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Council, the national legislative body, had no authority to enter its congregations into such a union in the first place. A Brooklyn church successfully sued in 1949 to restrain the merger from proceeding; in arguments before the appellate court, Horton and another CC leader, Truman
Douglass, articulated that the General Council understood itself to be legally separate from the constituent congregations and not immediately subject to its directives, although admitting that it, likewise, had no power to compel participation in a merger. The court viewed these perspectives favorably, and the restraint was overturned in 1953. This enabled the final stages of the merger process to proceed, to the point of the actual union on June 25, 1957; the merged body took the name
166:. He demonstrated a peculiar desire to, in the "Faith and Order" components of world ecumenical discussion, advance the notion that God desired for those Protestant churches separated for generations due to minor conflicts over theology and, more speciously, ethnic and socioeconomic differences to overcome the alienations of the past and join forces to bring a stronger Christian witness to a world beset by wars, poverty, and increasing indifference or hostility toward spiritual matters. Horton was undergirded in his thinking to a considerable measure by the influence of
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Due to his acumen and the keen ecumenical leanings of the CC Churches, Horton became the denomination's minister and general secretary in 1938, which gave him the leadership of the main national decision-making entity within the group. In that position, Horton would make his greatest contribution:
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Horton and advocates of the merger, however, encountered a vociferous minority of CC pastors and laity who argued that the merger would threaten the autonomy of the local congregations by the introduction of presbyterian governance practices from the E&R Church, and that, legally, the
General
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among major
Protestant bodies of his day. In his roles as a denominational executive, international ecclesiastical figure, and academic leader, Horton strongly advocated efforts undertaken by churches to unite organizationally with each other, even those of unlike theological and governmental
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succeeded Horton as the final CC minister and general secretary; he became one of the first co-ministers of the new UCC. At
Harvard, Horton expanded upon his inter-church interests, bringing new programs to the school such as religious studies and a chair in
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Talks which began between leaders of the two churches in the 1930s blossomed into full-fledged preparations throughout the 1940s that brought about an actual plan by the end of that decade.
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Before the merger was consummated, however, Horton had resigned his position as CC executive to assume the position of dean of the
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All the while, Horton engaged his interest in inter-church relations by participating in bodies that eventually became the
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overseeing the process of his church entering into a full organizational merger with a denomination governed by
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Horton retired from
Harvard in 1960 and died eight years later in retirement. Horton was married to
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The
Shaping of the United Church of Christ: An Essay in the History of American Christianity,
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138:, as both associate pastor and senior pastor. This pastorate was followed by stints in
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Louis H. Gunnemann; Charles Shelby Rooks, ed. Cleveland: United Church Press, 1999.
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of
Douglas Horton are in the Harvard Divinity School Library at
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The Living
Theological Heritage of the United Church of Christ,
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Douglas Horton and the
Ecumenical Impulse in American Religion
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Elsabeth
Slaughter Hilke, ed.; Thomas E. Dipko, postscript;
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clergyman and academic leader who was noted for his work in
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The Shaping of American Congregationalism: 1620-1957,
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134:. He first served the First Congregational Church in
43:but its sources remain unclear because it lacks
274:1969 Year Book of the United Church of Christ,
250:John von Rohr. Cleveland: Pilgrim Press, 1992.
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270:, series ed. Cleveland: Pilgrim Press, 2001.
74:Learn how and when to remove this message
350:20th-century Congregationalist ministers
218:theology. A one-time moderator of the
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325:American Congregationalist ministers
220:International Congregational Council
114:Horton entered the ministry of the
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122:in 1931), after graduating from
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320:United Church of Christ members
184:Evangelical and Reformed Church
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345:20th-century American clergy
160:National Council of Churches
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118:in 1915 (which became the
170:espoused by the likes of
164:World Council of Churches
93:– August 21, 1968,
330:Hartford Seminary alumni
304:Cambridge, Massachusetts
140:Brookline, Massachusetts
29:This article includes a
300:Harvard Divinity School
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200:United Church of Christ
136:Middletown, Connecticut
116:Congregational churches
95:Randolph, New Hampshire
58:more precise citations.
224:Second Vatican Council
268:Barbara Brown Zikmund
264:Growing Toward Unity,
230:Retirement and death
209:, in 1955. The Rev.
124:Princeton University
103:ecumenical relations
180:presbyterian polity
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31:list of references
236:Mildred H. McAfee
128:Hartford Seminary
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