After more than 40 years, the Commission on Religion in Appalachia (CORA), a coalition of more than 17 denominations who covenanted together for work in the Appalachian region, has disbanded.

Founded in 1965 as part of the religious community's response to the War on Poverty, CORA sought to bring together the resources of the mainline denominations with the needs of the local, grassroots community groups seeking to improve the quality of life for local citizens.

Episcopal Appalachian Ministries has been the Episcopal member of CORA.

CORA channeled more than 14 million dollars to the efforts of fighting poverty in the region. More than eighty percent was given to community agencies and organizations in twelve Appalachian states working directly with communities affected by poverty and its side effects.

Other CORA work focused on congregational development and resources for small, rural communities; public policy issues such as mountain top removal, coal mine safety, health care, welfare reform, education and forestry concerns; leadership development; community development; economic justice and globalization.

According to the press release announcing the closing, “As people of faithful conscience, CORA saw a need to act '… to dismantle the racism that has been built into our organizations and our communities.' CORA-trained Anti-Racism Teams have set out on this difficult but necessary mission.“In response to the need for improved housing, CORA established a volunteer program bringing work teams to the region from churches across America. “

The Rt. Rev. Dr. Ralph Dunkin, Bishop of the West Virginia - Western Maryland Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Chair of the Board of the Commission on Religion in Appalachia, reported to the Commissioners that "CORA's success has been its downfall. Being successful as a prophetic voice, working with the disadvantaged, creating anti-racism teams to dismantle racism and providing grants to a wide array of Appalachian ministries are just a few of CORA's successes. These same successes were seen by some of the originally supportive denominations as a way to do their own ministry in the region. Therefore, denominations began in the early 1990's to create their own ministries and began decreasing their ecumenical support of CORA."
Dunkin also noted that "the volunteer program, the Appalachian Development Projects Coalition and the Anti-Racism work will continue in some fashion."

CORA Disbands After Serving The Region Since 1965