History of the Brooklyn Council of Churches

The Brooklyn Council of Churches originated as the “Brooklyn City Tract Society, Auxiliary to the American Tract Society.” The Brooklyn City Tract Society was founded as a branch of the American Tract Society in 1829 to “promote the interests of evangelical religion, by the systematic distribution within the bounds of Brooklyn of religious Tracts published by the American Tract Society; and to aid that Society, with all surplus funds, in extending its operations.” Originally focusing on the dissemination of religious literature and scripture, the Society soon expanded to offer religious services, and employed missionaries to extend their work throughout the City of Brooklyn. The Society’s name was changed in 1858 to “The Brooklyn City Mission and Tract Society” and in the same year its Constitution was amended to reflect this change.

The Society continued to prosper under its new name, employing both men and women as missionaries, and made active efforts to reach out to the underprivileged, including mothers and children, especially recent immigrants. Much of the Society’s work focused upon the idea of “American Christianity” with the hope of turning its wards into devout Christians and “reliable and helpful citizens.” Each missionary was charged with the task of visiting every tenement in his or her district, distributing literature and, if welcomed, establishing neighborhood prayer meetings.

In 1896 “The Woman’s Branch” of the Brooklyn City Mission and Tract Society was formally organized. Known as the “Women’s Auxiliary” from 1887 on, this division coexisted alongside the Society and “was to supplement the work of The City Mission, by taking up mission work to be done in homes among women and children. All Christian women were encouraged to join the Auxiliary, not necessarily to work as missionaries but to lend their prayers, influence, and financial support to the cause of missionary work.

The Society sponsored many activities aimed at drawing persons away from vices such as alcohol and gambling. Activities sponsored by the Society included lectures, Prayer Meetings, Bible Classes, and a Sewing School. The Society founded a “Floating Bethel” in 1893. This boat/meeting house was removed from the brothels and taverns of the waterfront and provided a space where sailors could come to read, write, rest, and pray.

In addition, the Society worked to “rescue the perishing” primarily through its City Mission Night Shelter for Homeless Men, which provided food, shelter, aid in obtaining employment, and religious services. The Society itself offered employment to many, running a broom factory and chair caning facility. These successful business ventures helped defray the costs of the Society’s charitable work.

As the Society continued to expand, it focused less on the dissemination of literature. Missionary work had become the Society’s primary function, and by 1906 it operated sixteen mission stations in Brooklyn. The Society chose to change its name accordingly in 1929, to the Brooklyn City Mission Society. The By-Laws were also amended declaring the Society’s objective, “to promote interdenominational missionary interests in the Borough of Brooklyn and to minister to the spiritual and material needs of the unfortunate.”

Shortly after this change in 1932, the Brooklyn City Mission Society took on the work of the Brooklyn Federation of Churches. The Federation had been established in 1920 to bring all Protestant denominations and races together in a cooperative effort to promote Christianity through religious education, social service, court work, and other venues. The two organizations operated side by side for many years, sharing a Secretary, Dr. Frederick M. Gordon, from 1926 to 1932. The Society again changed its name, this time to the Brooklyn Church and Mission Federation. The By-Laws of the Brooklyn City Mission Society were amended in accordance with the restructuring to declare a twofold objective:

1. To unite the Protestant Churches of Christ in Brooklyn for the prosecution of work that can better be done in union than in separation, and to secure a larger combined influence for the churches in all matters affecting the religious, moral and social welfare of the people, so as to promote the application of the law of Christ in every relation of human life.

2. To promote interdenominational missionary interests in the borough of Brooklyn, and to minister to the spiritual and material needs of the unfortunate.

The Federation continued to operate as such over the next decade, working throughout Brooklyn to reach out to a large, diverse, and changing community. With the Great Depression, the church had to rethink its mission, focusing more on service to the community and providing aid to those in need. Outreach during this time included mothers’ clubs, boys’ clubs, parole and court work, civic affairs conferences, industrial relations conferences, and population surveys. The Federation also began to focus on church unity, as it observed that cooperative efforts would “produce greater strength and a more definite program and positive results.”

In June 1946 the Federation “voted to amalgamate its program and activities with The Protestant Council of the City of New York to become the Brooklyn Division of the Council.” Although the Brooklyn Church and Mission Federation was not officially dissolved, the organization was now widely known as the Brooklyn Division of the Protestant Council of Churches. As such, the organization further shifted its focus to church unity and the future survival of the Protestant Church.

With the demographic changes of the early and mid twentieth century, the face of Brooklyn Protestantism had changed greatly. At the turn of the century, Protestants made up more than one-half of Brooklyn’s population. By 1950, Protestant Brooklynites had dropped to one-fifth of the total population. By the later half of the twentieth century, Protestants had become a religious minority within both the borough of Brooklyn and the city of New York, causing the church to reevaluate its position within the community. The Division expanded its field of social services to include work with veterans, hospital and jail chaplaincies, interracial projects, peace activities, and economic justice programs. The organization moved its focus toward social service and away from direct mission work, it strove to identify the church as an indispensable part of the community. In the late 1980s the body became known as “The Brooklyn Council of Churches.” The Council continued for the remainder of the twentieth century to use its influence as a united body with the community to strive for social reform to assist Brooklyn’s ever changing population.

Advocacy has included: Operation Breadbasket, Bank on Brooklyn (campaign against red-lining by banks), the emergency food distribution program, campaign against the In-Reming (seizing) of church property by the City of New York, support of the Burned Churches Fund of the National Council of Churches, repeal of the horrendous NYS fuel oil surcharge (tax) which had added 25% to your church fuel bill for many years, support of the clergy parking bill (A-60), successful opposition to the sale of Coney Island Hospital by NYC, opposition to apartheid (since it’s inception), handguns, sweatshops, excessive use of force by law enforcement, opposition to garbage collection fees for churches and fees for FDNY inspection of oil burners as well as Sunday morning FDNY fire inspections of churches, opposition to restrictive landmarking legislation of churches, opposition (unsuccessful) to the closing of St. Mary’s Hospital, removal of an indecent billboard from downtown Brooklyn and being the first voice city-wide against Sunday parking regulations. Sunday parking restrictions were removed on November 11, 2005.

We encourage your support. All churches who Profess Belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are welcome to participate as members.

Past Presidents

Reverend James H. Eggleston, Pastor, Cappadocia Ministries

Reverend Dr. John L. Pratt, Sr., Pastor, Zion Shiloh Baptist Church

Reverend Dr. Harvey P. Jamison, Pastor, Glorious Trinity Baptist Church

Reverend Dan Ramm, Pastor, Flatbush Dutch Reformed Church

Reverend Richard A. Miller, Pastor, Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church

Mr. Charles E. Batson, John Wesley United Methodist Church

Mrs. Adele S. Hester, Greater Zion Shiloh Baptist Church

Rev. F. Goldthwaite Sherrill, Rector, Grace Church

Miss Myra M. Gregory, Berean Missionary Baptist Church

Reverend David Murray, Pastor, Bethlehem United Church of Christ

Reverend Charles VanderBeek, Pastor, South Bushwick Reformed Church

Reverend Neville N. Simmons-Smith, Pastor, South Congregational Church

Reverend Walter S. Keiller, Pastor, Church of the Ooen Dorr

Mr. George E. Lawrence, Flatland Ecumenical Committee

Mr. Gordon M. Brown, Methodist Hospital of Brooklyn

Reverend Dr. V. Simpson Turner, Pastor, Mt. Carmel Baptist Church

Rev. David M. Cory, Th.D., Pastor, Homecrest Presbyterian Church

Reverend Dr. Gardner C. Taylor, Pastor, Concord Baptist Church of Christ

Reverend Dr. James Carrington, Pastor, First AME Zion Church