The Off-Centered Cross
The Off-Centered Cross
by Charles Howe
During the late 1940s until the 1970s, and occasionally up to the present, one symbol used to
identify Universalism was an off-centered cross within a circle. The circle represented the
inclusiveness of Universalism, the cross its roots in Christianity, and its off-centeredness both that
Christianity was not necessarily central and that there was space within the circle for the symbols
of other faiths.
It was developed by a group of young ministers, most of them recent graduates from the School of
Religion of Tufts College in Medford, Massachusetts. They called themselves the Humiliati,
meaning “the humble ones,” taken from an ancient Italian monastic order. The Humiliati saw their
primary mission to be the revitalization of the Universalism movement which had been losing its
distinctiveness as other Protestant denominations continued to minimize the threat of hellfire.
Beginning in 1945 annual meetings were held that fostered fresh theological thinking and new
rituals which did much to redefine and renew Universalism. In 1954 the Humiliati disbanded,
feeling that their mission had been accomplished and that the Universalist Church of America and
the American Unitarian Association were prepared to address the matter of merging. Many of
them continued their relationships through joining the Fraters of the Wayside Inn, a venerable
organization that the Humiliati had used in patterning their own.
After the Universalists and the Unitarians consolidated to form the Unitarian Universalist
Association in 1961, a number of the charter members of the Humiliati, including Gordon
McKeeman, Raymond Hopkins, Albert Ziegler and David Cole, went on to fill leadership positions.
Charles Howe, UNIVERSALIST HERALD board member, is a retired UU minister and historian; he
is a frequent contributor. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.
by Charles Howe
During the late 1940s until the 1970s, and occasionally up to the present, one symbol used to
identify Universalism was an off-centered cross within a circle. The circle represented the
inclusiveness of Universalism, the cross its roots in Christianity, and its off-centeredness both that
Christianity was not necessarily central and that there was space within the circle for the symbols
of other faiths.
It was developed by a group of young ministers, most of them recent graduates from the School of
Religion of Tufts College in Medford, Massachusetts. They called themselves the Humiliati,
meaning “the humble ones,” taken from an ancient Italian monastic order. The Humiliati saw their
primary mission to be the revitalization of the Universalism movement which had been losing its
distinctiveness as other Protestant denominations continued to minimize the threat of hellfire.
Beginning in 1945 annual meetings were held that fostered fresh theological thinking and new
rituals which did much to redefine and renew Universalism. In 1954 the Humiliati disbanded,
feeling that their mission had been accomplished and that the Universalist Church of America and
the American Unitarian Association were prepared to address the matter of merging. Many of
them continued their relationships through joining the Fraters of the Wayside Inn, a venerable
organization that the Humiliati had used in patterning their own.
After the Universalists and the Unitarians consolidated to form the Unitarian Universalist
Association in 1961, a number of the charter members of the Humiliati, including Gordon
McKeeman, Raymond Hopkins, Albert Ziegler and David Cole, went on to fill leadership positions.
Charles Howe, UNIVERSALIST HERALD board member, is a retired UU minister and historian; he
is a frequent contributor. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.
 |
 |