Channing, William Ellery (1780-1842)

US minister and theologian. He became a leader of the Unitarian movement 1819, opposing the strict Calvinism of the New England Congregationalist churches. He was an instrumental figure in the establishment of the American Unitarian Association. In his later years, Channing campaigned to end the institution of slavery.

Channing was born in Newport, Rhode Island, and educated at Harvard University. He was appointed minister of the Federal Street Congregationalist Church in Boston 1803.