Originally a program division of the Ecumenical Institute, the Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA), was incorporated in 1973, the ICA was conceived as a secular program direction for the Ecumenical Institute.
The timing proved serendipitous for the newborn organization. The year before, the Ecumenical Institute had moved from Fifth City to the Kemper Insurance Building in Uptown. More specifically, as the local press reported, the Kemper Building was to be used as headquarters for the ICA’s Urban Research and Training Center. (Kemper Building Plans) Furthermore, both the ICA and its new home came into being at a time when new issues and obstacles were identified in the communities the organization sought to serve. A Community Recovery and Preservation report from the Ecumenical Institute, for instance, cited the “jelling” of the social movements of the 60s into localized concerns with recovering “human values often lost in urban living.” Community action, according to the Institute, was frustrated by a lack of direction, factional division, and a short-term emphasis that failed to take into account the national or global dimensions of localized issues. (“Community Recovery and Preservation”)
The new space proved a valuable investment for the ICA and the Ecumenical Institute, as it became a global center for significant initiatives such as the Global Summer Research Assemblies. The assemblies were significant in that they attracted 500-1,000 participants each summer for leadership training and plan for the coming year.