Unitarian Church, East Melbourne, VIC

Unitarians trace their history back to the courageous heretics who dared to apply reason to religion, such men as Michael Servetus, Giorgio Biandrata, Faustus Socinus and Francis David. Outstanding Unitarians in the past century and a half include Joseph Priestly, Theodore Parker, William Ellery Channing, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Albert Schweitzer and Florence Nightingale. Unitarian churches are democratic and congregationalist, which means that each church is autonomous and governs its own affairs. This is distinguished from less democratic systems of church governance, such as presbyterian governance (by elders) or episcopalian (by a hierarchy of bishops). Ultimate authority for the governance of the church lies with its members. The Melbourne church is also affiliated to the Australian and New Zealand Unitarian Association. The Unitarian Universalist Association in the U. A. and Canada has a membership of 1, 000 congregations serving over 200, 000 adults and church school children.