One distinguishing trait of the new fellowship, aside from its unusually tolerant attitude regarding subscription to ancient doctrines, was its bold enthusiasm for ecumenical adventures, especially those growing out of the "Faith and Order" and "Life and Work" inter-church initiatives in Great Britain in the 1920s and 1930s. These developments and others led to the founding of the World Council of Churches in 1948, of which the Congregational Christian Churches was a charter member. In the U.S., the Congregational Christians made several overtures to other Protestant groups toward federative unions and/or organic mergers in the years before World War II. But the main legacy of those discussions was what became the United Church of Christ in 1957.