Unitarian Universalism in the 20^th Century

An adult religious exploration workshop led by David Parke and Jessica Mink at Theodore Parker UU Church on April 2, 8, 16, 23, and 30 from 7:00 to 8:30 pm in the Parish Hall Parlor.

The text is Dan McKanan, editor: “A Documentary History of Unitarian Universalism (Boston: Skinner Books, 2017) in two paperback volumes (I to 1899, II from 1900). Pursuant to Lord Acton’s 1895 admonition, “Study problems in preference to periods,” David has cast some possible topics in the form of questions:

What were the basic affirmations of late 19^th Century religious liberals?

(Note that in this section all citations are to Volume I)

James Freeman Clarke (I-439)

Jabez T. Sonderback (I-444)

William Channing Gannett (I-450)

Jenkin Lloyd Jones (I-466)

Caroline Bartlett Crane (I-442)

What was the concept of the child?

Mary Livermore (I-434)

Elizabeth P. Peabody (I-442)

Where does the black race stand in relation to the white race as a consequence of the Civil War and Reconstruction?

Fanny Barrier Williams (I-470)

Why is social ethics important to religious liberals?

(Note that in this section all citations are to Volume II)

Francis Greenwood Peabody (II-15)

Clarence Skinner (II-38)

James Luther Adams (II-231)

What is religious liberalism?

William Wallace Fenn (II-34)

What is humanism?

Curtis W. Reese (II-78)

John Dietrich (II-81)

How did World War I impact American religious liberalism?

John Haynes Holmes and the debate over World War I (II-59,63)

Why are women regarded as unequal to men in society at large and in the liberal church in particular?

Charlotte Perkins Gilman (II-75)

UUA General Resolution on Equal Rights for Women (II-306)

How do religious liberals respond to the neo-orthodox challenge to theology?

Henry Nelson Wieman (II-143)

How can American religious liberals grow in numbers and in their understanding of the church?

Lon Ray Call (II-137)

What does faith mean to religious liberals and how is it related to ethics?

James Luther Adams (II-101,110,134,158,231)

What particular response has the UUA made to discrimination against homosexuals in the denomination and in the larger society?

General Resolution (1970) (II-308)

Here are some pivotal events in modern liberal religious history:

Frederick May Eliot and the Reorganization of the American Unitarian Association (1934-37)

Commission of Appraisal (II-91)

Consolidation (“merger”) of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America (1947-61)

Frederic May Elliot (II-150)

Joint Merger Commission (II-175)

Albert Q. Perry (II-180)

Black Power and the UUA (1967-70)

Emergency Conference (II-263)

Hayward Henry, The Caucus Story (II-270)

Rosemary Bray McNatt (II-463)

Publication of the Pentagon Papers by the Beacon Press (1971)

Senator Mike Gravel, Introduction (II-318)

This memorandum is a partial and non-definitive road map of possible discussion topics. Our focus, is is hoped, will be on our personal involvement in the issues, events, and persons under discussion. We are grateful to Dan McKanan, Senior Lecturer at Harvard Divinity School, for his leadership and research in bringing these two volumes to realization.