Religion: Unitarian Sky

The Unitarians assembled in Boston for their 127th annual meeting heard reports from far & near, and found the sky shiny with promise. For one thing, "federal union" of the Unitarians (membership 80,000) and the Universalists (membership 65,000) seemed to be coming along slowly but surely. So far, delegates heard, 47 Unitarian and 22 Universalist congregations have voted on the plan, have ratified it in every case—most often unanimously. Frederick May Eliot, longtime president of the Unitarian Association (and a cousin of Poet T. S. Eliot), predicted defections" from orthodox Protestant churches "on a great scale." If Unitarians and Universalists could welcome the defectors to a United Liberal Church, "our days of living in a corner would be over."