The first Unitarian society in Newport was formed at a meeting held on the evening of October 24, 1835, at the home of William Ellery on the corner of Clarke Street and the Parade, which is now called Washington Square. Mr. Ellery was the son of William Ellery, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The ten men who met were determined to provide an alternative to "stern and appalling theology" and "religions of show" and to reinforce the principle of religious freedom upon which Newport was founded. They moved quickly: received a charter from the state in January, 1836, as the Unitarian Congregational Church of Newport; established a Sunday school; and purchased the old Hopkins Meeting House on Mill Street (now the Knights of Columbus Home), which had been left empty by the union of its Calvinist parish with the First Congregational Church. Less than a year later, the society was ready for the dedication of the church. It invited the Rev. William Ellery Channing to the ceremony and, despite his ill health, he gave the dedication lecture, entitled "Christian Worship", on July 27, 1836.
Dr. Channing at that time was pastor emeritus of the Federal Street Church in Boston (now Arlington Street) and had retired to Oakland in Portsmouth, RI, to spend his days writing. He had been born in Newport on April 7, 1780, and had been brought up in the church of Dr. Hopkins, which he was now dedicating to the use of the new society. Dr. Channing was the grandson of the "signer" and nephew of William Ellery. He and his family lived in the house which still stands at the corner of Mary and School Streets. He left Newport to attend school and accepted the call to what became his only church shortly after his graduation from Harvard. He became one of the founders and guiding lights of Unitarianism and his extensive writings were known the world over.
During his sermon, Dr. Channing noted his early influences in Newport, where "amid this glorious nature, that love of liberty sprang up, which has gained strength within me to this hour." His early theology had sprung from local impressions "of the great and the beautiful." In reference to Dr. Hopkins he said, "In my youth, I preached in this house at the request of the venerable old man. As soon as the services were closed, he turned to me with an animated, benignant smile and ... said to me that theology was still imperfect and that he hoped I should live to carry it towards perfection." After this service, Dr. Channing, who had preached since 1803, spoke each summer at the Hopkins Meeting House until the year of his death in 1842.
The society's first full-time minister, the Rev. Charles T. Brooks, was called in 1837. Dr. Brooks' ministry spanned the next 40 years, during which time the society grew as the city of Newport grew. He was replaced after his retirement by the Rev. J. C. Kimball, who was succeeded five years later by the Rev. M. K. Schermerhorn. In 1879, Dr. Schermerhorn conceived the idea of a memorial to the illustrious Dr. Channing, whose centenary would be the following year. He decided upon the ambitious project of a new church building and set out with great vigor to accomplish that purpose. He raised subscriptions in this country and in England, where he spoke in the Crystal Palace and at individual Unitarian meetings, to raise the needed sum of $50,000. The society purchased property on Pelham Street across from the Old Stone Mill in Touro Park. The lot contained a cottage which was later moved to the rear to be used for church activities. The entire amount was raised, although the final $2,000 arrived from a private last-minute source on the very day of the centennial and ground breaking ceremonies.
Dr. Channing's one-hundredth birthday was celebrated all over the world. In Newport, close to 2,000 people attended the event, including such notable guests as Ralph Waldo Emerson, the Rev. Edward Everett Hale, A. Bronson Alcott, and Mrs. Julia Ward Howe.
Congratulatory letters were read which had been received from John Greenleaf Whittier, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and William Lloyd Garrison, among others. Rhode Island Governor Van Zandt expressed a sentiment of the day:
Today we begin to erect a beautiful memorial edifice to William Ellery Channing. Its outer walls will be of stone as gray as the old rocks of our cliffs; its mullioned windows will be stained with the gathered glories of our sunsets; its spire will point, as he did, steadily heavenward; its bells will ring for the weddings and toll for the funerals of many generations yet unborn; its doors will open for worshipers of all beliefs and every land.
The cornerstone for the new building, which had been filled with a box containing mementos of the time, was placed in the northwest corner. On one outer side it read, as it still does, "1880" and, on the other, "We build in Faith - Hope - Charity."
The building was constructed in little more than a year, built of pink stone from Lyme, Ct. (unlike the gray foreseen by Governor Van Zandt) and was dedicated October 19, 1881. In its new building, the Unitarian society became a forceful religious and cultural center for the Newport community. Its activities were well attended, particularly the Unity Club, formed for "the furtherance of social, intellectual and moral interests of its members, and to do what it can for the larger community." The members performed plays, readings and musical events which were attended by the public, sponsored essay contests, and heard such speakers as Matthew Arnold and Herbert Spencer. The Sunday school remained strong and other societies, ladies, young people, laymen, provided interest for members of the congregation and the community.
The church had its share of great and average ministers, each with his own interests ranging from spiritual and intellectual to political and social. Dr. Wendte, who succeeded Dr. Schermerhorn, gave lectures on the lives of great composers, with accompanying music; the Rev. William Safford Jones was an eloquent speaker and popular in Newport society; the Rev. John C. Agnew was a State Representative and it was during his pastorate that the congregation voted to merge with the Universalists. The most recent minister, the Rev. Philip M. Larson, was involved in social action in the community and gave long hours of his time for individual counseling for people in the community as well as in the church family.
The building has remained essentially the same for nearly 100 years. A statue of Dr. Channing, arms upraised, now faces the entrance from the park across the street. Memorial windows, including the "Parable of the Sower" given by Channing descendants, have been added and renovations in 1959 included the lowering of part of the ceiling for acoustical purposes, new lights to replace old gas fixtures, and new pipes to refurbish the original organ. The pulpit from which Dr. Channing preached in the Hopkins Meeting House has been placed near the front of the church and his gown in the minister's study.
In 1968, the corporation purchased from the Elks the twenty room house next to the church. It contains the minister's study, a reading room containing Dr. Channing's works among others, the assistant minister's and secretary's office, and two apartments. The church, the parish house, which is the original cottage, and Channing House provide meeting places for religious and social groups and other community purposes. Regular activities at present include the choir, Social Action Committee, yoga, chess club, Parents Without Partners, Alcoholics Anonymous, Al-Anon, sensitivity training, Pillar's (men's group), Beacon Club for couples and singles, interpretive dance, Channing Unitarian Youth, Ladies Sewing Alliance, Evening Alliance, Worship Committee, Singletarians and American Counselors for Marriage Enrichment.
Dr. Larson has created a strong sense of community and fellowship in the congregation. In his parting letter he said:
We have touched each others lives, often deeply. That "touch" is indeed "forever" as I often preach. It is not based on physical proximity, for nothing that is physical can be "forever."
In the words of the Apostle Paul:
"The things that are seen are temporary and pass away, and the things that are not seen are eternal and everlasting."
When Jesus said, "lo, I am with you always," he was not referring to physical presence, but to spiritual presence. That presence is eternal, infinite, "forever."
In a few years, Channing Memorial Church will celebrate its centennial and the bicentennial of the man to whom the building was dedicated in the spirit of intellectual and religious freedom. With work and love it will continue to open its doors "for worshipers of all beliefs and every land." to nurture that spiritual presence and personal and social growth of its entire family and to build in Faith - Hope - Charity.