Forty years ago, a gentle-faced young minister came to serve Boston's Unitarian First Church until the congregation could find the right man. Charles E. Park, an India-born missionary's son, was sure his new post would be only temporary—for one thing, he did not even hold a Bachelor of Divinity degree. But humble Parson Park proved to be exactly the "right man" for his church. Today he is recognized as the Grand Old Man of U.S. liberal pulpits.
This year Unitarian Park, bald-pated at 73, retires at last from the active ministry. He will spend more time with his eight grandchildren and further...