Skip to main content

World Council of Churches Records

 Collection
Call Number: RG 162

Scope and Contents

This collection was at one time an open collection for all World Council of Churches publications in pamphlet or typescript format. Pamphlets with distinctive titles and authors are now added to the Yale online catalog.

Dates

  • 1927-2002

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research.

Arrangement

  1. I. WCC in Process of Formation
  2. II. Major Assemblies
  3. III. Executive and Central Committee Meetings
  4. IV. Program Divisions, Commissions, Departments
  5. V. Miscellaneous Publications
  6. VI. Related Organizations

Extent

33.5 Linear Feet (71 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/divinity.162

Abstract

This collection is primarily printed and typescript material that documents the formation of the World Council of Churches and its program activities. Monographs with distinctive titles and authors, which were at one time part of this record group, have now been removed and added as individual items in the Yale online catalog. The World Council of Churches is an ecumenical organization that was founded in 1948 in Amsterdam. It developed out of two other organizations, the Life and Work Movement, which concentrated on the practical activities of the churches, and the Faith and Order Movement, which focused on the beliefs and organization of the churches and the problems involved in their possible reunion.

Biographical / Historical

The World Council of Churches is an ecumenical organization that was founded in 1948 in Amsterdam. It developed out of two other organizations, the Life and Work Movement, which concentrated on the practical activities of the churches, and the Faith and Order Movement, which focused on the beliefs and organization of the churches and the problems involved in their possible reunion. In 1937 the Faith and Order Conference at Edinburgh and the Life and Work Conference at Oxford accepted the plan to create one council. A conference of church leaders met in 1938 in Utrecht, The Netherlands, to prepare a constitution; but World War II intervened, and the first assembly of the WCC could not be held until 1948. In 1961 the International Missionary Council united with the WCC.

Title
Guide to the World Council of Churches Records
Author
Compiled by Martha Lund Smalley
Date
2002, 2004, 2015
Description rules
Finding Aid Prepared According To Local Divinity Library Descriptive Practices
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Part of the Yale Divinity Library Repository

Contact:
409 Prospect Street
New Haven CT 06511 US
(203) 432-5301

Opening Hours