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UCC Affiliation
Community Renewal Society was started in February 1882 when seven laymen and ministers of the Congregational Church of Chicago formed the Chicago City Missionary Society to address the social, educational and economic needs of newly arrived immigrants. They envisioned an organization that would provide a Christian structure that would renew the quality of life in the Chicago metropolitan area.
Congregationalist were strong in their belief of the civil rights of all people. They believed in the transforming power of the gospel to right social ills, particularly inhumanity to other races, specifically the injustice of slavery. The Congregational Church was comprised of black and white Americans who were active supporters and workers in the faith. One example of their belief in action was the now famous episode that began aboard the slave ship Amistad. In 1839, Africans being transported to Cuba led a mutiny for their freedom that landed 44 of them in a New Haven, Connecticut prision. Congregationalists provided legal counsel for the prisoners which resulted in their acquittal and freedom in 1841.
In addition, since migrating to America, Congregationalist have been responsible for the establishment of hundreds of churches, colleges, social justice organizations and universities including Harvard, Darmouth, Tougaloo, Fisk, Talledega, Lemoyne Owen, Oberlin and Dillard.
As the needs of the city changed, so did the organization as reflected in the evolution of its name. Four name changes reflect four different approaches to urban centered faith-based mission: Chicago City Missionary Society, Chicago Congregational Missionary and Extension, Chicago Congregational Union and, today, the Community Renewal Society. Though the name has changed, the mission has remained the same: to provide a moral voice, faithful witness and concerted action on social issues.
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UCC Affiliation
UCC Affiliation
Community Renewal Society's mission since its founding has always reflected the spirit of the denomination that founded it, the Congregational Church (predecessor denomination to the United Church of Christ). Even today, Community Renewal Society's programmatic focus aligns with the mission principles of the United Church of Christ: combating social injustice, striving for economic and racial justice and combating poverty.Community Renewal Society was started in February 1882 when seven laymen and ministers of the Congregational Church of Chicago formed the Chicago City Missionary Society to address the social, educational and economic needs of newly arrived immigrants. They envisioned an organization that would provide a Christian structure that would renew the quality of life in the Chicago metropolitan area.
Congregationalist were strong in their belief of the civil rights of all people. They believed in the transforming power of the gospel to right social ills, particularly inhumanity to other races, specifically the injustice of slavery. The Congregational Church was comprised of black and white Americans who were active supporters and workers in the faith. One example of their belief in action was the now famous episode that began aboard the slave ship Amistad. In 1839, Africans being transported to Cuba led a mutiny for their freedom that landed 44 of them in a New Haven, Connecticut prision. Congregationalists provided legal counsel for the prisoners which resulted in their acquittal and freedom in 1841.
In addition, since migrating to America, Congregationalist have been responsible for the establishment of hundreds of churches, colleges, social justice organizations and universities including Harvard, Darmouth, Tougaloo, Fisk, Talledega, Lemoyne Owen, Oberlin and Dillard.
As the needs of the city changed, so did the organization as reflected in the evolution of its name. Four name changes reflect four different approaches to urban centered faith-based mission: Chicago City Missionary Society, Chicago Congregational Missionary and Extension, Chicago Congregational Union and, today, the Community Renewal Society. Though the name has changed, the mission has remained the same: to provide a moral voice, faithful witness and concerted action on social issues.
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