Unitarian Universalist Association Unitarian Universalist
Association, Protestant church in the United States formed in
1961 by the merger of the American Unitarian Association (see
Unitarianism) and the Universalist Church of America. Having
largely shared common concerns and positions throughout the 19th
and 20th cent., the two churches formed a Council of Liberal
Churches in 1953 as a preliminary step to merger. The convention
in May, 1961, at which the merger was approved by delegates from
both churches, adopted a constitution for the merged church and
elected Dana McLean Greeley, formerly Unitarian president, the
first president of the new association. The principal purpose of
the merger was to link the churches' headquarters organizations
and to enable them to speak as one on social and political
questions. The church has about 151,000 members (1997). See D.
Robinson, The Unitarians and Universalists (1985). The Columbia
Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia
University Press. All r