The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1895-11-07

-
| SENATOR GEORGE F. EOAR.
,omas R. slicer, Howard N. Hosmer,
:..jbert Collyer, D. D.. Mary A. Stafford,
| L:aC. Hultin and Anna Garlin Spencer,
al; f whom will take part in the cxer-
! c,sr..
Tho Rev. Brooke HEREFORD, D. D., of
/ london, will also be present and take
part as the representative Of the British
and Foreign Unitarian association. and
among those not belonging to the minis
try Professor John Fiske, DR.. C. c.
Everett, Professor +. &. Peabody and
President q. Stanley Hall will take parr.
The foundation principles upon which
Unitarianism now stands are we'll SGT
ont in the following declaration from
the new preamble to the constitution
adopted at the last national conference,
held at Saratoga: "The national confer
ence Of Unitarian and other Christ ian
churches accepts the religion Of Jesus,
holding, in accordance with his teach
ings, that practical religion is summed
up in love to God and love to man.
This declaration is believed by Uni.
tarians to be one which would have sc.
cured the approval of the lamented Lin
coin, since he said, as quoted by T. B.
Carpenter in his "Six Months III tie
White House. "When any church will
inscribe over it's altar as its sole qual:1i-
cation for mem oership the Saviour's con-
densed statement CT both law and Cos
pei, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy !:eart, and with all thy soul,
and with all thy mind, and thy neighhor
as myself. , that church will I join with
all my heart and soul'
-Four presidents of the United States
have been members of the Unitarian
church-both the Adamses, Thomas
Jefferson and Willard Fillmore. Many
United States senators, judges and lit
erary men have also been of its men,
bership. Holmes, Lowell, Bryant and
Curtis were shining Unitarians.
1t twas $50 years ago that Unitarianism
began in New England, during the re-
vival conducted by Jonathan Edwards
and George Whitefield and known as the
"great awakening Those who did
not agree with the doctrines and meth
DDS Of these preachers drew away from
the Congregational church, and Is years
later formally separated themselves from
the orthodox Congregationalists and
openly avowed themselves Unitarian
CT &l,o
quarters of century that had been lead
ing up to this step the liberals in each
parish had failed to join the churches,
and in some cases formed majority Of |
the whole, the orthodox being church |
members Of course. The question of the |
ownership of the church property then
got into the courts, and it was finally |
decided by the supreme court Of Massa.
chusetts that the property belonged to
the parish. In each case where division
was made the property went with the
church when the church was in the ma
jority and went with the parish with I
out the church when the church was in
The minority,
Surviving from the time when ortho-
dox and Unitarian Congregationalists
belonged to the same body, there is still
in Massachusetts the Congregational
convention, which holds and administers
funds impartially for the benefit of both
orthodox and Unitarian Congregation.
alist ministers. At the present time the
two parties are so near in agreement
that it would be impossible to create a
division upon the old issues. What is
called liberal orthodoxy is almost the
same as the Unitarianism Of Boston in
1926. In other words, "new orthodoxy"
is ''old Unitarianism. " 5ar.%sG= I
In many cases the original first Con-
churches Of New England
are now Unitarian. This is true of the
first parish Of Plymouth, Mass, founded
Mt scrooby, England, 1906; the first
church of Salem, Mass. founded ten years
later; the first church of Boston, founded
1880; first religious society Of Roxbury,
Mass, founded in 1881, and dozen
others. .-... /
Since the days of Theodore Parker
The number of Unitarian churches has
doubled. But Unitarians do not con- f
slider numbers the sole proof Of success.
They feel gratified by the fact that from
John Adams to Senator Hoar they have
in their membership line Of
II CT i,lon is1,o1 Stofoc>ro,, Of WocI,S oko,,