William Ellery Channing, Unitarian Apostle: Sunday Adult Religious Exploration Class 10/11/2026
Sun, Oct 11
|Unitarian Universalist Cong. Fullerton
The “Apostle of Unitarianism,” Channing was a leading figure in New England Transcendentalism, which emphasized personal intuition, the inherent goodness of people & nature, & self-reliance over organized religion and societal norms. He organized against slavery, drunkenness, poverty, and war.


Time & Location
Oct 11, 2026, 10:15 AM – 11:15 AM PDT
Unitarian Universalist Cong. Fullerton, 109 E Wilshire Ave, Fullerton, CA 92832, USA
About the event
Our topic this week is on one of the most important founding figures in American Unitarianism: WILLIAM ELLERY CHANNING.
Channing ( 1780- 1842) was an American author, moralist, and clergyman. Known as the “Apostle of Unitarianism,” Channing was a leading figure in the development of New England Transcendentalism, which emphasized personal intuition, the inherent goodness of people and nature, and self-reliance over organized religion and societal norms. He organized attempts in the U.S. to eliminate slavery, drunkenness, poverty, and war.
In his Baltimore address of 1819, Channing laid out the distinctive tenets of the developing Unitarian movement, the main one of which was the rejection of the Christian Trinity. Other important tenets were the humanity of Jesus, belief in human goodness, and a call to subject all theological ideas to the light of reason.
We meet in Room 121 behind the Fellowship Hall at 10:15 sharp.
See you there!
Dennis Spiro
