“American Unitarian churches express their faith in freedom and democracy” (8), declares author Ann Marie Borys in American Unitarian Churches. Her task here is hermeneutical: to demonstrate the embeddedness of meanings, specifically the values of Unitarians, in the architecture of the churches they erected between the late 18th century and the 1960s. Several Unitarian values are identified—the human capacity for rationality and education, a commitment to social service and action, individualism, humanism, innovation and creativity, and communalism—all indicative, in Borys’ estimation, of one overarching value: “democracy.”

The main contribution of this book lies with the inclusion of numerous architectural examples of Unitarian churches. Illustrations are numerous, and Borys describes the buildings with alacrity. The effort to see these churches as articulations of Unitarian principles is hampered, however, by a dearth of primary source material, particularly from the 18th and 19th centuries, in which Unitarians directly discuss their buildings. Lacking such direct connections between values and architectural features, Borys reads values articulated in sermons and other writings into the physical features of the buildings, making connections that are plausible but not proven. Only in the twentieth century is Borys able to draw upon dedication sermons, congregational records, and anniversary books to demonstrate direct connections in support of her thesis. A tone of Unitarian triumphalism characteristic of denominational histories, a perplexing insistence on linking all values to “democracy,” and a tendency to dismiss undemocratic situations or articulations as mere anomalies will leave some readers questioning the conclusions. Nevertheless, Borys does succeed in her effort to raise the visibility of the significant contributions of Unitarian thinkers and architects to the American religious and civic landscape.