The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA was established by representatives of 29 Protestant, Anglican, and Orthodox denominations in a constituting convention held at Cleveland, Ohio, November 28-December 1, 1950. The National Council of Churches (hereafter called the NCC) was actually the result of a merger of twelve interdenominational agencies. These include the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, the Foreign Missions Conference of North America, the Home Missions Council of North America, the International Council of Religious Education, the Missionary Education Movement of the United States and Canada, the National Protestant Council on Higher Education, the United Council of Church Women, the United Stewardship Council, Church World Service, the Interseminary Committee, the Protestant Film Commission, and the Protestant Radio Commission. The Student Volunteer Movement and the United Student Christian Council joined the NCC at later dates.

The NCC has its roots in the nineteenth century with the Sunday school movement and progresses through the ecumenical movements of the early twentieth century. By the 1930s a number of interdenominational agencies had begun to cooperate. In 1941 a joint committee of these agencies began to work out plans for "an integrated cooperative organization." This work culminated with the NCC.

The first preamble of the NCC constitution stated that the purpose of the Council was "to manifest oneness in Jesus Christ as Divine Lord and Savior, by the creation of an inclusive cooperative agency of the Christian Churches in the United States of America..." The purposes of the NCC include:

1. Manifestation of the oneness of the Church of Christ.
2. Continuation of the work of the fourteen predecessor agencies.
3. Proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
4. Study and use of the Bible.
5. Self-examination of the life and witness of the churches.
6. Renewal of the life of the Church and the fulfillment of its mission.
7. Furthering works of Christian love and service.
8. Studying, speaking, and acting on conditions and issues in the nation and the world involving moral, ethical, and spiritual principles.
9. Fostering cooperation and mutual counsel among the churches.
10. Establishing and maintaining consultative and cooperative relationships with the World Council of Churches and other ecumenical organizations.
11. Undertaking programs to fulfill these purposes.

The NCC was governed by a General Assembly which first met biennially and later triennially. The Assembly consisted of approximately 800 lay and clerical representatives appointed by the member communions. Between Assemblies the Council was directed by the General Board which met three times a year. The General Board was made up of about 270 representatives elected by the General Assembly. These two groups were the only bodies empowered to set policy for the NCC.

The program operations of the NCC were carried out by divisions. Within the divisions were departments, committees, or commissions. At one time there were joint departments and commissions which dealt with areas in which two or more divisions were concerned, such as missionary education, evangelism, religious liberty, family life, and stewardship. There were also "central" departments or commissions serving the entire Council in fields such as research and survey, publication, public relations, and finance. The activities of the divisions were reviewed and directed by the General Board or the General Assembly.

The structure of the NCC has changed a great deal during its existence. Divisions were created, abolished, or merged to form new ones. Departments, committees, and commissions have come and gone. In 1972 the NCC went through major changes in its organizational structure. The General Assembly and General Board were replaced by a Governing Board. The NCC retained its divisional structure but attempted to become more flexible with a program or ministry orientation.

The NCC has a colorful and sometimes controversial history. The period of the 1950s was a formative time for the Council. It took time to weld the merging agencies of the NCC into a cohesive, working unit. During the McCarthy period the NCC, its staff, and officers were attacked as communists or communist sympathizers. Even as late as 1960 a manual prepared by the US Air Force portrayed the NCC as a subversive organization. These attacks on the NCC were often precipitated by the Council's activities and policies. For example, in 1956 the first exchange visits between United States and Soviet churchmen occurred. Then in 1958 a World Order Study Conference meeting in Cleveland recommended admission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations. At the same time the Council was opposing right to work laws and espousing union membership.

During this decade the Council also engaged in somewhat less controversial activities. In 1952 the Revised Standard Version of the Bible was published. The NCC was also involved in the settlement of displaced persons and ecumenical pursuits such as a Christian Ministry to the National Parks. In 1954 New York was selected as the site of national offices for the NCC. In 1958 President Dwight Eisenhower laid the cornerstone of the Interchurch Center, and the following year the NCC took up residency there.

The 1960s were a time of change and unrest in the nation, and the NCC reflected this. The NCC found itself caught up in the civil rights movement and the racial unrest of the period. In August 1963 the Council participated in the March on Washington for jobs and freedom. In the same year the NCC established its Commission on Religion and Race. During the late 1960s the Council operated its Crisis in the Nation project, as well as programs such as the Delta Ministry and a legal defense fund for civil rights workers. At this time the NCC also became involved with the activities of the United Farm Workers. The issue of race was brought home to the Council in 1969 with the promulgation of the Black Manifesto and the occupation of the Interchurch Center by its supporters. The NCC attempted to respond to these issues through programs such as a Ghetto Investment Fund, but its attention soon was drawn in different directions.

The war in Vietnam was expanding at this time and becoming the focal point of the nation's attention. The NCC found itself in opposition to the war and ultimately in conflict with the policies of the United States government. This conflict intensified under the Nixon administration, so that the Council became the object of an Internal Revenue Service investigation.

During the 1960s the NCC became increasingly involved in ecumenical affairs. Closer ties developed with both the Roman Catholic and the Jewish communities. Following Vatican II there was increased dialogue and cooperation between the NCC and Roman Catholics. Although the possibility of Roman Catholic membership in NCC proved elusive, Roman Catholics did join the staff of the Council or participated in other ways with the Council.

The NCC underwent a number of organizational changes in the 1960s. In 1965 the Division of Christian Life and Work and the Division of Home Missions were merged into the Division of Christian Life and Mission. The Division of Foreign Missions and Church World Service were merged into the new Division of Overseas Ministries. 1965 also saw the creation of the Division of Christian Unity. By 1970 the latter division was abolished. A number of other changes took place at this time. Church Women United, a Christian Ministry in the National Parks, and the Delta Ministry became independent, related movements. United Church Men, the University Christian Movement, and the United Christian Youth Movement ceased to exist.

The late 1960s and early 1970s were a time of retrenchment for the NCC. NCC funding peaked in 1968 and then began to decline. With decreased monies, staff and program were also curtailed. After the restructuring of 1972, the NCC has maintained its equilibrium and sought to fulfill the words of the preamble of its constitution, as revised in 1972:

The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America is a cooperative agency of Christian communions seeking to fulfill the unity and mission to which God calls them. The member communions, responding to the gospel revealed in the Scriptures, confess Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, as Savior and Lord. Relying on the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, the council works to bring churches into a life-giving fellowship and into common witness, study and action to the glory of God and in service to all creation.

In 1940 a committee representing the Federal Council of Churches, the International Council of Religious Education, the Foreign Missions Conference of North America, the Home Missions Council, the Council of Women for Home Missions, and the National Council of Church Women was organized to study the possibility of closer relations among interchurch agencies. This committee recommended the creation of a single corporate body to replace the present agencies. A new committee was appointed in 1941 to make further studies of this proposal. This new committee met on April 18, 1941 and elected Luther A. Weigle as chairman.

A study conference was held in Atlantic City on December 9-11, 1941. The conference consisted of twenty-five persons appointed by the interchurch agencies and six persons appointed by the Association of Council Secretaries. The committee, chaired by Weigle, reported to the study conference and recommended the creation of a corporate agency to succeed all the existing interdenominational councils. The conference accepted the report and voted to approve the creation of an "inclusive cooperative organization which will provide for the continued, expanded, and more effective coordination and integration of our respective Councils."

The conference also appointed a Committee on Closer Relationships of General Inter-denominational Agencies. This Committee on Closer Relationships met throughout 1942 and in 1943 became the Committee on Further Procedure. The Committee on Further Procedure drew up a constitution and bylaws for an agency to be known as the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.

The report of the Committee on Further Procedure and the proposed constitution were referred back to the interchurch agencies and their denominational constituents for ratification. Eight agencies accepted the plan by January 1950, and twenty-nine denominations accepted membership in the new council by October 1950. The eight agencies voting affirmatively were the Federal Council of Churches, the International Council of Religious Education, the Foreign Missions Conference of North America, the Missionary Education Movement of the United States and Canada, the Home Missions Council of North America, the United Council of Church Women, the Protestant Council on Higher Education, and the United Stewardship Council.

In April 1948 the Committee on Further Procedure was renamed the Planning Committee for the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. In May 1948 it opened offices in New York with Earl F. Adams as executive secretary. The Planning Committee performed much of the preliminary work for establishing and organizing the new National Council of Churches. The work of the Planning Committee culminated in the Constituting Convention which was held in Cleveland, Ohio, from November 28 to December 1, 1950. At this convention the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America was officially founded.