The Methodist Million Dollar Appeal in World War II
On December 30-31, 1940, an emergency committee appointed by the Methodist Council of Bishop met in Chicago to address several urgent requests related to the war in Europe. People in Britain and elsewhere were suffering. In England, Methodist leaders estimated that 500 church buildings, chapels, and parsonages had been destroyed or damaged by Nazi bombing. In the United States, Methodist churches near the dozens of newly constructed military bases needed help ministering to the tens of thousands service members who were quickly filling the camps. And as the largest Protestant denomination in the country, Methodists were being asked to supply nearly 400 chaplains for a rapidly growing Army. That quota would grow to nearly one thousand before the end of the war. As a result of that meeting, the bishops created three "temporary" committees to respond to the crisis. The Methodist Committee on Overseas Relief is still active today as the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMC...