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A Brief History of the Universalist Church for Young People, by L. B. Fisher

Page numbers refer to the pages in Peter Raible’s original collection. For Raible’s commentary on this document, see Polity Among the Universalists: The First Century.

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A Brief History of the Universalist Church for Young People

by

L.

Universalist General Convention of 1915: Further Resources

Harvard Square Library is grateful to the Andover-Harvard Theological Library, for permission to put these documents online, and to Archives and Special Collections Librarian Frances O’Donnell for her assistance.

The original archival collection of these papers is part of the Universalist Church of America’s General Assembly Records in the Special Collections at Andover-Harvard Theological Library.…

Program and Reports at the Universalist Convention of 1915

The United Universalist Conventions featured formal times for the presentation of reports from various groups, including the Young People’s Christian Union, the Women’s National Missionary Association, and the General Sunday School Association. Formal addresses were punctuated by times for worship and song, as the convention also made time to celebrate the dedication of the Los Angeles Universalist Church.…

On the Pullman Train to Pasadena: The Universalist Convention of 1915

If the plans for traveling to Pasadena, California for the 1915 United Universalist Conventions by Pullman train were not elaborate enough, the organizers went to great lengths to ensure that the journey would prove pleasant for everyone. A printing press was brought on board for the publishing of a daily newspaper–the delightfully acronymned UGCWUMAYPCUSS, with three hundred copies printed on board each day.…

Itineraries to Pasadena: The Universalist Convention of 1915

For the 1915 United Universalist Conventions, train rides to Pasadena originated in Boston on July 1, with stops in New York in Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo along the way. The group arrived in Chicago on July 2, where they joined for lunch and a meeting at St.…

The Universalist Convention of 1915: Photos and Letters

In addition to reports and programs, however, the archival record of the Universalist General Convention of 1915 gives a sense of the excitement and uniqueness of this event through letters sent to the convention as well as photographs of the event.…

The Universalist Convention of 1915: Introduction

One hundred years ago, the United Universalist Conventions met in Pasadena, California, for their 1915 convention. This was no ordinary gathering of early twentieth-century religious liberals, however. The convention proper started with a train journey that began in Boston and crossed the continental United States, stopping at Chicago, Salt Lake City, and other major cities, each time picking up Universalist “pilgrims” bound for Pasadena.…

Polity Among the Universalists: The First Century (1770-1870)

Introduction by Peter Raible

In its assessment of the first fifteen years of merger, the Commission on Appraisal began with background, in which it stated:

It has been said of the Universalists, “They began with neither script nor purse,” with only a great theological principle, and gathered their congregations largely from the unchurched, and from dissident elements in the orthodox churches. 

“Henry W. Bellows and the Organization of the National Conference,” by Conrad Wright

“Henry W. Bellows and the Organization of the National Conference”

by Conrad Wright

in The Liberal Christians: Essays on American Unitarian History

(Unitarian Universalist Association, 1970), pp. 81-109

This reading gives fuller details on the particular role of Henry Bellows and how he managed to bring off the organization of the National Conference at the end of the Civil War.…

Henry Bellows, “The Suspense of Faith”

“The Suspense of Faith”

An Address to the Alumni of Harvard Divinity School

Given July 19, 1859 by Henry W. Bellows

This talk is sometimes heralded as one of the half-dozen important Unitarian talks in the 19th Century. Though that may be, it is far less expressive of Bellows’ ideas on polity than the other documents from him included in this syllabus.…