The American Unitarian Association (AUA) was a

religious denomination A religious denomination is a subgroup within a religion that operates under a common name and tradition among other activities. The term refers to the various Christian denominations (for example, Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, and the many varie ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, formed by associated Unitarian congregations in 1825. In 1961, it consolidated with the

Universalist Church of America The Universalist Church of America (UCA) was originally a Christian Universalist religious denomination in the United States (plus affiliated churches in other parts of the world). Known from 1866 as the Universalist General Convention, the name ...

to form the

Unitarian Universalist Association Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is a liberal religious association of Unitarian Universalist congregations. It was formed in 1961 by the consolidation of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America, both P ...

. The AUA was formed in 1825 in the aftermath of a split within New England's

Congregational churches Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs it ...

between those congregations that embraced Unitarian doctrines and those that maintained

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

theology. According to Mortimer Rowe, the Secretary (i.e. chief executive) of the

British Unitarians The General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches (GAUFCC or colloquially British Unitarians) is the umbrella organisation for Unitarian, Free Christians, and other liberal religious congregations in the United Kingdom and Irelan ...

for 20 years, the AUA was founded on the same day as the

British and Foreign Unitarian Association The British and Foreign Unitarian Association was the major Unitarian body in Britain from 1825. The BFUA was founded as an amalgamation of three older societies: the Unitarian Book Society for literature (1791), The Unitarian Fund for mission wo ...

: "By a happy coincidence, in those days of slow posts, no transatlantic telegraph, telephone or wireless, our American cousins, in complete ignorance as to the details of what was afoot, though moving towards a similar goal, founded the American Unitarian Association on precisely the same day—May 26, 1825." The AUA's official journal was ''

The Christian Register ''UU World'' is a quarterly magazine published by the Unitarian Universalist Association. From 1821 to 1957, it was known as ''The Christian Register'', the leading American Unitarian weekly, published by the American Unitarian Association, Bosto ...

'' (1821–1961).

Notable member congregations

First Unitarian Church (Baltimore, Maryland) The First Unitarian Church is a historic church and congregation at 12 West Franklin Street in Mount Vernon, Baltimore, Maryland. Dedicated in 1818, it was the first building erected for Unitarians in the United States. The church is a domed cub ...

Federal Street Church (Boston) The Federal Street Church (established 1729) was a congregational Unitarian church in Boston, Massachusetts. Organized in 1727, the originally Presbyterian congregation changed in 1786 to "Congregationalism", then adopted the liberal theology of i ...

First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia The First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia is a Unitarian Universalist congregation located at 2125 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As a regional Community Center it sponsors cultural, educational, civic, wellness and spiritual a ...

Unitarian Church of All Souls The Unitarian Church of All Souls at 1157 Lexington Avenue at East 80th Street in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City was built in 1932 and was designed by Hobart Upjohn – Richard Upjohn's grandson – in the Neo-colonial ...

First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

First Unitarian Church of Oakland The First Unitarian Church of Oakland is located in western Downtown Oakland, California. It is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association. History The building site was purchased in November 1888 from Jane K. Sather, a patron of the U ...

First Unitarian Church of Berkeley The Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley (UUCB) was founded as the First Unitarian Church of Berkeley in Berkeley, California in 1891 and moved to Kensington, California in 1961. It is one of the oldest and largest Unitarian Universalist ch ...

* First Unitarian Church of Riverside *

First Unitarian Church of Chicago The First Unitarian Church of Chicago is a Unitarian Universalist ("UU") church in Chicago, Illinois. Unitarians do not have a common creed and include people with a wide variety of personal beliefs, and include atheists, agnostics, deists, mo ...

Unitarian Church of Urbana The Channing-Murray Foundation, resides in the former Unitarian Church at 1209 West Oregon Street in Urbana, Illinois, is the Unitarian-Universalist Campus Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It includes a chapel and a vegetar ...

First Unitarian Church of Detroit The First Unitarian Church of Detroit was located at 2870 Woodward Avenue in Midtown Detroit, Michigan. Built between 1889 and 1890, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. It was destroyed by fire on May 10, 2014. ...

Unitarian Universalist Church of Lancaster, Pennsylvania The Unitarian Universalist Church of Lancaster is a Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalist church located at 538 West Chestnut Street, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The church building is part of the Lancaster City Historic District, Historic ...

* All Souls Church, Unitarian (Washington, D.C.) *

Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington (UUCA), historically known as the Unitarian Church of Arlington, is a Unitarian Universalist church located at 4444 Arlington Boulevard (U.S. 50) in Arlington County, Virginia. Founded in 1948, UUCA wa ...

Unitarian Church in Charleston The Unitarian Church in Charleston, home to a Unitarian Universalist congregation, is an historic church located at 4 Archdale Street in Charleston, South Carolina. It is the oldest Unitarian church in the South and the second oldest church bu ...

References

Bibliography

* * Religious organizations established in 1825 Former Christian denominations Religious organizations disestablished in 1961 Unitarianism Protestant denominations established in the 19th century 1825 establishments in the United States {{Christian-org-stub

Notable member congregations

See also

References

Bibliography