INTRODUCTION
In the early part of the year 1913 a liberal
religious congress was held in the city of Rochester, New York, one of whose
features was a series of addresses by speakers of prominence in the American
religious community on the contributions of American Churches to religious and
civil liberty.
It has been thought that the interest and value of these papers
warranted their publication.
While they have been revised by their authors it is inevitable that they
should in some degree retain the informality of extemporized addresses. This
is, however, atoned for by the freshness, directness and vigor of these
utterances, in which the eminent services of American Churches to religious and
civil liberty find eloquent and convincing expression. Professor Williston
Walker, D.D., has kindly contributed a chapter to this volume in which the
contribution of the Congregational Churches of the United States to the cause
of religious freedom is more fully exhibited.
Charles W. Wendte.