From Within These Walls Celebrating 100 Years at 10 South Gilbert

July 2008

Yes, Likes Can – and DO! – Attract Merging the Unitarian and Universalist Denominations Gordon Strayer

Once upon a time (and not all that long ago less than 50 years, to be exact), two denominations were generally and historically recognized as the leaders in liberal religious thought: the American Unitarian Association, and the Universalist Church of America. Theologically, their differences had been described thusly by someone seeking the always elusive simplest possible explanation: Unitarians believed that there is no heaven except that which we create for ourselves here on earth while we were alive, and Universalists believed that no just and merciful God would condemn people to an afterlife of fiery hell, so therefore there can be no hell. Over a period of years in the first half of the 20th Century, lay and religious leaders in both denominations realized that on many occasions, as reported by the "Uni-Uni Com-mission" in the 1951 Christian Register, ...the parish churches of both are virtually as one in purpose, in polity and faith… whose work can be done more effectively in common...particularly … in the important field of religious education and youth work which   represents the growing edge of our common future. Here in Iowa City, the Unitarian and Universalist congregations had a long history of working together before that 1951 Uni-Uni Commission report and recommendation. More than 80 years earlier, in 1878, the Unitarians of Boston and the Universalists of Iowa City  had   merged  their   efforts  when  the	Unitarian denomination  sent  a minister from Boston, Reverend Oscar Clute, to serve the Second Universalist Church of Iowa City, an edifice described in Mary Belle Glick’s Celebrating 150 Years as "...an elegant structure of the Byzantine order of architecture, with a campanile tower..." Iowa City Unitarians continued to hold their services in that building, which stood on the site since occupied by Phillips Hall, just across Dubuque Street from the Old Capitol, until the congregation built and occupied their "new" church, our present building. Pictures of earlier Universalist and Unitarian churches hang on the west wall of the Fireside Room. The May minutes of the 1953 Annual Meeting of the First of Unitarian Society of Iowa City record that the 1951 Uni-Uni Commission's report had been adopted by “overwhelming votes" by Unitarian and Universalist congregations throughout the country, and that the First Unitarian Society of Iowa City had voted 42-2 to approve the federal union of the two denominations. Perhaps foreshadowing late running UUSIC Board meetings of future years, this Annual Meeting adjourned at 10 PM, as noted by the Clerk of the Congregation, Laura DeGowin, in her minutes. Following the formal union of the two denominations in 1961, UUSIC member Charles Davidson served two four-year terms as a member of the board of directors of the newly created national Unitarian Universalist Association. During his second term, he was UUA Vice Moderator, and also the chair of the UUA Finance Committee.
In Spite of our Differences: The Road to Merger Marilyn Jennewein
For more than a hundred years prior to the actual merger of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church in America, a union had been discussed within each group. In the last third of the 19th century, Unitarian minister Henry W. Bellows urged formation of a “revitalized and universal church of the future.” Although significant theological and social class differences existed between the two groups, by the mid-nineteenth century, both denominations were discussing the idea of a universal world religion. In the 1930s, the first step towards union was accomplished by the formation of the Free Church Fellowship. Although this fellowship was expected to unite  all liberal  religious  groups,  it
was supported primarily by the Unitarians and Universalists, and not by other liberal Christian denominations. However, many differences remained between the two denominations. In 1936, Russell Miller noted there were “…deep differences of theology, class configuration, philosophy, behavior, and attitudes, which cannot be easily overlooked or minimized.” In August 1953, the Unitarian and Universalist organizations held the First Joint Biennial Meeting in Andover, Massachusetts, and developed a process by which the Universalist Church in America and the American Unitarian Association could determine by separate vote whether or not the two organizations would become affiliated. This led to the formation of the Council of Liberal Churches, and the merging of administrative functions for the two denominations in three areas: religious education, publications, and public relations. Although many deeply held differences about “religious orientation” were debated six years later, at the 1959 Joint Biennial Conference, the two groups were able to arrive at the following compromise, stated as part of their "Purposes and Objectives”: To cherish and spread the universal truths taught by the great prophets and teachers of humanity in every age and tradition, immemorially summarized in the Judeo-Christian heritage as love to God and love to man. Following the formal merger of the two denominations in 1961, a 1963 self-assessment report, The Free Church in a Changing World, noted “enormous diversity within the movement,” but listed “six major theological emphases”: Christian liberalism, deism, mystical religion, religious humanism, naturalistic theism, and existentialism. Despite theological differences, the report noted a similar “style” of liberalism, with emphasis on “this-worldly concerns, strong ethical responsibility, deep commitment to democracy, and a belief that true community is religiously based.” Source: The Unitarians and the Universalists, by David Robinson
Check it out …	From Within These Walls is a project of the UUSIC Building Centennial Team: Jeanette Carter, Susan Eberly, Marilyn Jennewein, David Martin, Betty McKray, Charity Rowley, Faye Strayer, and Mark Yuskis, with the help of many others in our UUSIC community.
UUSIC timeline - Decade by decade historical highlights, located on the south wall of Channing hall, and updated monthly. FWTW web page, with new information every month. UUSIC historical resources available at the State Historical Society of Iowa.

Site built by Erik Pauls, Big Bluestem Design