In spite of its short existence the Evangelical and Reformed church contributed in several other ways to American Protestantism. It provided several prominent twentieth-century theologians including H. RICHARD NIEBUHR, REINHOLD NIEBUHR, and PAUL TILLICH. The church cooperated ecumenically with other denominations in mission work, PUBLISHING, and further church union discussions.
Even before the Constitution for the E & R Church was approved, church leaders began union discussions with leaders of the Congregational Christian Churches. In 1942 a public announcement of the discussions was made and a proposal for union was approved by both church bodies. Between 1943 and 1949 the Basis for Union underwent ten revisions. Union was initially planned for 1950, but lingering concerns within some of the Congregational Christian Churches delayed the union celebration until 1957. In June of 1957, twenty-three years after the Evangelical and Reformed Church came into existence, it ceased to exist when, in following the prayer of Jesus “that they may all be one” (John 17:22), the E & R Church merged with the Congregational Christian Churches to form the United Church of Christ.
See also Congregationalism; Lutheranism; Mercersburg Theology; Polity; Presbyterianism; Schaff, Philip
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