Why not Unitarian?

One might have thought that Free Christianity would be entirely at home under the umbrella that bears the name of the 'General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches'.  But it is a fact that many Unitarians today are not only in no sense Christian but they regard themselves as members of a non-Christian religion.  Indeed a significant minority are hostile to Christian witness within the movement.  This, together with the seemingly relentless tide in favour of establishing a single corporate identity for the movement (to portray it less as a general assembly and more as a single entity), means that the Free Christian aspect is under continual threat. Every other year there is a new initiative to rid the movement of what many see as an awkward and (even worse) out-of-date appendage to its title. 

The Unitarian Christian Association is doing good work to restore the fortunes of Christian witness within the movement and the concerns of Free Christianity very largely overlap with Unitarian Christianity.  It is also true that Unitarian Christianity is far less 'sectarian' and more Free Christian in its outlook than it was once (the two earliest Unitarian organisations in England both had constitutions that excluded Arians for example, and in later times strict Unitarians would denounce Free Christians' 'sickly' non-sectarianism).

While Free Christianity is not quite identical with Unitarian Christianity and there is a need for the Free Christian aspect of the movement to have active and explicit witness, the 'Free Christian' part of the name General Unitarian of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches also bears witness to the general commitment in the General Assembly's Object to uphold the liberal Christian tradition.