As we celebrate 90 years of faithful work for justice and equity this year, we’re sharing stories of 90 Years Rooted in Faith that reflect the heart of the North Carolina Council of Churches. Each month, you’ll hear from staff and long-time friends of the Council as they highlight the transformative impacts we’ve had on our community and our vision for the future. Stay tuned for these inspiring reflections throughout the year!
by: Jennifer Copeland, Executive Director and Collins Killburn, Former North Carolina Council of Churches Executive Director
As a pastor in the Raleigh area, serving Community United Church of Christ in the early 1960s, Collins Kilburn knew of the North Carolina Council of Church’s work first hand. “My congregation was very active in racial reconciliation work as was the Council. I was in the room at one of the Council’s annual meetings when the Reverend Robert Seymour of Binkley Baptist Church in Chapel Hill and Professor Shelton Smith, the founder and first president of the Council who remained very active behind the scenes for decades, announced to the gathered delegation that it was time to hire someone to lead the race relations work for the North Carolina Council of Churches. Of course, there was no money for such a position and Seymour and Smith were calling on all of us in the room personally to pledge funds to support this job or convince our congregations to be financial participants. Of course I pledged money!”
Shelton Smith rarely asked for something that wasn’t important for the work of the Council and was never refused the things that he believed would make North Carolina and the world a better place. The money was raised, the job was created, and in 1964 the Council hired the Reverend Jack Crum, Methodist minister in the North Carolina conference.
Jack excelled at the job and helped form several important committees that helped message the Council’s social policy priorities to the congregations that made up the Council’s denominational membership.
So began the Council’s work of moving our social action agenda in-step with the General Assembly’s legislation. Jack organized the very first Legislative Seminar for the North Carolina Council of Churches in 1969. These seminars have been held during the long session of the North Carolina General Assembly every two years since then. In this 90th Anniversary year, we will hold a legislative seminar in at least three cities across North Carolina, taking the work of social action into the communities who know their needs best.
Jack worked for the Council from 1964-1969, when he returned to school and then ultimately to the itinerant ministry of the North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church. He took with him from the Council a commitment to God’s justice work with a particular focus on racial justice. Thanks be to God for leaders like Jack Crum who walked through the wilderness blazing a path for us to follow.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Collins Killburn
Collins Kilburn served as Executive Director of the Council for 20 years prior to his retirement in 2000. He was named Executive Director Emeritus by the Council’s Executive Board in December, 2005. A native of Memphis, Collins graduated from Memphis State College and received his M.Div. from Duke. Kilburn’s career with the Council spanned a total of 30 years, 10 of that as Director of Social Ministries, which included representing the Council on legislative issues.
Join us in continuing this legacy of justice and courage. Your gift supports the Council’s work for equity and compassion across North Carolina. Donate today.
