By Katie Small (Assistant Archivist)
As part of the ongoing project to catalogue the archive of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI), some additional material has recently been added to the British Council of Churches (BCC) archive. The BCC was created in 1942 from the following ecumenical predecessor bodies: Council on the Christian Faith and Common Life (CCFCL), Commission of the Churches for International Friendship and Social Responsibility (CCIFSR), and the British Section of the World Conference on Faith and Order.
As a result of the “Not Strangers but Pilgrims Inter-Church Process” the BCC ceased to exist on 31 August 1990 to be replaced the following day by a new ecumenical body, the Council of Churches for Britain and Ireland (of which the Catholic Church was a part). In 1999 this new body was renamed to become known as Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.
During the cataloguing project, it has emerged that 77 files relate to the BCC and material already held in the archive at Lambeth Palace Library. Highlights from the newly catalogued material include papers and photographs relating to the BCC 40th Anniversary Service held at St Paul’s Cathedral (BCC/DEA/7/1/3/31), a letter to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher from the head of the BCC regarding the Sharpeville Six case in South Africa (BCC/DIA/7/2/1/18/152), and the BCC’s involvement with the ‘Keep Sunday Special’ campaign (BCC/DCA/7/2/133).
The records can be searched for on the Lambeth Palace Library archive catalogue and then consulted in our reading room. Details about how to register as a reader and visit our reading room can be found on our website.
A Monument of Fame 