Guide to the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Council on Church and Race Records

Upon the heels of the national emergency precipitated by the Civil Rights marches in Birmingham, AL and elsewhere in the country, the 175th General Assembly (1963) (UPCUSA) established a Commission on Religion and Race as "the focal point for race relations and for liaison with interfaith and ecumenical efforts to meet this crisis." CORAR was administered by the Board of Christian Education. Its mission was to design a comprehensive and coordinated race-relations strategy for Presbyterians and to implement this common strategy through all of the judicatories, boards and agencies of the United Presbyterian Church. CORAR carried on this work from September 1963 through December 1967, under the leadership of the Rev. Gayraud S. Wilmore.

The 179th General Assembly (1967) authorized the three program boards (the Boards of National Missions and Christian Education and the Commission on Ecumenical Mission and Relations) and CORAR's executive committee to devise a new plan for mobilizing the forces of the Church in a manner that would make the witness of the Church more relevant to the new situation and more effective in its leadership of the denomination. On January 1, 1968, CORAR was reconstituted as the Council on Church and Race, to be administered by the Board of National Missions under its general Department of Mission Strategy and Evangelism as the Division of Church and Race. Wilmore remained in his position, as did the majority of his staff.

COCAR was to be "the focal point for dealing with racism and injustice as expressed in racial and intercultural relations with black Americans, Spanish-speaking Americans and American Indians, and for liaison with ecumenical, interfaith and other efforts in this field." COCAR also had responsibility for evaluation of actions on civil rights taken by all judicatories, boards and agencies and reporting on these to General Assembly. It was directed to review the employment practices of the Church and report and give guidance on them. Special efforts were to be directed toward the southeastern United States, where UPCUSA positions on race, Vietnam, the Confession of 1967 and Bible readings in public schools were not widely accepted.

One of COCAR's projects was the creation of a $10,000 emergency fund. In 1971, this money was used to support the defense of African-American Communist Angela Davis, who was charged with conspiracy and murder. Over 7,000 church members from across the country protested this use of the fund. Eventually the money was replaced in the fund personally by various black leaders of the Church.

In 1972 the Board of National Missions was replaced by the Program Agency.