The Official Ceremony

The Order of Worship Uniting The Evangelical United Brethren Church and The Methodist Church to Form The United Methodist Church, April 23, 1968.

Albert C. Outler. “Visions and Dreams” sermon notes, April 1968.

The official ceremony instituting church union began at 8:30 a.m. on April 23, 1968 in Dallas Memorial Auditorium. The preacher at this historic event was Dr. Albert C. Outler (1908–1989), professor of Historical Theology at Perkins School of Theology. Professor Outler’s keynote sermon, “Visions and Dreams: The Unfinished Business of an Unfinished Church” called United Methodists “to be a church truly catholic, truly evangelical, and truly reformed” during an era of “profound demoralization at every level: of faith and order, life and work.”

To read Albert Outler's Uniting Conference sermon as published in Perkins Journal, please click here. To see the entire early draft of the Uniting Conference sermon, please click here.