Eerdmans in 1991. A council is a voluntary association of churches, within a defined geographic area, which without compromising the distinctive identity and authority of its members, enables their sharing in common reflection and action on matters of Christian unity, faith and ethics, and in programmes of common Christian witness and service.
Councils are among the most pervasive and significant expressions of the ecumenical movement.
They vary greatly in size, number of members and staff, and scope of programme, and the terminology used of them is inconsistent. Because councils are, properly speaking, the churches joining together in reflection and action, the tendency today is to emphasize the unique authority and role of the councils' member churches, with other bodies having associate membership or observer status. In principle, councils exist as servants of their member churches and have no authority apart from that granted them by their member churches. The formation of a council in Puerto Rico in 1905 is also reported. By 1910 the council membership of 31 denominations encompassed the majority of American Protestants.