Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America Records

The Federal Council of Churches organized its Committee on the Conscientious Objector under its Department of International Justice and Goodwill in 1941 (circa). Bishop Oxnam was Chair of the Committee, and Dr. Walter Van Kirk was Secretary. Members of the Committee were nominated by the member churches of the Federal Council and appointed by the Council's President. The Committee was represented in NSBRO in a consultative capacity from January 17, 1941, to which it gave financial support or organized support from denominations. Grover Hartman, a C.O. who was released from CPS for detached service, came to the office in May 1944 to work with Dr. Van Kirk. His salary was paid from contributions made by the churches represented on the Committee. Hartman had earned an M.A. from American University and had worked as a teacher and a leader in the field of religion. He was working on his PhD. when he was drafted and sent to a CPS camp.

The Committee was interested in all aspects of conscientious objection, especially religious life in CPS camps. Among the Committee's projects was the organizing of a program of visitation to CPS camps.

In 1952, A. Staunton Curry, the Executive Secretary of NSBRO, wrote to the SCPC that he felt that the Committee's files should be deposited in the Peace Collection. The curator visited Dr. Van Kirk's office in Dec. 1952 and selected the records to transfer to the archives. The bulk of the Federal Council of Churches' archives is at the Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia (PA) [they have nothing on the Committee on the Conscientious Objector].

The Committee's archival records were re-processed in April 2001 for the purpose of better preservation measures and to arrange the material in a more comprehensible format. At that time, material regarding the Federal Council of Church that did not relate to the Committee was removed.