Originally a program division of the Ecumenical Institute, the Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA), was incorporated in 1973, and 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. The Kemper Building was to be used as headquarters for the ICA’s Urban Research and Training Center. 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.”
The new space proved a valuable investment 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.
People ask me, “Who is the Institute of Cultural Affairs?” “What makes you tick?”
“We are part of those around the world who care about this world, and care about what’s happening in it. They care about the past journey, not only just of their own people, but of all people. They care about the long journey of all mankind and all of the effort and suffering, and they care about the future. They don’t know more than anyone else, or have any easy solutions to anything! but just care. Economists in our country call this the “invisible college.” Those Who Care