a Diplomate in the College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy, NY.
Beginning in 2004, Bill became a regular contributor to CounterPunch, an on-line political journal. Over the years he wrote over 150 essays for CounterPunch, the last being in December 2020, co-authored with his daughter, Amy Warren and entitled “The Messiah Awaits Our Coming.”
Bill is survived by his wife, Eva Young Alberts and their daughter, Amy Warren; as well as three daughters, Susan Cook, Jeanne Paz, and LouAnn Meli, and a son, Jeffrey Alberts from his first marriage to Doris Schmaus.
A memorial service is being planned and will be announced at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Asian American Civic Association or to CounterPunch.
Notes of condolence may be sent to Eva Young Alberts, 25 Algonquin Road, Canton, MA 02021.