Guide to the Inter-Council Field Department Records
Open for research.
The Inter-Council Field Committee was formed in 1934 by the Conference of Interdenominational Executives. The participants in the Committee included the Federal Council of Churches, the International Council of Religious Education, the Home Missions Council, the Foreign Missions Conference of North America, the Missionary Education Movement of the United States and Canada, the Council of Women for Home Missions, and the National Council of Federated Church Women. The Committee became the Inter-Council Field Department on October 5, 1939. The United Stewardship Council also became a member of the Department. The Department functioned through a Committee and a Staff Council (or Conference). The departmental committee was made up of members appointed by the constituent councils. The Staff Council was composed of staff members who carried major responsibility for field administration and field service in the constituent councils.
The purpose of the Department was "to build the Christian Community through translating the growing spirit of unity within Christendom -- the spirit of ecumenicity -- into cooperative action." The functions of the Department included the following:
- To aid in developing and strengthening cooperation among Christian forces in regions, states, cities, counties, and local communities, with a view to more effectively serving the needs of the constituencies in these areas.
- To serve as a channel through which the needs, experiences, and impulses of the local community, the county, the city, and the state may be made known to the national interdenominational agencies.
- To coordinate the major field enterprises of the national interdenominational agencies.
- To assist in the promotion of interest and participation in those field enterprises of the parent bodies which have received the approval of the Department.
- To aid each parent body in the development of its field program.
- To plan joint field projects to meet unmet needs on behalf of all national agencies, such as projects being for joint sponsorship of the parent bodies.
The Inter-Council Field Department, 1935-1950, files consist primarily of minutes of the departmental committee and the Staff Council. The small amount of material also includes incoming and outgoing correspondence, reports, agenda, directories, a constitution, pamphlets, and leaflets.
The files are arranged alphabetically by subject. Items within the files are arranged chronologically by year, month, and day. Partially dated items are placed at the end of the month or year; undated documents are placed after all dated material. The files detail the organization, history, and activities of the Inter-Council Field Department, which in many ways was the forerunner of the National Council of Churches.
The archives of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America were processed in 1980-1984 through two grants awarded to the Presbyterian Historical Society by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Work under the first grant was performed by Dr. Alan Thomson and under the second grant by Donald L. Haggerty.
The archives of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America have been dated from 1950 to 1972; however, there is material dating from before and after this time period. Documents from the predecessor organizations date from as early as 1839. There is also a small amount of material found in the files from as late as 1975. The year 1972 was selected as a cutoff date for the archives because of the major reorganization which the NCC underwent at this time. The archives are arranged in the following record groups:
NCC RG 1: Planning Committee for the NCC, 1941-1951
NCC RG 2: General Assemblies, 1952-1972
NCC RG 3: General Board, 1950-1972
NCC RG 4: General Secretary, 1950-1973
NCC RG 5: Deputy General Secretary, 1947-1975
NCC RG 6: Division of Christian Life and Mission, 1945-1973
NCC RG 7: Division of Home Missions, 1950-1964
NCC RG 8: Division of Overseas Ministries, 1914-1972
NCC RG 9: Division of Christian Education, 1897-1974
NCC RG 10: Division of Christian Unity, 1935-1973
NCC RG 11: Office of Administration, 1938-1973
NCC RG 12: Assistant General Secretary for Executive Operations, 1950-1966
NCC RG 13: Washington Office, 1951-1966
NCC RG 14: Office of Planning and Program, 1943-1973
NCC RG 15: Department of Information, 1951-1974
NCC RG 16: Broadcasting and Film Commission, 1923-1974
NCC RG 17: Special Topics, 1951-1970
NCC RG 18: Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, 1894-1952
NCC RG 19: International Council of Religious Education, 1839-1953
NCC RG 20: Missionary Education Movement of the United States and Canada, 1901-1952
NCC RG 21: National Protestant Council of Higher Education, 1911-1951
NCC RG 22: United Stewardship Council, 1917-1950
NCC RG 23: Inter-Council Field Department, 1935-1950
NCC RG 24: Association of Council Secretaries, 1915-1971
NCC RG 25: Church Executive Development Board, 1960-1974
NCC RG 26: Home Missions Council of North America, 1903-1951
NCC RG 27: Foreign Missions Conference of North America, 1887-1951
NCC RG 28: Scrapbooks, 1915-1963
Catalog Note
In the society's electronic catalog, all 28 NCC record groups are cataloged together as the records of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.
| Box | Folder | Description | |
| 1 | 1 | The Comity Report, 1950 | |
| 1 | 2 | Constitution for a Council of Churches, Undated | |
| 1 | 3 | Directory of American Cooperative Christianity, Dec 1943-June 1950 | |
| 1 | 4 | Functions and Procedures, April 1940 | |
| 1 | 5 | Inter-Council Staff Conference, Minutes, Dec 1936-Sept 1950 | |
| 1 | 6 | Minutes, July 1935-Oct 1939 | |
| 1 | 7 | Minutes, April 1940-March 1942 | |
| 1 | 8 | Minutes, Oct 1942-Dec 1944 | |
| 1 | 9 | Minutes, April 1945-April 1948 | |
| 1 | 10 | Minutes, Oct 1948-Oct 1950 | |
| 1 | 11 | Miscellaneous, April 1936-April 1950 | |
| 1 | 12 | Plan Book, 1942-1948 | |
| 1 | 13 | Southeastern Inter-Council Field Office, March 1947-Nov 1950; n.d. | |
| 1 | 14 | United Christian Advance, April-Aug 1937; n.d. |