Liberal - American Family Tree [Return to List of Trees]
The Liberal family churches and associations stress the primacy of reason and experience over the authority of doctrine and sacred texts. It emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in hopes of making Christianity more relevant to modern times (Reid et al. 1990: 646). The Unitarian-Universalist Association and the American Ethical Union are two examples of such groups.
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Note: Groups that are colored blue are currently active. Groups that are colored gray are defunct.Included in this tree
| Religious Group | Founded | Description |
|---|---|---|
| American Unitarian Association | 1825 | The American Unitarian Association was founded in 1825 by William Ellery Channing as a missionary association. Channing focused on ethics over doctrine. The American Unitarian Association merged with the Universalist Church in America in 1961 to form the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. |
| Unitarian Universalist Association | 1961 | The Unitarian Universalist Association was formed in 1961 by the merger of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church in America. The merger represents the coming together of the two oldest segments of the liberal tradition. Unitarian Universalism is a creedless religion with Judeo-Christian roots. It draws also from Eastern, humanist, and other religious traditions, and encourages its members to seek religious truth out of their own reflection and experience. |
| Universalist Church in America | 1793 | The Universalist Church in America was founded in 1793. In 1961, it merged with the American Unitarian Association to form the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. |
