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Courageous
Histories
In San
Francisco's Central Methodist Church on January 28, 1913,
twenty delegates from one county and five city church federations
met and organized a California Church Federation. The constitution
adopted that day avowed, "In the providence of God,
the time has come more fully to manifest the essential oneness
of the Christian Churches of America in Jesus Christ as
their Divine Lord and Savior, and to promote the spirit
of fellowship, service and cooperation among them."
With
a vision about the issues of the day, action was taken on
legislation before the U. S. Congress and California Legislature.
They appointed a committee of eight to represent them at
a hearing in Sacramento the very next night. Continuing
its legislative concerns, the Federation proclaimed on its
first letterhead, "It was organized to make effective
through legislation … all efforts for human betterment."
Issues dealt with in those early days: women's suffrage,
the moral aims of World War I, comity, Prohibition, gambling,
and peacemaking.
Cooperative
ventures have included founding and building an inter-denominational
church at Yosemite, the University Religious Center at UCLA,
the Hoover Dam International Council, Weekday Religious
Education, plus consolidation of the work of six organizations
in an enlarged cooperative organization called the California
Church Council in 1934.
In 1941
it was agreed to form the Southern California Council of
Churches (now Southern California Ecumenical Council) and
the Northern California-Nevada Council of Churches (now
Northern California Interreligious Conference). The California
Church Council continued as an Office for State Affairs,
uniting the northern and southern ecumenical organizations
through a board of directors elected from both groups. In
1969 there was a part-time executive director, with a total
budget of $14,000! In 1970 the position became full-time
with the California Church Council now, California Council
of Churches (CCC).
How
far we have come. The Rev. Dr. Rick Schlosser was named
Executive Director in 2003. Currently, the CCC seeks to
be "a prophetic witness to the Christian Gospel by
advocating for justice, peacemaking, and the well-being
of the powerless." Work includes backing low-cost housing,
school breakfast programs, comprehensive health care for
all, overcoming youth violence, and wise welfare reform.
The CCC educates via highly acclaimed study guides, training
programs and an annual legislative issues briefing, in cooperation
with the California Interfaith Coalition. The Council also
publishes the Justice Seekers newsletter.
 California
Church IMPACT, incorporated as a separate non-profit
in 1996, is the advocating arm of CCC and advocates for
social justice on behalf of member congregations and denominations.
Publishing the electronic ACTION ALERT and ballot proposition
recommendations for each statewide general election based
on the faith-based Legislative Principles set forth through
CCC.
Currently,
California Council of Churches and California Church IMPACT
have swelled to include 51 denominations and judicatories
in California, representing over 4,000 congregations and
more than 1.5 million members.
Who
We Are
2006
Annual Report
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