Welcome to the NCC's Web Site.

As you browse these pages, you will glimpse life-changing ministries made possible when churches live and work together in Christian unity. We hope you will want to discover more – about the National Council of Churches and the whole ecumenical movement of which we are a part.

The National Council of Churches is a community, not an agency. Its essence is among the 35 communions who come together to share the work and the joy of the household of God. 

When we get together we represent a wide range of Christian traditions and experiences: Anglicans, Orthodox, high-church and low-church Protestants, evangelicals, historic African American churches, peace churches, churches with a long history in this country and those made up of recent immigrants.

More than a half-century ago, our forebears thought it good to bring all these traditions to the table we call the National Council of Churches. We are richly varied in our differences, but we are united in the conviction that God has brought us together in Christ.

As we strive to live the visible unity of God's church, we occasionally stumble over issues and convictions on which we cannot agree. But that does not mean we are inevitably fractious.

We are, in a fundamental way, already one. Unity is not synonymous with agreement. Like any family, we try to recognize our disagreements and address them. This is what it means to be in Christ. We can fight like cats and dogs and still sit at the same table. We know that the Spirit that has claimed us has also claimed others at the table. That common bond is what enables us to deal with conflicts as sisters and brothers.

The historic streams of the ecumenical movement are faith and order, life and work, and mission and evangelism. All the communions that sit at the NCC table are committed to understanding one another better, striving together for justice and peace, and working together to bring the risen Christ into households, parliaments and executive chambers.

In these pages, you will find highlights of the NCC's part in all these aspects of the great ecumenical movement. You will also find exciting ways to connect with ministries that touch people as near as a study group in your congregation, as far as a village half a world away. Through our sister body, Church World Service, our member communions join with partners in more than 80 countries, in ministries of disaster relief, development and refugee assistance. For the council itself, we focus on such things as Christian education, doctrinal reconciliation, and interfaith relations. We welcome your interest and participation.

Please join with us and pray with us as we respond to God's call to work together in unity so that God's will may be done at home and around the world.

Grace and Peace,


Clare J. Chapman, Esq.
Interim General Secretary



Philip E. Jenks, Web Editor, 212-870-2228 (office), 646-853-4212 (cell), 212-870-2030 (fax). NCC Communication Department, 475 Riverside Drive, Suite 800, New York, NY 10115. Copyright © 2010 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA:  36 faith traditions encompassing 45 million Americans in 100,000 local congregations . . . joining hands and voices in witness to their unity in Christ.

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