Finding aid for the Inner City Protestant Parish Records

History of the Inner City Protestant Parish

The Inner City Protestant Parish (ICPP) (f. 1954) was initially organized in the spring of 1954 as an experimental, interdenominational, ecumenical, and evangelical group ministry to the inner city of Cleveland, Ohio. The ICPP was patterned after a similar ministry to Lower East Harlem in New York City, begun in 1948, called the East Harlem Protestant Parish. In February, 1954, at the Euclid Avenue Baptist Church, a group of denominational executives, ministers and laymen concerned about the Protestant exodus from low-income and deteriorating inner city neighborhoods met with three members of the East Harlem Protestant Parish who described to the group how they might set up a similar program in Cleveland. With the immediate support of six denominations, and eventually nine, the ICPP was incorporated to establish churches and promote religious education and social reform in Cleveland's inner city. After a survey of some 30 churches, the ICPP immediately targeted the Central area and the Near West Side within the inner city of Cleveland for "united Protestant attack." A Board of Trustees, composed of two representatives from each of the supporting denominations and the Cleveland Church Federation, was organized to act as an interdenominational advisory and governing body to the ICPP Group Ministry. The Group Ministry was also an outgrowth of East Harlem Protestant Parish principles which understood the local church to be 1.) a missionary endeavor to a defined geographic area, and 2.) a group ministry consisting of clergy and spouses and professional church workers living in the neighborhood where they served. The Group Ministry operated under a covenant of religious, economic, vocational, and political "disciplines" which provided for a central worship experience, vocational commitment, and the sharing of economic sacrifice. United in these principles, the ICPP organized two congregations in 1955: the Church of St. Philip the Evangelist, established in a rented storefront at East 22nd Street and Woodland Avenue, and St. Paul's Community Church, established in space leased from the Congregational Union at the former First Congregational Church at West 45th Street and Franklin Boulevard which had disbanded in 1954. By 1961, four other churches had affiliated with the ICPP, including Fidelity Baptist Church at Wade Park and East 84th Street, Fifth United Church of Christ at 6701 Hague Avenue, the Downtown Baptist Church/East 18th Street Baptist Church, and St. John's Historic Episcopal Church at 2600 Church Avenue on the Near West Side. As of 1967, denominations sponsoring the ICPP consisted of American Baptist, Church of the Brethren, Disciples of Christ, Episcopal, Evangelical United Brethren, Lutheran, Reformed Church in America, United Church of Christ, and United Presbyterian. By 1961, 1,469 families were participating in the programs of the ICPP. In addition to its work toward the development of churches and congregations within the inner city, the ministry of the ICPP involved the creation of a number of specialized supportive services. These consisted of vacation church schools, resident and day camping programs, food, clothing, and emergency cash assistance, educational scholarships, and an inner city credit union. In the summer of 1955, the ICPP began its Friendly Town program which involved the summer placement of inner city children in rural households and settings for two weeks. The program was patterned after the "Fresh Air" programs in New York City developed in the 1880's. A wide group of services resulted from The Outpost ministry, organized in 1962 as an intermediary between the inner city and the suburbs. Other specialized ministries included the West Side Residents Organization, the Apartment Ministry, and the 100-voice interracial Metropolitan Chorus. The ICPP also organized a Parish Council in 1957 in order to develop lay leadership and involve the laity in the thinking, decision making, and related responsibilities of the ICPP. Additionally, the ICPP developed an Intern Training program in cooperation with the Oberlin Graduate School of Theology in an effort to provide a training ground and a source for competent ministers to the inner city.

The first two executive directors of the ICPP were the Rev Donald L. Benedict, who served from 1954-1960, followed by the Rev William R. Voelkel, who served from 1960-1963, both of whom were among the founders of the East Harlem Protestant Parish. Under Rev Voelkel's direction, the concept of the Group Ministry evolved to its final form. Rev Milan C. Brenkus became executive director of the ICPP in 1963. By 1969, the headquarters of the ICPP were situated at the Episcopal Diocesan office building at 2230 Euclid Avenue.

click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for the Inner City Protestant Parish

Scope and Content

The Inner City Protestant Parish Records, 1954-1971 consist of histories and statements of purpose, articles of incorporation and bylaws, minutes of meetings of the Board of Trustees as well as reports to the board, minutes of meetings of the Executive Committee and files of various other committees of the ICPP, and a wide variety of subject files pertaining to the work and Group Ministry of the ICPP.

This collection will be useful to researchers studying the history of Cleveland, Ohio, and efforts to improve its inner city and poor neighborhoods in the 1950s and 1960s. The collection provides detailed information concerning the history, administration, and ministry of a unique Protestant interdenominational mission to the inner city of Cleveland during the urban crises of the 1960s and the struggles for civil rights at this time. The collection is also important for an understanding of the ecumenical movement in the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, and it reflects the movement within the church at this time toward the ideas of the "social gospel" and the theology of the "secular city".

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions on Access

None.

The researcher should also consult MS 4371 Saint John's Episcopal Church Records; and MS 3406 Council of Churches of Greater Cleveland Records.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

Preferred Citation

[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4474 Inner City Protestant Parish Records, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

Acquisition Information

Inner City Protestant Parish, 1976.

Processing Information

Processed by Richard Hite and Robert Ray in 1990.

Detailed Description of The Collection