Christian Social Council of Canada : The Christian Social Council of Canada was founded in December 1907 as the Moral and Social Reform Council of Canada. It was largely the creation of the major Protestant churches, and was instituted at a time when a new social consciousness was permeating Christian thought in Canada. Its original name was gradually sloughed and in March 1914 the first Social Service Congress in Canada was held in Ottawa. During the First World War, membership expanded to include a variety of social service organizations that were only indirectly motivated by Christian principles. In 1918, accordingly, its name was formally changed to the Social Service Council of Canada (SSCC) and the organization was incorporated on 25 March 1919. Its first General Secretary was the Reverend Dr. John G. Shearer (1859-1925).
In October 1918, the Social Service Council of Canada was a federal Council of the following churches and organizations interested in the promotion of social welfare: the Church of England in Canada, Methodist Church in Canada, Presbyterian Church in Canada, Baptist Church in Canada, Congregational Church in Canada, Salvation Army, Evangelical Association of North America, Canadian Purity-Education Association, Dominion Woman's Christian Temperance Union, Christian Men's Federation of Canada, National Council of the YMCA, Dominion Council of the YWCA, Dominion Grange and Farmers' Association, Canadian Council of Agriculture, Canadian Council of Provincial Social Service Associations, International Association of Rotary Clubs, Royal Templars of Temperance, and the social service councils of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Bermuda.
During the next few years, several other organizations interested in various aspects of public welfare came into the SSCC, including: the Canadian Conference on Public Welfare, National Council of Women of Canada, Federation of Women's Institutes, Victorian Order of Nurses for Canada, Canadian Prisoners Welfare Association, and the Canadian National Association of Trained Nurses. Gradually, however, as specialized bodies such as the Canadian Council on Child Welfare, and the Canadian Penal Congress, etc., were formed, many of these non-denominational member bodies dropped out of the SSCC and its role changed. Its remaining members began to feel that the time had come to restore the Council's specifically Christian emphasis. In the winter of 1938, therefore, it was generally reorganized as a council of Christian Churches and other organizations for Christian social action, designed to "expound and champion Christian principles as the true solvent of social problems." Its name was changed to the Christian Social Council of Canada (CSCC) in December 1938.
Thereafter, membership in the Council was limited to "any Christian church or other society or organization engaged in the furtherance of Christian ideals and which is or is intended to be Dominion-wide in its activity." The members at that time were the Baptist Churches in Canada, Church of England in Canada, Evangelical Church, Salvation Army, Society of Friends, United Church of Canada, National Council of the YMCA, and the National Council of the YWCA. Generally speaking, the Christian Social Council of Canada was the clearing house of the major Protestant communions in the field of Christian social action. The CSCC survived the creation of the Canadian Council of Churches in 1944, at least in name, until 1961 when it merged formally with the latter body and became its Department of Social Relations.
