Direct link to YouTube stream HERE.

Any list of famous UUs will include names like William Ellery Channing, Louisa May Alcott, John Adams, Margaret Fuller, Theodore Parker, and James Reeb. Henry Whitney Bellows isn’t as well known, but he played a major role in organizing Unitarianism as a denomination. In the years after the Civil War, Henry Whitney Bellows worked to build an institution that would connect different “flavors” of Unitarianism – including the Transcendentalists – through shared practices and common theological principles. Some others saw this organization as a threat to their non-creedal faith. This tension between institution-building and radical independence still exists within Unitarian Universalism today. How can we hold our differences and our shared values in a delicate balance, to build strong institutions (including congregations) while celebrating our lack of creed?

Topics: Change, UU History