Norbert Capek was born in Bohemia (today the Czech Republic) on this day in 1870. Raised within the Roman Catholic church as an adult he became a Baptist minister. Before many years passed his expansive faith led him to Unitarianism. Capek was a central leader of the tiny but vital Czech Unitarian movement. He opposed the rise of fascism and was interned at Dachau where he was executed in 1942.
Capek developed a spring flower festival which, now known as the Flower Communion has become an annual event in the majority of Unitarian Universalist congregations across North America.
Capek’s life and ministry raises that intriguing question “if you were arrested for being a Unitarian Universalist, would there be enough evidence to convict you.” In his life we know one answer…
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