View source for Universalist Church of America

{{Short description|Christian denomination}}
{{Redirect|Universalist Church||Universalist Church (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox organization
| name                     = Universalist Church of America
| image                    = Christian Universalist symbol.svg
| size                     = 
| caption                  = Off Center Cross of Universalist Church of America before the 1961 merger
| abbreviation             = UCA
| formation                = 1793
| dissolved                = May 1961 (consolidation with [[American Unitarian Association]] to form the [[Unitarian Universalist Association]])
| type                     = [[Christianity|Christian]] [[religious denomination]]
| purpose                  = 
| headquarters             = 
| location                 = [[United States]] and [[Canada]]
| affiliations             = 
| membership               = 
| language                 = 
| leader_title             = 
| leader_name              = 
| key_people               = 
| num_staff                = 
| budget                   = 
| former name              = Universalist General Convention
}}

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 was changed to the Universalist Church of America in 1942. In 1961, it consolidated with the [[American Unitarian Association]] to form the [[Unitarian Universalist Association]].<ref>Harvard Divinity School: [http://div.hds.harvard.edu/library/bms/merger_timeline_1900s.html Timeline of Significant Events in the Merger of the Unitarian and Universalist Churches During the 1900s]</ref>

The defining theology of [[Christian Universalism|Universalism]] is ''[[Universal reconciliation|universal salvation]]''; Universalists believe that the God of love would not create a person knowing that person would be destined for eternal damnation. They concluded that all people must be destined for salvation. Some early Universalists, known as [[Restorationists]] and led by [[Paul Dean (minister)|Paul Dean]], believed that after death there is a period of reprobation in Hell preceding salvation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/universalists/Paul-Dean.php|last=Harris|first=Mark|title="Paul Dean", Notable American Univeralists|access-date=2011-09-27|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110907154730/http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/universalists/Paul-Dean.php|archive-date=2011-09-07}}</ref><ref>The A to Z of Unitarian Universalism, p. 397, Mark W. Harris, 2009: "RESTORATIONIST CONTROVERSY. An important confrontation within the Universalist ranks in the 1820s. During the early decades of the Universalist movement theological differences were largely ignored so that the movement could gain."</ref> Other Universalists, notably [[Hosea Ballou]], denied the existence of Hell entirely.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/universalists/Hosea-Ballou.php|last=Harris|first=Mark|title="Hosea Ballou", Notable American Univeralists|access-date=2011-09-27|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110908052356/http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/universalists/Hosea-Ballou.php|archive-date=2011-09-08}}</ref>

==History==

===Spiritual ancestry===
{{main|Universal reconciliation}}

Members of the Universalist Church of America claimed universalist beliefs among some [[Early Christianity|early Christians]] such as [[Origen]].<ref>{{cite book | title = The Ancient History Of Universalism: From The Time Of The Apostles, To Its Condemnation In The Fifth General Council, A. D. 553 | editor1-first= Z|editor1-last= Baker|publisher = Gospel Messenger Office | year= 1842 | first= Hosea | last = Ballou 2nd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cHdHk8upA5oC&q=the+ancient+history+of+universalism+ballous}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title = Universalism, The Prevailing Doctrine of the Christian Church During Its First Five Hundred Years | isbn = 0-559-56315-9 | publisher = Universalist Publishing | year = 1899 | first = John Wesley| last = Hanson |url=https://archive.org/details/universalismpre01hansgoog| quote = isbn Universalism, The Prevailing Doctrine of the Christian Church During Its First Five Hundred Years. }}</ref> [[Richard Bauckham]] in ''Universalism: a historical survey'' ascribes this to [[Platonist]] influence, and notes that belief in the final restoration of all souls seems to have been not uncommon in the East during the fourth and fifth centuries and was apparently taught by [[Gregory of Nyssa]], though this is disputed by Greek Orthodox scholars.<ref>Richard Bauckham "[http://www.theologicalstudies.org.uk/article_universalism_bauckham.html Universalism a historical survey]," ''[[Themelios]]'' 4.2 (September 1978): 47-54.</ref> According to the Universalist historian [[Rev. George T. Knight]], in the first five or six centuries of Christianity there were six known theological schools, of which four (Alexandria, Antioch, Caesarea, and Edessa) were universalist.<ref name='Schaff-Herzog'>{{cite web|url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc12/Page_96.html |title=The Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 1953, vol. 12, p. 96; retrieved 30/04/09 |publisher=Ccel.org |access-date=2011-09-27}}</ref>

The first verifiable and undisputed believer in universal salvation is [[Gerrard Winstanley]], author of ''The Mysterie of God Concerning the Whole Creation, Mankinde'' (London, 1648).

===Early America===
[[File:Universalist Church (Edward Hopper, 1926).jpg|thumb|left|300px|[[Edward Hopper]], ''Universalist Church'', 1926, [[Princeton University Art Museum]], depicting the founding Universalist congregation in Gloucester, Massachusetts]]
[[File:Unsealgr.gif|thumb|The official seal of the Universalist General Convention]]

American Universalism developed from the influence of various [[Pietist]] and [[Anabaptist]] movements in Europe, including [[Quakers]], [[Moravian Church|Moravians]], [[Methodists]], [[Lutherans]], [[Schwenkfelders]], [[Schwarzenau Brethren]], and others.  Pietists emphasized individual piety and zeal and, following [[Zinzendorf]], a "religion of the heart."<ref>A similar idea was developed by [[Schleiermacher|FDE Schleiermacher]]</ref> Early followers were most often [[German people|German]] in ancestry.  The majority of the early American Universalists lived in the Mid-Atlantic colonies, though [[Rhode Island]] also had a fair number of followers.  [[Adams Streeter]] (1735–1786), the first minister of Universalist congregations in [[Oxford, Massachusetts|Oxford]] and [[Milford, Massachusetts]], original societies of Universalism in New England, came from a Baptist background, ordained in 1774.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/adamsstreeter.html |title=Adams Streeter |publisher=5.uua.org |access-date=2011-09-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001013231/http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/adamsstreeter.html |archive-date=2011-10-01 }}</ref>  [[Hosea Ballou]] has been called the "father of American Universalism," along with [[John Murray (minister)|John Murray]], who founded the first Universalist church in America in [[Gloucester, Massachusetts]], in 1774.

One of the most important early Universalist evangelists was Dr. [[George de Benneville]].  Born in a [[Huguenot]] family exiled to England, he arrived in America in 1741.  A physician and lay preacher, he spread Universalism among the German immigrants of [[Berks County, Pennsylvania]], and later around [[Philadelphia]] and [[New Jersey]].  Benneville also commonly visited the [[Ephrata Cloister]], a [[utopian]] community with Universalist beliefs.  He arranged for the translation of a German book about universalism, ''The Everlasting Gospel'' (1753 translation),<ref>Georg Klein-Nicolai, under pseudonym of Georg Paul Siegvolck ''Das von Jesu Christo, dem Richter der Lebendigen und der Todten, aller Creatur zu predigen befohlene ewige Evangelium: von der durch ihn erfundenen ewigen Erlösung''</ref> by [[Georg Klein-Nicolai]] of [[Friessdorf, Germany]].  Nearly forty years later, [[Elhanan Winchester]] read the book and converted to Universalism.  He was influential in the printing of the [[Sauer Bible]] of [[Christoph Sauer]] (1695–1758), the first German Bible printed in America, with passages supporting Winchester's belief in the universal availability of salvation.

In the South, Rev. [[Giles Chapman]]<ref>born June 21, 1748 in Newberry Dist., South Carolina, USA; died April 15, 1819</ref> was a former Quaker and Continental Army Chaplain who married into a [[Old German Baptist Brethren|Dunker]] family.  The first Universalist church in South Carolina (and possibly in America) was the [[Freedonia Meeting Hall]], situated in [[Newberry County, South Carolina|Newberry County]].<ref>''Universalist Magazine'', volume&nbsp;9 p.&nbsp;48 ed. Hosea Ballou 1828</ref>{{full citation needed|date=November 2023}}

[[Benjamin Rush]], a signer of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] and a convert to Winchester's teaching of universal salvation, but not a member of a Universalist church, was a vigorous foe of slavery, advocated the abolition of the death penalty, advocated for better education for women, supported free public schools, was a pioneer in the study and treatment of mental illness, and insisted that the insane had a right to be treated with respect.  He published a pamphlet on the iniquity of the slave trade.  As part of his abolitionism, he helped organize the [[Pennsylvania Abolition Society|Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage]], the first antislavery society in America; he also served as its president.  Rush believed, as did Winchester and most Universalists, in a state of punishment after death for the wicked.

The first General Society was held in 1778.  Annual conventions started in 1785 with the New England Convention.  In 1804, this convention changed its name to "The General Convention of Universalists in the New England States and Others."  At its peak in the 1830s, the Universalist Church is reported to have been the 9th largest denomination in the United States.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}}

===Consolidation===
The Church consolidated with the [[American Unitarian Association]] to form the [[Unitarian Universalist Association]].{{when|date=July 2023}} Some state Universalist Conventions did not accept the consolidation. These churches and others form minor pockets of Christian [[Universalism#Christianity|theological Universalists]] which remain, but most are affiliated with other denominations.<ref>[http://www.christian-universalism.com/churches/ Christian Universalist Churches]<!-- Bot generated title --> {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060910000849/http://www.christian-universalism.com/churches/ |date=September 10, 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.universalistchristians.org/index.html |title=Archived copy |website=www.universalistchristians.org |access-date=13 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021006214405/http://www.universalistchristians.org/index.html |archive-date=6 October 2002 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Church organization==
[[File:Clinton Liberal Institute.jpg|thumb|The Clinton Liberal Institute, described as being in the [[Kirkland, New York|town of Kirkland]] because Clinton had not yet been incorporated]]
[[File:Universalist National Memorial Church 7.jpg|thumb|[[Universalist National Memorial Church]] in Washington, D.C.]]
Universalist congregations tended towards independence and were not easily prone to centralization. They generally met in state conventions, which usually had more authority than was vested in national conventions. To train ministers (among other things), the Church founded in 1831 the [[coeducational]] [[Clinton Liberal Institute]] in [[Clinton, Oneida County, New York|Clinton, New York]]. The church later established three divinity schools: [[Theological School of St. Lawrence University]] (1856–1965), the Ryder Divinity School (c. 1885–1913) at [[Lombard College]], and the [[Crane Theological School]] of [[Tufts University]] (1869–1968). 

The Philadelphia Convention was an independent National Convention from 1790 to about 1810.

Notwithstanding its tendency toward independence, Universalist congregations supported the construction of The [[Universalist National Memorial Church]] in Washington, D.C., to serve as the official church of Universalism. In 1921, the Universalist General Convention approved funds for the building of the church and services began in 1925. The present church, located at 1810 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington DC, was established in 1930 and its current congregation continues to follow Universalist principles.

==Social and political stances==
The Universalist Church of America involved itself in several social causes, generally with a politically liberal bent.

===Abolitionism===
As noted above, Benjamin Rush was a major political activist for anti-slavery causes in early America. The issue resurfaced in the 1850s with the [[Fugitive Slave Act]] and other compromises; the Universalists, along with various other denominations, vigorously opposed [[slavery]] as immoral. They also favored postbellum legislation such as the [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fifteenth Amendment]] and the Freedman's Act to enfranchise all American citizens.

===Separation of church and state===
{{see|Separation of church and state in the United States}}
Like many American religions, Universalism has generally been amenable to church-state separation. In New England, Baptists, Universalists, and Quakers provided some of the loudest voices calling for disestablishment of the government sponsored churches of the standing order.

One example comes from the 1770s. By Massachusetts state law, citizens were taxed to support the Congregational Church of the community where they lived. Sixty-one people in [[Gloucester, Massachusetts|Gloucester]] left the church to form the Independent Church of Christ, which stood for Universalism. They then refused to pay their taxes. The church they built was seized and sold to pay; however, the Church sued, and in 1786, they won their case.

===Spiritualism===
Although the Universalist Church as a denomination never fully embraced [[Spiritualism (movement)|Spiritualism]], many Universalists were sympathetic to this nineteenth-century movement. Spiritualism was preached with some regularity from Universalist pulpits in the middle decades of the 19th century and some ministers left the denomination when their Spiritualist leanings became too pronounced for their peers and congregations.

===Ordination of women===
On June 25, 1863, [[Olympia Brown]] became one of the first women in the United States to receive ordination in a national denomination, [[Antoinette Brown Blackwell|Antoinette Brown]] having been the first when she was ordained by the Congregational Churches in 1853.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ucc.org/god-is-still-speaking/firsts/ucc-firsts.html |title=UCC firsts |publisher=Ucc.org |access-date=2011-09-27}}</ref> By 1920, there were 88 Universalist women ministers, the largest group in the United States.

==Universalists==
*[[Hosea Ballou]], theologian and evangelist
*[[P. T. Barnum]], entertainer
*[[Clara Barton]], founder of the [[American Red Cross]]; studied at the [[Clinton Liberal Institute]]
*[[George de Benneville]], influential early evangelist
*[[Olympia Brown]], the first woman in the United States to be ordained by a major denomination
*[[Luella J. B. Case]] (1807–1857), author
*[[Harrie B. Chase]], US Federal Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
*[[Henry N. Couden]], Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives for 25 years
*[[John Albert Cousens]], sixth president of [[Tufts College]]
*[[Abner Kneeland]], theologian and the last man in the United States jailed for [[blasphemy]]
*[[Harold Latham]], American editor known for discovering [[Margaret Mitchell]]'s [[Gone with the Wind (novel)|''Gone with the Wind'']]
*[[Alonzo Ames Miner]], second president of [[Tufts College]]
*[[Henrietta G. Moore]], Universalist minister, educator, temperance activist, suffragist
*[[John Murray (minister)|John Murray]], evangelist
*[[Judith Sargent Murray]], essayist and poet, advocated woman's rights
*[[Thomas Potter (Universalist)|Thomas Potter]], farmer, church builder
*[[James Relly]], Welsh preacher, hymn writer
*[[Caleb Rich]], evangelist
*[[Benjamin Rush]], statesman, Founding Father, and abolitionist.
*[[Clarence Skinner (minister)|Clarence Skinner]], theologian and dean of [[Crane School of Theology]]
*[[Ted Sorensen]], President John F. Kennedy's special counsel and adviser, speechwriter
*[[Israel Washburn Jr.]], 29th Governor of Maine, United States Congressman, President of the Board of [[Tufts College]]

==See also==
{{Portal|Christianity}}
*[[List of Unitarian, Universalist, and Unitarian Universalist churches]]
* [[Christian Universalism]]
* [[Clinton Liberal Institute]]
*[[Primitive Baptist Universalist]]
* [[Universalism]]
* ''[[Universalist Herald]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|last=Bressler|first= Ann Lee|title=The Universalist Movement in America, 1770–1880|location= New York|publisher= Oxford University Press|date= 2001}}
*Buescher, John B. 2003. ''The Other Side of Salvation: Spiritualism and the Nineteenth-Century Religious Experience.'' Boston: Skinner House Books. {{ISBN|1-55896-448-7}}.
*J.W. Hanson (1899) ''Universalism, The Prevailing Doctrine of the Christian Church During Its First Five Hundred Years.'' San Diego: St. Alban Press, 2002 Second Edition. {{ISBN|0-935461-82-5}}.
*Miller, Russell E. 1979, 1985 ''The Larger Hope: vol.1 The First Century of the Universalist Church in America, 1770–1870. vol.2 The second century of the Universalist Church in America, 1870–1970'' (in 2 volumes) Boston:  Unitarian Universalist Association. {{ISBN| 9780933840003}}

==External links==
{{sisterlinks|c=Category:Universalist_churches|d=Q893252|s=Portal:Universalist Church of America|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|wikt=no|q=no}}
*[https://murraygrove.org/ Murray Grove Retreat & Conference Center - Thomas Potter farm]
*[https://www.sargenthouse.org/ The Sargent House Museum - Judith Sargent Murray house]
*[https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15181a.htm Universalists] from the [[Catholic Encyclopedia]]
*[http://www.universalistheritage.org/ Universalist Heritage Foundation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126174222/http://www.universalistheritage.org/ |date=2019-01-26 }}
*[https://christianuniversalist.org/ Christian Universalist Association]
*[https://christian-universalist-church-of-america.webstarts.com/ Christian Universalist Church of America]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Universalist Church Of America}}
[[Category:Universalist Church of America| ]]
[[Category:Christian groups with universalist beliefs]]
[[Category:Religious organizations established in 1778]]
[[Category:Former Christian denominations]]
[[Category:Religious organizations disestablished in 1961]]
[[Category:Christian denominations founded in the United States]]
[[Category:Abolitionism in the United States]]
[[Category:Protestant denominations established in the 18th century]]
[[Category:1778 establishments in the United States]]
[[Category:1961 disestablishments in the United States]]
[[Category:Christian universalism]]