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The Girls' Friendly Society (GFS) was founded in England in 1875 as the Church’s response to the needs of girls who had left their homes behind to work in factories and mills, or as domestic servants. Recognizing the same needs in the United States and using the GFS as a model, Elizabeth Mason Edson founded the first Girls' Friendly Society in America (GFSA) branch at St. Ann's Church in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1877. Upon formation of the Massachusetts diocesan organization in 1879, a center for national activities was established.

In 1886 the Central Organization of the GFSA was formed, a constitution was adopted in 1893, and the GFSA was officially incorporated in 1895, at which time they also began making systematic reports to the General Convention of The Episcopal Church.

During the late 1800s, the GFSA established homes and centers for young working women and provided employment and housing assistance to immigrant women arriving in America. Between 1900 and 1920, they sought protective legislation for girls, worked for labor reform, and provided a number of war-related services. By 1914 there were over 46,000 members in 745 branches with 34 diocesan organizations.

Around 1929, GFSA reincorporated and changed its name to the Girls’ Friendly Society of the United States of America (GFS-USA). Ensuing years of activity included work with refugees and conferences on women in industry. In the 1950s, the GFS-USA opened its national office in New York City, became an official observer to the United Nations, and joined the newly created Girls’ Friendly Society World Council.

By 1964, after falling short of its fundraising goals, the GFS-USA began to make heavy cutbacks in programs at the national level. These reductions continued into 1966 when the GFS-USA decided to incorporate its mission with that of The Episcopal Church. As a result, in 1967, the Department of Christian Education of the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church took over responsibility for the national programs run by the GFS-USA. The diocesan and branch organizations continued to operate as before, but after the closing of the national office, many of them did not survive.

In the early 1980s, the GFS-USA reestablished its operation on a national level, however membership continued to decline. As of 2023, the GFS-USA oversees the few remaining local branches and is a member of GFS World.

Authorized by the 65th General Convention in September 1976, Venture in Mission (VIM) was a large scale fund-raising program resolved to provide mission development funding for the national church. VIM was put into motion by early 1979, and ultimately received the participation of 90 domestic and overseas dioceses. The 1979 and 1982 General Conventions continued the program with resolutions of commendation and appreciation. The original goal was to raise $100 million. By 1985 that goal had surpassed $170 million. The funds were dispersed to various diocesan programs that included community-based ministries for marginalized populations, education, lay and ordained ministry development, urban and rural work, health services, community development, the recruitment of black clergy, training in Hispanic ministries, and overseas missions projects in Costa Rica, Tokyo, Tanzania, and Uganda. The program formally concluded at the end of 1988, although disbursements from existing accounts continued for some years after.

In the midst of the Great Depression, the Joint Commission on the Forward Movement was established in 1934 by General Convention with the charge to point the Church “forward.” The Movement sponsored conferences, meetings, and training programs for leaders along with Bible study and prayer groups under the leadership of the Rt. Rev. Henry Wise Hobson. Forward Movement’s first publications appeared in 1935, including the first issues of Forward Day by Day, a daily devotional guide. In 1940, the General Convention adopted the program elements of Forward Movement as its unifying theme under the slogan of “Forward in Service.” The Joint Commission ceased to exist in 1940, although the publications effort continued in Cincinnati under Bishop Hobson and an Executive Committee.

Although Forward Movement Publications is authorized each triennium by the General Convention with the Presiding Bishop as its chair, the agency is self-funded and does not draw on the budget of The Episcopal Church. Forward Movement specializes in the publication of devotional tracts and spiritual guides, although its range of materials expanded after 1986 with the closing of Seabury Press, which was the national Church’s publishing house. Forward Movement has also published key ecumenical documents affecting The Episcopal Church as well as other works of historical and biographical importance.

In October of 1942, National Council created the Home Department, which inherited the work of the pre-existing Department of Domestic Missions and combined that work with four other pre-existing divisions of the National Council: Christian Social Relations, Christian Education, College Work, and the Youth Division. In December of 1945 the Army and Navy Division was added, and in December of 1948 the Town and Country Work Division was created.

Because it oversaw the entire domestic missionary program of the Church, the work of the Home Department was wide-ranging. Ethnic ministries were led by secretaries for Native American, African American, and Japanese mission work. It also focused on providing financial support and competent clergy for African American and Native American parishes, which were often neglected or underfunded by their dioceses.

Rural work was carried out by the Town and Country Division until 1962, when the work was returned to the oversight of the newly-formed Division of Domestic Mission. The Army and Navy Division (later renamed the Armed Forces Division) primarily supported chaplains in the Armed Forces. Other domestic work included Braille books for the blind and support for clergy serving deaf Episcopalians. The Home Department also sent women workers out into the field in various capacities. In the 1960s, most of the department’s resources was directed towards urban ministries.

In 1968, a complete restructuring of Executive Council dissolved the Home Department. The work formerly grouped under the Home Department umbrella evolved into a series of “Program” groupings, under the direction of the Deputy for Program and the Presiding Bishop.

The Department of Christian Education had its roots in the General Board of Religious Education, which was established canonically in 1910 by the General Convention for the purpose of religious instruction. As part of its efforts, it trained Sunday School teachers, developed religious curricula, organized conferences, and maintained summer schools and campus ministries.

In 1919, the General Board of Religious Education became the Department of Religious Education; instead of reporting to the General Convention, the new department now reported to the Presiding Bishop and National Council. In 1938 its name was changed to the Department of Christian Education. In 1942, the department was brought under the umbrella of the newly formed Home Department, resulting in its brief re-designation as the Division of Christian Education. It was again made a separate department in 1947.

As a result of the Executive Council’s reorganization in 1968, the Department of Christian Education was integrated into the Section I (Service to Dioceses) program group alongside the Home Department, General Division of Research and Field Study, and General Division of Women’s Work with their functions being combined and streamlined to improve organizational flexibility. From 1970 to 1973, there was no staff officer in charge of religious education. The work was briefly carried out thereafter under the direction of a Program Group on Education, followed by an Education Committee headed by an Educational Officer of Executive Council, until the Office of Religious Education was established. Today, educational responsibilities are carried out by different formation ministries within The Episcopal Church.

Born (circa 1858) and raised in New York City, Agnes P. Mahony graduated from the New York City Training School for Nurses in 1881. For the next twenty years, Mahony served in various nursing positions throughout New York.

Mahony entered missionary work upon her appointment to Liberia on March 12, 1901. She served as a nurse/missionary in the Episcopal mission in Liberia from 1901 to 1902 and from 1904 to1906. Mahony resigned from the mission in 1902 because of failing health, but she returned to the United States in 1904 only to retire for the same reasons in 1906. During her work in Liberia, Mahony founded the House of Bethany at Cape Mount.