Channing, William Ellery (1780-1842), an American clergyman, was a leader of the Unitarian movement in the United States during the 1800’s. Unitarians believe in the oneness of God, rather than in the Trinity . The Trinity is the concept that there are three Divine Persons in God—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost). In 1819, in Baltimore, Channing gave an important sermon titled “Unitarian Christianity.” He worked for world peace and opposed human slavery. He also influenced such American writers as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and James Russell Lowell. Channing served as pastor of the Federal Street Church in Boston from 1803 until his death. He was born in Newport, Rhode Island, on April 7, 1780. He died on Oct. 2, 1842.
