A moment in ecumenical history

A birthday card

There is no better documented event in ecumenism than the founding of the Federal Council of Churches, 100 years ago this month.

An intricately bound, 580-page book published by the Federal Council in 1909 is ample evidence that the founders knew they were part of something important. The speeches, the faces, the committee reports, the delegations, all are meticulously recorded.*

But the care that was taken to preserve the meeting for posterity doesn't assure we have a clear understanding of what happened a century ago. There are too many things in the record that distract us, including the fact that the sainted founders were all male, all well educated, all middle-to-upper-class. And the fact that all but a very few were white. And the fact that many of their names are unexpectedly familiar. (William Henry Roberts identifies both "Brushy" Roberts who many contemporaries believed was Billy the Kid, and "Reverend" Roberts, who was indisputably the acting president of the Federal Council. Historians agree they were not the same man. There was also a Batman in attendance -- Levi Batman, chair of the council's nominations committee.)

The first meeting of the Federal Council of Churches took place in a year when the nation and the world still lived by 19th century attitudes but was poised on the threshold of modern developments. Many new phenomena that year would have a profound effect on the 20th century. January 1, 1908, was the first time that a ball signifying the new year was ceremoniously descended in Times Square. The first Mother's Day was observed May 10 and the first passenger flight took off (and landed) on May 14. On May 26, massive oil was discovered in the Middle East. General Motors filed papers of incorporation on September 16.

Too, William Howard Taft was elected the 17th President of the United States on November 3. Three days later, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were killed in a shoot-out with soldiers in Bolivia. And on Christmas Day, Jack Johnson knocked out Tommy Burns to become the first black world heavyweight boxing champion.

No mention of any of these events was recorded in the minutes of the Federal Council of Churches as it met in Philadelphia's Academy of Music. Nor was it mentioned that four months prior to the meeting, a riot in Springfield, Ill., emblematic of the racial climate of the times, was incited by the false claim of a white woman that she had been raped by a black man. Eight African Americans were killed, 70 blacks and whites were injured and 2,000 persons of color were forced to leave the city.

The delegates did make it clear that they were aware that harsh labor conditions prevailed in factories, mines and farms for children as well as adults. They knew living conditions in poor urban and rural areas were deplorable.

To their credit, the delegates to the first meeting of the Federal Council of Churches did their best to address chronic social issues including "the immigrant problem," family life and rampant alcoholism. And Frank Mason North's report on "The Church and Modern Industry" led to the Social Creed of the Churches, which set the stage for innumerable church social programs. But chronic problems in race relations, justice for native Americans, health care, relief of crushing poverty and many others were scantily addressed or ignored altogether. And six years before the Great War, the delegates did not foresee the need to stress God's desire that humankind live in peace.

Be that as it may, the 100th birthday of the Federal Council of Churches (which became the National Council of Churches in 1950) is worth celebrating for many reasons, not the least of which is that it was not a perfect council and the human beings who formed it were aware of their frailties. There was no room for hubris in the Academy of Music's Witherspoon Hall during the first week of December 8. The delegates knew they didn't have the answers to all world's problems. But they also knew that if the problems were to be effectively addressed, it could only be by churches willing to work together in the name of Christ.

"The time has come," said William Henry Roberts, "when (Christians) should be prepared to act together for the welfare of their neighbors ... The interests of the individual no longer blind the eyes of believers to the need of mutuality in service. In this day of marvelous opportunities the duty of Christians is to stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving for the faith of the Gospel."

It was a good and noble start. Happy birthday to us.

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*Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, Report of the First Meeting of the Federal Council, Philadelphia, 1908, Edited by Elias B. Sanford, D.D., The Revell Press, New York.