Upon his return to New England, John Pierpont proclaimed to his compatriots the attractive features of Cincinnati, and within two years a Unitarian congregation was founded in the city.

[2]: 348  Following Channing was the former lawyer James H. Perkins, who drowned in 1849; during his five years of ministry, he engaged the congregation in a range of social justice purposes, such as prison reforms and welfare for the poor.

[2]: 349  Controversy arose in the 1850s: questions of abolitionism were tense in a city located so close to the slave state of Kentucky, and theological differences over the existence of miracles caused the church to split into two.

[2]: 350  Under the ministry of George Thayer, which began in 1882, the congregation was faced with widespread movement of members from downtown to the city's northern edges; as a result, the present building was erected along Reading Road, 2 miles (3.2 km) northeast of the former site.

[4] For many years immediately prior to the construction of the new building, the congregation had been declining because many of its members moved away from its previous location; by relocating to a site in a growing neighborhood that was easily reached by public transportation, the leaders hoped to increase its accessibility.

[4] Starting two years later, many of the church's members united with musician Richard Waller to help form the Linton Chamber Music Series, a partnership with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.