United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Board of Christian Education. Office of Church and Society

The Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. established the Dept. of Social Education in 1934 from committees of both the Board of Christian Education and the Board of National Missions; name changed in 1936 to Dept. of Social Education and Action; administered by Board of Christian Education, it worked with the Interboard Counseling Committee on Social Education and Action and its program was determined by the social pronouncements of the General Assembly; its function was to help the Church understand the society in which its members lived, so that it might effectively minister to individuals and so that it would have a place in that society rather than existing apart from it. It was involved with such issues as the social implications of the gospel, the church and economic life, international affairs, race relations, and alcoholism, and it fulfilled its responsibilities through a variety of projects, studies, surveys, and investigations, working on its own as well as with various secular and ecumenical agencies. It issued the monthly magazine, Social Progress; used the name Division of Social Education and Action 1946-1951; resumed title of Department in 1952; continued by United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. from 1958-59; in 1960 it was renamed the Office of Church and Society, but it remained under the administration of Christian Education until the boards were reorganized in 1972; at that time it was renamed the Advisory Council on Church and Society, reporting to the General Assembly Mission Council).