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William Chauncey Emhardt was born in Philadelphia on January 29, 1874 and educated at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Divinity School, Columbia University, and General Theological before being ordained as a priest in 1898. After serving in various schools and parishes in Kansas, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, he was rector of St. Luke's, Newtown, Pennsylvania from 1907-1920.

In 1920, Emhardt resigned from the parish of St. Luke’s to become Field Director for Church Work Among Foreign-Born Americans, a position he held for ten years. During that time, he also served as Secretary-in-Charge of the Near East Chaplaincies and became a trustee of Near East Relief (formerly the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief).

In addition to his involvement in several other charitable organizations, Emhardt was a member of the Eastern Orthodox Relations Committee of the Federal Council of Churches, and the Commission to Confer with the Orthodox and Old Catholic Churches of the General Convention. He was American Chairman of the Russian Orthodox Seminary in Paris, France (1928-1934) and Chairman of the Hill School in Athens, Greece (1931-1936). From 1936 until 1943 he was vicar of the Pro-Cathedral of St. Mary, Philadelphia.

Ermhardt died in Oceanville, New Jersey, on August 4, 1950.

Robert Brooks was born on March 25, 1947, in Austin, Texas. He received a Bachelor of Arts from St. Edward's University, Austin, in 1970 and a Master of Divinity from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California, in 1973. On June 22, 1974, he was ordained into the priesthood.

Brooks began his career as a parish priest at All Saints’ Church in Baytown, Texas, serving from 1973 to 1983, during which time he also earned a Master of Arts from the University of Notre Dame (1980). In the following decades, he championed the church’s sacramental rights and texts, participated in multiple liturgical organizations; advocated for human rights in South America and Africa; and represented The Episcopal Church as Director of Government Relations during the tenure of Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning. He became the rector of St. Paul’s Church in Willimantic, Connecticut in 2001. Even after his retirement in 2004, he continued to advocate for issues of social justice, serving as president of the Episcopal Urban Caucus until just prior to his death.

Canon Brooks died on February 29, 2020.

The General Field Services unit was established in 1965 as one of the five divisions of the Department of Christian Education. It acted as a consultation service to Episcopal dioceses, missionary districts, and other Church organizations, offering guidance regarding educational programs, training opportunities, and instructional materials. It also participated in educational research and development projects. The unit was discontinued in 1968 at the time of the total reorganization of the Executive Council and subsequent operational changes. In its four years of existence, its administrators were the Rev. Edward T. Atkins (1965-1966) and the Rev. Stanley Plattenburg (1967-1968).

The Episcopal Service for Youth was formed in 1911 as The Church Mission of Help (CMH). Its original purpose was to promote family life by assisting unwed mothers to remain with their families and make it possible for them to take care of their children for at least the first two years. The scope of its case work grew through the 1920s to include preventative care for at-risk children. By 1930, it had not only expanded its scope, but also added 13 more societies to its mission field.

The Episcopal Church continued to support CMH, but in the face of declining diocesan funding, the General Convention cut its appropriation by half in 1934. As a result, the bylaws of the organization were radically amended along with a substantial reduction in staff. In 1945, after much discussion, the name of the organization was changed to The Episcopal Service for Youth to better reflect its purpose and better appeal to the young people whom it served. In 1960, much of the society's work was assumed by the Department of Christian Social Relations. The Episcopal Service for Youth continued primarily as a scholarship organization until its dissolution in 1976.