AboutJon Bond Expertise Will answer all questions regarding Unitarian Universalist (UU)church; including ancient history (Universalists go back to at least 250 A.D.) and medieval history (Unitarians look to 1553 A.D. as their beginning) up to merger of the two movements in 1961 and continuing up to present. Am familiar with Christian church organizations and relationship of UUs to traditional churches.
Experience Currently member of Unitarian Universalist Church of Boulder, Colorado. Past vice-president of Board of Trustees and currently on Membership Committee. Have taught UU history for over 20 years. Have attended Unitarian Universalist General Assemblies (annual meetings held in June) for past 15 years.
Organizations Unitarian Universalist Church of Boulder, Colorado
Expert: Jon Bond Date: 5/17/2008 Subject: Unitarian growth
Question QUESTION: How many Unitarians in the US in 1959?
ANSWER: Dear David –
I’ll try to answer your question. Remember, I’m one of over 217,000 people and, if you ask another UU (Unitarian Universalist), you may get a different (but, hopefully, not conflicting) answer. I’d like to divide my answer into three (and a half – more later) parts: first, a background of our association and then, second, how many ‘Unitarians’ there were in 1961. Third, I’ll copy results of a search with WIKIPEDIA. For 3 ˝, I’ll have to get back with you early next week on how many Unitarians there were in 1959.
FIRST– a background (including where the two groups (Unitarian and Universalist) originated):
The concept of Unitarianism generally looks to a Catholic priest, Michael Servetus, as a spiritual originator. Servetus was born in Spain in 1511 and died in 1553, after attacking the doctrines of the Trinity. Unitarianism is a doctrinal system characterized chiefly by a belief in the unipersonality of God and the normal humanity of Jesus, as contrasted with the Trinity and the eternal deity (divinity) of Jesus. Most Unitarians I’ve spoken with reject the divinity of Jesus, but do recognize him (Jesus) as a great moral teacher
Universalism is the theological doctrine that all souls will ultimately be saved and that there are no torments of hell. Universalism has been asserted at various times in different contexts throughout the history of the "Christian church"--e.g., Origen in the 3rd century. The Universalists also denied the miraculous element in Scripture, and rejected such important Bible doctrines as the total depravity of man and the Trinity.
The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) was created in May of 1961 as a merger of Unitarians and Universalists. For purposes of this question, I will assume that you truly want only the Unitarians in 1959.
SECOND – In this part of my answer, David, I could only find member figures for 1961, the year that we merged the two (Unitarians and Universalists.) In 1961, there were 1035 congregations with a total of 229,000 members.
THIRD - When searching WIKIPEDIA, I come up with these facts: The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), founded in 1961 as a consolidation of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church in America, is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and serves churches mostly in the United States. The Canadian Unitarian Council became an independent body in 2002. The UUA represents more than 1,000 member congregations that collectively include more than 217,000 members. According to the United States Census Bureau 629,000 individuals identified themselves as Unitarian/Universalist in 2001. A more recent survey (2007) performed by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life found that 0.3% of U.S. adults or approximately 340,000 individuals identified themselves as Unitarian Universalist.
THIRD and ˝ - I am searching the archives and hope to, eventually, be able to, on Tuesday or Wednesday of this coming week, to answer your specific question on “How many Unitarians in the US in 1959?”
Please excuse the delay in answering this particular question: This has been a difficult question to answer.
Kind regards,
Jon Bond
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thank you,Jon,
What I'm really trying to get at is what has been the growth rate of Unitarian Universalism since the merger in 1961?
Sincerely,
David
Answer Hi David -
Thank you for clarifying your original question; i.e. growth, etc.
I really can't add much to my answer which was:
For 1961, the year that we merged, the two (Unitarians and Universalists.) In 1961, there were 1035 congregations with a total of 229,000 members. Since then, the total number (according to UUA membership data, has dropped to 217,000.
I thought it was interesting that, when searching WIKIPEDIA, I come up with these facts: The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), founded in 1961 as a consolidation of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church in America, is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and serves churches mostly in the United
States. The Canadian Unitarian Council became an independent body in 2002. The UUA represents more than 1,000 member congregations that collectively include more than 217,000 members. According to the United States Census Bureau 629,000 individuals identified themselves as Unitarian/Universalist in 2001. A more recent survey (2007) performed by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life found that 0.3% of U.S. adults or approximately 340,000 individuals identified themselves as Unitarian Universalist.
What the WIKIPEDIA sults mean to me is that many people associate themselves with a liberal church, but do not belong. I found it extremely interesting that the Pew survey found 340,000 in 2007 and the U.S. Census in 2001 found 629,000 individuals.
If you like and, if you want way more detail, I can give you a web site that has incredibly detailed 'growth' figures; i.e. statistical data presented by 'size of congregation,' etc.
