City Councils of Churches records, 1909 -- 1970

Summary Information

Abstract

The various City Councils of Churches were ecumenical organizations that focused on Christian and church unity at the local level. Among the materials included in the collection are annual reports, bulletins and newsletters, and pamphlets.

At a Glance

Arrangement

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in one alphabetical series.

• City Council of Churches records, 1909 -- 1970

Description

Scope and Contents

This collection contains materials created by or for the City Councils of Churches, including administrative materials (such as constitutions, by-laws, and policies), annual reports and meetings records, bulletins and newsletters, pamphlets, event programs, and informational brochures. The materials address a variety of issues common across the cities represented in the collections, including religious education, social welfare and action, youth, and race relations.

• City Council of Churches records, 1909 -- 1970

  This series contains materials created by or for the City Councils of Churches, including administrative materials (such as constitutions, by-laws, and policies), annual reports and meetings records, bulletins and newsletters, pamphlets, event programs, and informational brochures. The materials address a variety of issues common across the cities represented in the collections, including religious education, social welfare and action, youth, and race relations.

Burke Library record group:

William Adams Brown Ecumenical Library Archives

Using the Collection

Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Onsite storage.

Conditions Governing Use

Some material in this collection may be protected by copyright and other rights. Information concerning copyright, fair use, and reproduction requests can be consulted at Columbia's Copyright Advisory Office.

Preferred Citation

Item description, WAB: City Councils of Churches records, 1909-1970, box #, folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.

Related Materials

WAB: Council of Churches of the City of New York, Dept. of Church Planning and Research, series #, box #, folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.

WAB: National Council of Churches Records, series #, box #, folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.

WAB: World Council of Churches Records, series #, box #, folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The exact provenance of this collection is unknown.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary

Processing Information

Some material was cataloged by Lynn A. Grove on 1988-08-05. Metal clips and staples were removed from materials and folded items were flattened. Materials were placed in new acid-free folders and boxes. Acidic items were separated from one another by interleaving with acid-free paper as needed. The finding aid was created by Rebecca Weintraub in 2012 with the support of the Henry Luce Foundation, and edited by Leah Edelman in 2021.

Revision Description

2013-06-29 XML instance created by Rebecca Weintraub.

2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.

2021-02-10 EAD spot checked and corrected and description updated by Leah Edelman.

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches at Columbia University through the Archival Collections Portal and through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, as well as ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

All links open new windows.

Subject

History / Biographical Note

Biographical / Historical

The mid-twentieth century was a significant period in the development of the Ecumenical movement in the United States. In 1950, the Foreign Missions Conference of North America gave way to the Division of Foreign Missions of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. According to Ruth Rouse in A History of the Ecumenical Movement, 1517-1948, the unity of eight then-separate national councils, among them the Foreign Missions Conference, the Council of Church Women, and Council for Religious Education, "practically organized all aspects of the Churches' common life in an ecclesiastically-constituted organ of common action." This development, along with the creation of the World Council of Churches in 1948, was a significant one for the ecumenical movement for much of the same reason. For the first time, there were two denominationally-connected groups with common goals of creating Christian unity in both doctrine and action. These goals are reflected in the City Councils of Churches Records and illustrate their execution on a local level. The Constitution for The Federation of Churches of Christ in Albany, New York, for example, stated its object as the development of "the spirit of Christian fellowship and to promote through cooperative effort the spiritual, moral, social, and civic welfare of the community." Similarly, The Council of Churches of Buffalo and Erie County state one of their objects as concerning itself "with all those interests that concern the churches, especially those matters of mutual helpfulness and community influence…" These objectives manifest themselves in the activities of each city council represented in this collection, whether this is in regards to matters of religious education, race relations, or social welfare.