Death

The Interchurch World Movement of North America has applied for Court permission to dissolve. It is dead.

The Interchurch plan encompassed the greatest vision of any religious movement in this hemisphere. It attempted two things specifically:

1) To get cooeperation among Protestant denominations, involving actual amalgamation in small towns and villages which had many superfluous churches. Here was a practical attempt at church union.

2) To investigate industrial conditions and to arouse public sentiment against injustice in industry. This was a venture into a highly controversial field where many conservatives believed the Church should not go. Its report on the steel strike was a victory for the Movement, but was a leading cause of its final defeat. In its clash with Judge Gary (TIME, June 4, July 16, Aug. 13, Aug. 20), the Movement came off with honors. In its resulting clash with its constituents in the churches, it lost.

The Interchurch World Movement was essentially a liberal one. Conservatives opposed it from the beginning. The Movement dies, as Fundamentalists come to the fore.

Application for dissolution was made by its directors, including: James M. Speers, John R. Mott, John A. Marquis, Raymond B. Fosdick.