1940: Congregational Church

The biennial meeting of the General Council of Congregational Churches was held in Berkeley, Calif., in August 1940, and elected former Governor Sweet of Colorado as Moderator. The meeting completed a decade of the union of the Congregational and the Christian Churches, and the two names had since been carried in the title of the Church. By action of the Council its name will hereafter read simply, 'The General Council of Congregational Churches.' The Council passed a resolution asking for the early termination of the Taylor appointment to the Vatican. It called for the cooperation of all religious faiths against forces undermining democracy, religious freedom, and the American way of life, particularly denouncing religious bigotry. It tabled a resolution calling the country to 'searching debate and mature deliberation' before adopting military conscription, but demanded civilian control of the services of conscientious objectors drafted under the Selective Service Act. The Council took novel action in behalf of interchurch relations by amending its constitution so as to provide for a class of 'ecumenical members' to be appointed by other denominations, primarily those affiliated with the Federal Council, but including also the Unitarian and Universalist Churches.