The
Beginning
The IARF began in 1900 as the International Council of
Unitarian and Other Liberal Religious Thinkers and Workers
on May 25th in Boston, Massachusetts at the 75th anniversary
meeting of the American Unitarian Association. "The
object of this council," its founders declared, "is
to open communication with those in all lands who are
striving to unite Pure Religion and Perfect Liberty, and
to increase fellowship and cooperation among them." The first president was Joseph Estlin Carpenter, a professor
of theology and religious studies at Manchester College
in Oxford. The secretary for the first two decades was
Charles Wendte, an American Unitarian minister who had
helped to organize the 1893 Parliament of the World's
Religions in Chicago.
The
1st Congress was held in London in May 1901. It lasted
three days and as many as 2,000 persons attended. As
a result, 770 individuals from 21 religious groups and
15 countries became members of the Council. Most of
these were from Europe and the United States. B. C.
Ghosh of India brought greetings from the Brahmo Samaj
movement, but Z. Toyosaki representing liberal religious
groups in Japan did not arrive from Tokyo in time for
the Congress. Proceedings were published under the title,
Liberal Religious Thought at the Beginning of the Twentieth
Century.
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