Church Unions

CHURCH UNIONS

Ecumenicism

A series of church unions took place in the 1960s. While most of these mergers were between like-minded groups, they stimulated a belief in ecumenicism. The decade began with the creation of the American Lutheran Church by the union of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the American Lutheran Church, and the United Evangelical Lutheran Church. In 1962 the United Lutheran Church in America, the Agustana Evangelical Church, the American Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church united to form the Lutheran Church in America.

Mergers

In 1961 the American Unitarian Association completed its merger with the Universalist Church of America, creating the Unitarian-Universalist Association. That same year the Congregational Christian Church and the Evangelical and Reform Church merged to form the United Church of Christ, with two million members. In 1966 the Methodist Church and Evangelical United Brethren Church united to form the United Methodist Church. Despite the merger the Southern Baptist Convention had grown to achieve the distinction of being the largest Protestant denomination in the United States.