Looking ahead to a conference in Boston on the theme of “reform,” I’ve been reminded that in one key area of my work, the emergence of the Protestant ecumenical movement in the early twentieth century, Boston was not at the forefront of reform and innovation. As David Hollinger and others have observed, ecumenism was one of the defining features – if not the defining feature – of American liberal Protestantism. [1] In most historical treatments, ecumenical commitments emerged amid the growing popularity of liberal theology within American Protestantism, championed by church leaders and theologians who recognized the benefits promised by Read more