The History of MIFA continued A Time of Upheaval & Change Twenty years ago in 1968, the Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association was established by a few churchmen and lay leaders who hoped that by uniting their efforts, they could meet some of the growing needs of their increasingly urban city. They had few resources, but deep dedication to their cause and high hopes. Their enthusiasm reflected not only their own religious commitment to their fellowmen, but also the tenor of the times. Many things seemed possible in the optimistic 60's which witnessed the destruction of old and time-honored traditions and simultaneous rise of new philosophies and institutions. It was an area of transition, “a watershed in the cultural history of the United States,” says historian Morris Dickenstein. In order to understand that confusing, turbulent ten-year period, it is necessary to go back and consider the decade that preceded it. The 50's, apparently stable, rational, and happy were also a period of intimidation, when McCarthyism pervaded many areas of life, stifling dissension for fear of the label “Communist” and subsequent loss of employment. These years of apparent calm and hidden anxiety provided the seedbed for the upheavals of the 60's, when problems neglected in the preceding period could no longer be ignored or wished away. The early 60's were indeed, a time of change, a heady period, a time of hope when things seemed to be opening up after the relative quiet and suppression of the preceding decade. Reflection was supplanted by action and confrontation. Grounded in the 1954 Supreme Court historic decision “Brown vs. the Board of Education,” which outlawed segregation in public schools, a push began for the extension of desegregation in all aspects of public life. Change was the order of the day. Established norms were questioned, old ideas challenged, and formerly accepted modes of political behavior, artistic, and institutional life were called upon to justify their existence in the new world. The existence of an atomic bomb capable of destroying civilization caused deep fear and concern. With the future uncertain, life focused on the present. Intense experience seemed to be only thing that could be trusted by the young, who felt betrayed by the dangers of the world they had inherited. They began to demand “relevance.” The tranquility of the 50's was further shattered by the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother, Attorney-General Robert Kennedy, and the Reverent Martin Luther King, Jr., the preeminent Black civil rights leader. Questions about American society were stimulated by President Lyndon Johnson's admission, in an honest recognition of reality, that in the midst of its prosperity, America had numbers of people living in poverty, stalked by hunger. He declared his famous “War on Poverty” at the same time escalating the involvement of the United States in the civil war in Vietnam. Involvement of the United States in this undeclared war created deep concern which was intensified by the destruction of villages and by revelations of distorted death tolls. There were dramatic changes in the social life of the nation, as well. Popular song writers wrote glowingly of the wonders of hallucinations, giving an aura of legitimacy to experimentation with potentially life-threatening drugs. The development of a new birth control device, the “Pill,” allowed new sexual freedom. Singers like Elvis Presley from Memphis and the Beatles from England introduced the new “Rock” music, based on new sources of inspiration-folk songs, Negro spirituals and African rhythms. Many of the young were even determined to rebel against that formerly hallowed ambition in America, the accumulation of individual wealth. Blue jeans, once the garb of the working man, became the new universal attire, often purposely made to appear torn and worn in order to cement identification of the affluent with the underprivileged. The struggle for Black freedoms was paralleled by women's quest for equality of opportunity. The 60's witnessed women leaving their customary place in kitchen and home for offices, factories, and other work sites formerly reserved for men. Americans were increasingly mobile in the 60's, shifting from cities to suburbs, from South to North, and from everywhere to California. People torn away from their past lives and family connections were having to rely upon themselves, instead. Rootlessness became a factor in the life of the country. With striking growth in technological knowledge and capacity but without concurrent enhancement of philosophical or moral certainty, the 60's produced tremors in all aspects of life. Institutional development was no exception. One of the institutions undergoing change was the church in the South. Next: The Awakening of the Social Conscience