in Blackfields and Moorfields, once opened to him, now closed their doors. Despite the loss of these churches, Winchester's popularity steadily grew, and other facilities opened their doors. In north London, there was a time he preached in the mornings at the General Baptist Glass House Yard chapel and preached in the evenings at the General Baptist church on Worship Street. In 1792 he secured a regular meeting space at a former General Baptist chapel at Parliament Court on the eastern edge of London. He preached there until he departed for America in 1794. The Universal Baptist Church at Parliament Court(1793-1794) Winchester's flock was comprised of dissenters from mainstream religious orthodoxy. Faithful to the heritage of English Universalism, they called themselves Philadelphians. In February 1793, Winchester formally organized his congregation, known both as the Universal Baptists and the Ethical Society. The Conway Hall Ethical Society, the oldest surviving freethought organization in the world, traces its founding back to Winchester. After Winchester returned to America, a former Calvinist Baptist minister now restoration advocate, Rev. William Vidler, filled the pulpit. Like Winchester, Vidler had been a Calvinist Baptist minister in good standing until he was separated from his church due to his restorationist leanings. Return to American Without informing anyone, Winchester abruptly departed London in May 1794. His biographer alluded to a personal matter that prompted his return, stating, "He came to America alone." Winchester later explained his departure in a letter to a London colleague. In that letter Winchester was explicit that he fled his London residence due to his wife, Maria Knowles. "I tell you that I have been driven from my own house by the hands of my wife." The separation was not long-lived. Seven months later, Mrs. Winchester sailed for America and was reunited with her husband. Arriving in Boston from London, Winchester began to travel and preach. He preached in his hometown of Brookline and other familiar towns such as Roxbury, Grafton, Hull, Canterbury, and Oxford. He temporarily filled the pulpit at Rev. John Murray's society. He wrote to his brother, "I never saw the country so open to me as it is now. I preached twenty-five sermons in the month of September, which considering my state of weakness, is as much as I could expect." Winchester Ordains Hosea Ballou In October 1794, Winchester again attended a meeting of Oxford's Universalists. As noted earlier the Independent Christian