The Inter-Council Field Committee was formed in 1934 by the Conference of Interdenominational Executives. The participants in the Committee included the Federal Council of Churches, the International Council of Religious Education, the Home Missions Council, the Foreign Missions Conference of North America, the Missionary Education Movement of the United States and Canada, the Council of Women for Home Missions, and the National Council of Federated Church Women. The Committee became the Inter-Council Field Department on October 5, 1939. The United Stewardship Council also became a member of the Department. The Department functioned through a Committee and a Staff Council (or Conference). The departmental committee was made up of members appointed by the constituent councils. The Staff Council was composed of staff members who carried major responsibility for field administration and field service in the constituent councils.

The purpose of the Department was "to build the Christian Community through translating the growing spirit of unity within Christendom -- the spirit of ecumenicity -- into cooperative action." The functions of the Department included the following:

1. To aid in developing and strengthening cooperation among Christian forces in regions, states, cities, counties, and local communities, with a view to more effectively serving the needs of the constituencies in these areas.
2. To serve as a channel through which the needs, experiences, and impulses of the local community, the county, the city, and the state may be made known to the national interdenominational agencies.
3. To coordinate the major field enterprises of the national interdenominational agencies.
4. To assist in the promotion of interest and participation in those field enterprises of the parent bodies which have received the approval of the Department.
5. To aid each parent body in the development of its field program.
6. To plan joint field projects to meet unmet needs on behalf of all national agencies, such as projects being for joint sponsorship of the parent bodies.