UNION 750 UNION
terians, and Welsh Prefibyterians, fonnulated plans meeting of repesentatives of American denomina-
for a federal union to be known as the "United Church tions was hela; meanwhile deputations had gone to
of Chiist in America." Great Britain. to arouse interest theie; a North Amei-
(10) The Alliance of Reformed Churches through- ican preparatory conference took place in January,
out the World holding the Presbvterian System is a 1916, in Garden City, Long Islana: and in 1919 an
loose federation whose title is self-explanatory. Its official American deputation visited Europe and the
American branch is the Council of Reformed Churches Near East.
of America holding the Presbyterian System. There In Athens the delegates were well received by the
have also occurred minor unions between various Holy Governing Synod of the Church of Greece.
Presbvterian bodies (see Prebbtterianibm). which agreed to send representatives to the World
(11; For Interchurch World Movement see Proiv Conference. Other Eastern chuiches took similar
ESTANTisM. action. the cordiality of the Church of Constantinople
II. — While the Federal Coimcil of Churches of extenaing so far as to invite and permit one of the
Christ in America is a manifestation of the general members of the deputation to sing the Gospel on
movement toward imity it is in no sense an attempt Easter Simday at the cathedral service. Practically
to draw up a common creed or form of government or all the non-Catholic chuiches In Europe signified
of worship. The Council is an officially constituted their approval of the movement and their intention
body, yet the autonomy of the federated churches to co-operate, the churches in Russia and Germany
remams intact, the purpose being to effect unity of alone not being approached because of disturbed
service and effort ratner than of faith or polity. internal conditions m those countries, although a few
The organization of the Federal Council was com- delegates from these churches finally attended the
pleted in 1908, largeljr as the result of previous feder- meeting in 1920. The deputation also visited Rome,
ative movements. It includes about thurty denomina- being received by his Holiness Pope Benedict XV,
tions, among which are found Baptist, Lutheran, who indicated that the Catholic Church could not
Methodist, Presbyterian, and Protestant Episcopal accept their invitation to paiticipate in the proposed
sects. In 1922 they reported a combined total of confeience.
142,472 congregations, 113,761 clergy and 19,933,115 The churches, as they approved the movement,
members. appointed commissions (not more than three members
Similar bodies outside of America are: in England, from each), and theso delegates convened in Geneva, the National Coimcil of the Evangelical Free Churches Switzerlana, 12 August, 1920, to arrange for its fur- (mentioned above. I, 7), and the Fedeial Council of ther conduct. There were present 137 delegates, the Evangelic^ Free Churches which is somewhat under the presidency of Bishop Charles H. Brent, of more inclusive than the former: in France, the Prot- the Protestant Episcopal diocese of Western New estant Federation of France (Fid6ralion Protestanie York, representing about forty nations and seventy de France) J embracing the National Union of Re- Trinitarian churches. After having been in session formed Evangelical Churches, National Union of g^eneraily twice daily the Conference elected a con- Reformed Churches, Evangelical Lutheran Church, tinuation committee and adjourned on 19 August, the Union of Evangelical Free Churches, Evangelical final benediction being given bjr Bishop Hersog of the Methodist Church, Union of Baptist Churches of Old Catholic Church. Since this preliminary meeting Northern France* in Switzerland, the Union of Swiss the continuation work has consisted chiefly in the Reformed Churches (Verhand Schweiterisc^er Re/or- formation of local groups, notably at Oxfoid and Cam- mierter Kirchen), including only the German-speaking bridge, Enji^and, and at Philadelphia, to discuss the churches of the Swiss Reformed Church Conference: topics presented at Geneva, in order that definite in Belgium, the Belgian Protestant Committee oi proposals may if possible be made to the next Con- Union (ComiU d* Union Proteatanie Beige), which ference.
includes the Union of Protestant Evangelical Churches (b) Aims and Methods, — As previously intimated
of Belgium and the Belgian Christian Missionary this movement aims at effecting a universal, reunited
Church; in Japan, the Federation of Churches of church, and not merely a federation of churches in
Japan: in Germany, the Federal Council of the which each constituent church would retain its present
Churches of Christ in Germany, which is in process of complete entity, its organization, forms and oeliefs.
organization. Practically it aims at arriving at such a compromise
III. — ^The World Conference on Faith and Order is on questions of faith and order as would be acceptable
a more thorough and comprehensive attempt to effect to all participants as the basis of reunion, it also
a reunion of the churches, their ideal being a union differs from many similar movements in that it seeks
which shall embrace not onlv the Protestant sects to embrace the (Jatholic Church in the movement, and the Eastern schismatics, but (so they state), the To effect its purpose the conference method has
Catholic Church as well. been adopted, the mtent being to procure thiough
(a) History. — ^The movement originated in the small lepiesentative bodies of delegates information on General Convention of the Episcopal Church, at Cin- the views of the participant churches as to the ques- cinnati, in 1910, when the Rev. William T. Manning, tions involved; to bring about discussion of the points rector of Trinity Chuich, New York (now bishop), raised; to receive from the various churches their introduced a resolution on reunion calling for the opinions as to what should be the nature and charac- appointment of a commission to prepare a "conference teristics of the proposed reunited churoh. The pre- for the consideration of questions touching Faith and liminary local discussions are especially for this pur- Order, and that all Christian Communions through- pose, it being their task to consider the questions out the world which confess our Lord Jesus Chiist as formulated for them and circulated by the World Con- God and Saviour be asked to imite with us in arrang- ference. Furthermore, the churches are asked not to ing for ai^l conducting such a conference." The pledge themselves officially to any answers to the commission was appointed and $100,000 donated questions; their action is to await the final proposals by J. P. Morgan to help finance it. The commission which may in the future be presented to them by the immediately began conferring with other chuiches, (inference after the results of the preliminary dis- the Congregationalists and the Disciples of Christ, cussions have been collated, discussed and acted who were in convention at the same time as the Epis- upon. The period necessary for the accomplishment copalians, beini; the first to join the movement, after of their purpose has been estimated as "perhaps one, having concomitantly passed similar resolutions to and possibly two, generations." Finally , the sponson that mentioned above. In May, 1913, an unofficial of the movement have at all times called atteiiti(» to
