A point of contention were talks of merger between the mainline "Northern Presbyterians," the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. and its successor denomination, the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. A vote for merger had come up in 1954, and despite popular support among many, the vote to merge failed. The two denominations did collaborate on a joint hymnal. The PCUS also joined the Episcopalians, United Methodists, the United Church of Christ and the UPCUSA in the Consultation on Church Union in 1962, a group begun by UPCUSA stated clerk Eugene Carson Blake. Eventually, by 1968, union churches and presbyteries were formed (that is, members of both the UPCUSA and the PCUS), and in 1970, a "Plan of Union" was drawn up. Union did not take place for another thirteen years.