William Ellery Channing’s famous Baltimore Sermon Marlise Riffel

William Ellery Channing was a Congregationalist clergyman and a leading figure in the development of New England Transcendentalism. His 1819 speech, "Unitarian Christianity," delivered at the ordination of Jared Sparks in Baltimore, formally presented Unitarian beliefs, challenging traditional Calvinist doctrines and emphasizing reason and human goodness. This speech was a watershed moment in American religious history, marking the public emergence of Unitarianism as a distinct theological movement. 

The American Unitarian Association was formed in 1825 and continued until it merged with the Universalist Church of America in 1961. Both were Christian organizations, as was the Virginia, Minnesota First Unitarian Church at its origin. What exactly did Channing believe, and how has our denomination evolved to what we are today? Come for a lively discussion.