the forced relocation of Japanese Canadians away from the West Coast was supported by most members across Canada, church leaders and missionaries in B.C. spoke out against it, and the churches on the West Coast set up an Emergency Japanese Committee to help fight for the rights of the dislocated people. In 1943, the Anglican Church invited other denominations to union talks, and the United Church responded enthusiastically; by 1946, the two churches had issued a statement on mutual ministry. In a similar ecumenical vein, the United Church was one of the founding bodies of the Canadian Council of Churches in 1944 and the World Council of Churches in 1946. In 1925, The United Church assumed responsibility for 12 native residential schools that were designed to assimilate native children into Canadian culture. By the 1940s, thinking had begun to change about the underlying assumptions, and in 1949, the church began to close the schools in its care. The last residential school under United Chuch stewardship closed in 1969. 1950s The United Church continued to espouse causes that were not politically popular, issuing statements supporting universal health care and the People's Republic of China at its 15th General Council (1952-54) at a time when these were considered radical concepts in North America. Membership and givings increased dramatically as post-war parents started to bring their young families—the Baby Boomers—to church. Talks with the Anglican Church had not made significant headway during the decade, but in 1958, the two churches decided to continue the conversation. 1960s In 1962, two women's auxiliary organizations, Woman's Association and Woman's Missionary Society, join together to form the United Church Women (UCW). That same year, the United and Anglican Churches jointly published Growth in Understanding, a study guide on union, and on June 1, 1965 the Principles of Union between the United Church and the Anglican Church. The spirit of ecumenism with other denominations stayed strong throughout the decade, culminating in 1968 when the Canada Conference of The Evangelical United Brethren Church joined the United Church. The high tide mark of membership was reached in 1965 when the church recorded 1,064,000 members. However, there were already rumblings of discontent in the church: that same year, Pierre Berton wrote The Comfortable Pew, a bestseller that was highly critical of Canadian churches, and a United Church Commission on Ministry in the 20th Century was appointed in response to growing frustration