The Minns Lectures are an annual series of lectures on religious topics conducted under the auspices of the Minns Lectures Committee, whose membership is composed of ministers and members of First Church Boston and King's Chapel in Boston. With the first lecture, given in 1942 by Walton E. Cole, this series established itself as an innovative force in Unitarian Universalist thought, and the lectures continue today as a source of creative theological and religious advancement.
The lectureship was established by a bequest of Susan Minns of Boston to honor her brother, Thomas Minns. As she stated in her will, Miss Minns wished for six lectures to be given annually by a Unitarian Universalist minister in good standing on a topic of general religious interest. The title of Walton E. Cole's inaugural series was "Realistic Courage;" former lecturers have included A. Powell Davies, Harry Meserve, Arthur Foote, James Luther Adams, Dana MacLean Greeley, Dorothy Spoerl, Harry Hoehler, Doris Hunter, Rhys Williams, Homer Jack, Victor Carpenter, Carl Scovel, David Keyes, and Richard Henry.