National Council of Churches
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| Founded | 1950 |
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| Website | nationalcouncilofchurches |
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 United States. Its member communions include Mainline Protestant, Orthodox, African American, Evangelical, Josephite and historic peace churches. Together, they encompass more than 100,000 local congregations and 40 million adherents. It began as the Federal Council of Churches in 1908, and expanded through merger with several other ecumenical organizations to become the National Council of Churches in 1950.
The first efforts at ecumenical organization emerged in 1908 with the creation of the Federal Council of Churches (FCC). The FCC was created as a response to "industrial problems" that arose during the rapid industrialization of the U.S. The primary concern was the protection of workers in a host of areas including wages, working conditions, child labor, and a six day work week (reduced from 7).
During the next 40 plus years, FCC remained engaged in the domestic social problems of the day as well as international problems that threatened to draw the U.S. into war. Its progressive social program along with support of conscientious objectors to World War II garnered stiff criticism from Christian fundamentalist circles. By 1950, numerous programs and efforts of social uplift had formed in addition to the FCC. Seeking greater unity, a dozen ecumenical bodies (including the FCC) gathered in Cleveland, OH in 1950 to discuss how to more effectively organize their common work. Out of this meeting, via the merger of the Federal Council of Churches with several other ecumenical bodies, emerged the NCC.
The Council's 38 member communions include Mainline Protestant, Orthodox, African American, Evangelical, Josephite, and historic peace churches. Individual adherents of more than 50 Christian faith groups actively participate in NCC study groups, commissions and ministries. Some of these participants belong to Christian faith groups, including the Roman Catholics, fundamentalists, Southern Baptists, and Missouri Synod Lutherans, that are not officially a part of the Council's membership.
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