Editing Lucy Stone (section)

=== Expulsion from church ===

Stone's anti-slavery work included harsh criticism of churches that refused to condemn slavery. Her own church in West Brookfield, the First Congregational Church of West Brookfield, was one of those, having expelled a deacon for anti-slavery activities. In 1851, the church expelled Stone, herself.<ref name="Million, 2003, p. 112" /> Stone had already moved significantly away from that church's Trinitarian doctrines. While at Oberlin, Stone had arranged for her friend, Abby Kelley Foster, and her new husband, [[Stephen Symonds Foster]], to speak, there, on the abolition of slavery. Afterwards, [[Charles Grandison Finney|Charles Finney]], a prominent professor of theology at Oberlin, denounced the Fosters for their [[Unitarianism|Unitarian]] beliefs. Intrigued, Stone began to engage in classroom discussions about the Trinitarian-Unitarian controversy<ref>[[Trinitarianism]] is the traditional Christian belief that God is three persons in one, with Jesus one of those three. [[Unitarianism]] holds that God is one and that Jesus was a great teacher but not God.</ref> and ultimately decided that she was a Unitarian.<ref>Million, 2003, p. 70.</ref> Expelled from her childhood church, she affiliated with the [[Unitarian Universalist Association|Unitarian church]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/biographies/lucy-stone|title=Lucy Stone|author=Susan Ritchie|date=February 17, 2014|publisher=Harvard Square Library|access-date=March 5, 2017}}</ref>