This week in Christian history: US Christian Commission formed; Richard Baxter born

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, November 12, 2023

United States Christian Commission formed – Nov. 14, 1861

Volunteers with the United States Christian Commission during the American Civil War. | Wikimedia Commons

This week marks the anniversary of when the United States Christian Commission was formed to provide religious services to soldiers in the Union Army.

Created by the Young Man’s Christian Association and a group of Protestant ministers in New York City, the Commission ended up having around five thousand civilian volunteers and distributed an estimated $6 million in supplies to camps and hospitals.

“As civilians on the battlefield, they did not have weapons but were sustained by sharing the love of Christ with soldiers and sailors,” noted the website Reenactors of the American Civil War.

“Women also participated. A national movement started in May 1864 with a view to organize a Ladies Christian Commission in each evangelical congregation of the North; these were auxiliary to the USCC.”

One member of the Commission was John Calhoun Chamberlain, a seminary student and chaplain who was the brother of the famed Union commander Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.