MIFA History II continued A New Approach Members of the Memphis Ministers Association with churches located in the inner city realized more acutely than their suburban colleagues that there were serious largely ignored social problems in the city. In mid-1967, at the instigation of Dean William Dimmick of St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, seven churches from the city's commercial district began to meet. Within a few months, the Downtown Churches Association was founded. In an attempt to bring together churches of the inner city for unified action in addressing social needs, the Downtown Churches Association came into contact with the newly organized Association for Christian Training for Service, ACTS. The Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee was designated one of several urban pilot dioceses to establish an ACTS program under the direction of The Reverend William Jones, Jr. Charged with creating social change, ACTS' plan was to train clergy, seminarians and lay persons to minister to the urban needs in the South. Thus the stage was set for the founding of MIFA with the director of ACTS to give counsel. The Downtown Churches Association requested ACTS assistance in calling a conference to consider how a metropolitan agency might be formed to help churches with their urban ministry. “Consultation on Mission” was held February 18, 1968 at Idlewild Presbyterian Church; forty-five members of the clergy and lay leaders attended. Although discouraged with the failure of earlier ecumenical organizations, Idlewild's minister, The Reverend Paul Tudor Jones, was optimistic that the time was ripe in Memphis. “In our strife and agony with civil rights problems, people wanted to get involved in something that would work for the good of all,” he later stated. This conference decided to call a three-day meeting in May to investigate further the possibility of forming a viable, integrated inter-faith organization. A steering committee was appointed with Dean William Dimmick, Chair; The Reverends William Aldridge, Frank McRae, Brooks Ramsey, Henry Starks, William Smith, and Roy Williams and lay persons Margaret Dichtel and Dean Osmundson. All plans were suddenly put on hold; ironically, the same week that this conference was held saw the beginning of the fateful Memphis sanitation strike. Next: The Sanitation Strike