The Federal Council of Churches, officially the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America, was an

ecumenical Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

association of Christian denominations in the United States in the early twentieth century. It represented the

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul c ...

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

, Moravian,

Oriental Orthodox The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 60 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches are part of the Nicene Christian tradition, and represent ...

, Polish National Catholic,

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their n ...

, and Reformed traditions of Christianity. It merged with other ecumenical bodies in 1950 to form the present day

National Council of Churches The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, usually identified as the National Council of Churches (NCC), is the largest ecumenical body in the United States. NCC is an ecumenical partnership of 38 Christian faith groups in the Un ...

History

The Federal Council of Churches was founded at a convention that met at the Academy of Music in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

in May 1908. Originally the Council consisted of thirty-two denominations. By 1923, it maintained central offices at 105 East 22nd Street, New York City. It also had offices at the Woodward Building, Washington, D.C., and at 19 South La Salle Street,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Social and political advocacy

The Federal Council of Churches was active in the

Temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture * Temperance (group), Canadian dan ...

and

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholi ...

of alcohol movements. Additionally, the council was an organization that believed very deeply in democracy. In its statement on the nature and tasks of Christian Cooperation, the Council declared: :With the demand for

industrial democracy Industrial democracy is an arrangement which involves workers making decisions, sharing responsibility and authority in the workplace. While in participative management organizational designs workers are listened to and take part in the decisi ...

the churches are intensely concerned, for democracy is the expression of Christianity.

The Social Creeds

"The Social Creed of the Churches" was a statement by members of the Federal Council of Churches in December 1908 against what it described as "industrial problems." The document spelled out a list of principles, including: *Equal rights and complete justice for all men in all stations of life *Protection of the worker from dangerous machinery, occupational disease, injuries, and mortality *Abolition of child labor *Regulation of the conditions of toil for women as shall safeguard the physical and moral health of the community *A living wage as a minimum in every industry *Provision for the old age of the workers and for those incapacitated by injury *Abatement of poverty Over time the Council included additional principles, including addressing the injustice of the unequal distribution of wealth.

Member denominations

By 1923 the member denominations were as follows: *

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexional polity. The African Methodist Episcopal ...

African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America The Christian Methodist Episcopal (C.M.E.) Church is a historically black denomination within the broader context of Wesleyan Methodism founded and organized by John Wesley in England in 1744 and established in America as the Methodist Episcopa ...

* General Convention of the Christian Church *

Christian Reformed Church in North America The Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA or CRC) is a Protestant Calvinist Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. Having roots in the Dutch Reformed Church of the Netherlands, the Christian Reformed Church was f ...

Churches of God in North America (General Eldership) Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...

Disciples of Christ The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. The denomination started with the Restoration Movement during the Second Great Awakening, first existing during the 19th ...

* Episcopal Church * Evangelical Synod of North America * Evangelical Association * Free Baptist Church *

Greek Orthodox Church The term Greek Orthodox Church ( Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also cal ...

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Li ...

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. ...

Methodist Episcopal Church, South The Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MEC, S; also Methodist Episcopal Church South) was the American Methodist denomination resulting from the 19th-century split over the issue of slavery in the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC). Disagreement ...

* Methodist Protestant Church *

Moravian Church The Moravian Church ( cs, Moravská církev), or the Moravian Brethren, formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination, denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohem ...

National Council of Congregational Churches The National Council of Congregational Churches of the United States was a mainline Protestant, Christian denomination in the United States. Its organization as a denomination was delayed by the Civil War. Congregational leaders met again in Bos ...

* National Baptist Convention *

Northern Baptist Convention The American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) is a mainline/evangelical Baptist Christian denomination within the United States. The denomination maintains headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The organization is usually considered mainli ...

Polish National Catholic Church The Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC) is an independent Old Catholic church based in the United States and founded by Polish-Americans. The PNCC is not in communion with the Roman Catholic Church.http://www.saplv.com/wp-content/uploads/202 ...

Presbyterian Church in the United States of America The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA) was the first national Presbyterian denomination in the United States, existing from 1789 to 1958. In that year, the PCUSA merged with the United Presbyterian Church of North Americ ...

Presbyterian Church in the United States The Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS, originally Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America) was a Protestant denomination in the Southern and border states of the United States that existed from 1861 to 1983. That ye ...

Primitive Methodist Church The Primitive Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination with the holiness movement. It began in England in the early 19th century, with the influence of American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–1834). In the United States, the Primit ...

Reformed Church in America The Reformed Church in America (RCA) is a mainline Reformed Protestant denomination in Canada and the United States. It has about 152,317 members. From its beginning in 1628 until 1819, it was the North American branch of the Dutch Reformed ...

Reformed Church in the United States The Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS) is a Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. The present RCUS is a conservative, Calvinist denomination. It affirms the principles of the Reformation: '' Sola scriptura'' (Scrip ...

Reformed Episcopal Church The Reformed Episcopal Church (REC) is an Anglican church of evangelical Episcopalian heritage. It was founded in 1873 in New York City by George David Cummins, a former bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church. The REC is a founding member of ...

* Reformed Presbyterian Church, General Synod *

Romanian Orthodox Church The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; ro, Biserica Ortodoxă Română, ), or Patriarchate of Romania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates ...

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

* Seventh Day Baptist Church * Syrian Orthodox Church * United Brethren Church * Ukrainian Orthodox Church *

United Evangelical Church The United Evangelical Church is a splinter group from the Evangelical Association History It was formed in 1891 when some members of the Evangelical Association left to form the new church. The schism was caused by the autocratic administration ...

* United Presbyterian Church * United Lutheran Church (consultative)

Commissions

The FCC worked through a number of Commissions which addressed various social issues of the day. These included the Commission on the Church and Social Service which carried out research and education on industrial problems, the Commission on International Justice and Goodwill which stressed "Christian internationalism" and campaigned for the reduction of armaments and the Commission on Councils of Churches which worked on organizing local federations of churches in larger communities so they could be a more effect force in their neighborhoods. Other commissions included the Commission on Negro Churches and Race Relations, Commission on Evangelism, Commission on Education, Commission on Temperance, Commission on Relations with Religious Bodies in Europe and the Commission on Community Relations, which was founded in May 1923, "gives attention neighborhood programme of local churches, the housing of the community work of open churches, the social service work of local federations of Churches and represents the Protestant group in conferences of national social agencies working in communities."Preuss pp.124-5

References

{{Presbyterian Church in the United States of America National councils of churches 1908 establishments in Pennsylvania Christian organizations established in 1908 Religious organizations disestablished in 1950