Douglas Horton (clergyman) - Merger

Merger

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.

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 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 United Church of Christ.

Before the merger was consummated, however, Horton had resigned his position as CC executive to assume the position of dean of the Harvard Divinity School, in 1955. The Rev. Fred Hoskins 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 Roman Catholic theology. A one-time moderator of the International Congregational Council, Horton took on the leadership mantle of the WCC's Faith and Order Commission beginning in 1957. It was from that vantage point that Horton was invited to observe the Second Vatican Council; he compiled material for a four-volume journal of the proceedings.