Title: Celebration, struggle mark NCC anniversary
Date: November 18, 1999
Disciples News Service
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Contact: news@cm.disciples.org
99a-76
CLEVELAND (DNS) -- Both celebration and struggle marked the National Council of Churches' 50th Anniversary event, held Nov. 9-12 in Cleveland, the ecumenical body's birthplace. More than 1,000 participants recalled the council's rich history, explored the breadth of its current ministries and framed expectations for the ecumenical movement as it moves into the 21st century.
On Nov. 11, an estimated 1,200 persons packed Cleveland's Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist for an ecumenical service to install the Rev. Andrew Young, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, as the NCC's president for 2000-2001. The following morning, the NCC's General Assembly elected the Rev. Robert W. Edgar as the council's new general secretary, its top staff post, beginning Jan. 1. Both Dr. Edgar, an ordained United Methodist elder and president of Claremont (Calif.) School of Theology, and Ambassador Young, an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ, are former members of the U.S. Congress.
At the same time, the NCC's Executive Board and General Assembly struggled to address a nearly $4 million deficit and depleted reserves and to ensure the council's future financial and administrative health. By the end of the week, the assembly had approved a sweeping restructure plan that imposes new budget stringencies and cuts headquarters staff by one-third.
The restructure calls for Church World Service and Witness (CWSW) to become semi-autonomous accountable directly to the NCC's General Assembly with its administration and management handled internally. The bulk of the council's programmatic activity is to be lodged in a single unit called "Unity and Justice."
According to Bishop Melvin Talbert of the United Methodist Church, programs of the NCC will no longer have their own "self-contained" staff. Programs will be administered by a "matrix staff" of generalists who will function in various configurations depending upon the priorities set by the council's Executive Board.
The restructure, developed by a transition management team of the Executive Board, calls for the elimination of 34 positions from the 122-member New York staff, with 44 positions, including some part-time and contract positions affected on the whole. (Another 250 NCC staff members are based outside New York City.) The staff cuts range from top to bottom. Three associate general secretary and four director positions are among those eliminated.
The restructure is so complex and fluid that no 2000 budget has yet been developed. Instead, the assembly endorsed what NCC treasurer Margaret Thomas of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) called "a fiscal framework."
Built into the framework is a 10 percent "set aside" to replenish the financial reserves of the NCC, which have been depleted in recent years. The financial framework does not include, Bishop Talbert said, provisions for erasing a 1999 shortfall of $4 million.
The shortfall resulted from "authorized but unbudgeted" expenses that include $2.4 million in management consulting fees since March 1998, a one-time contribution of about $550,000 to the NCC's Pension Fund due to a missed payment several years ago, $330,000 to the Burned Churches Fund, and overexpenditures in the 1999 budgets of several departments in the NCC General Secretariat.
Thomas said nearly $3 million of the shortfall has been tentatively pledged. The United Methodists, for instance, are awaiting requested financial data before they release any more funds to the NCC.
The assembly concurred with a transition management team recommendation that the Revs. Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A), and Richard L. Hamm, general minister and president, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), be designated to appeal to member churches for additional funds to cover the shortfall.
In other business, the NCC General Assembly adopted a major policy statement, "Interfaith Relations and the Churches." The document recommends that the NCC continue relations with national religious bodies; undertake new conversations with religious communities such as the Hindu and Sikh; continue inter- religious activities to promote global peace and justice; and increase activities with other religious groups on refugee settlement, overseas programs, prevention of family violence and other social concerns.
The assembly also signed on to a Consultation on Church Union commitment to combat racism. By joining the commitment, the NCC's 35 member churches pledged to make a compelling theological case against racism, to share among member churches anti-racism resources and programs that are already taking place, to incorporate anti-racism concerns into worship and Christian education programs, and to advocate for changes in church and society that will serve to combat racism.
The NCC unanimously reaffirmed its longstanding support for the United Nations and urged the United States Congress to pass legislation which would pay off the $2 billion owed to the United Nations by the U.S. government.
The 50th anniversary observation also drew attention to a dark incident in the history of American warfare. Survivors of the incident 50 years ago in the Korean village of No Gun Ri have claimed that U.S. soldiers gunned down hundreds of civilian refugees. The U.S. military and South Korean government consistently denied the account until a late September Associated Press news story in which a dozen U.S. veterans confirmed the story. The story has prompted a new investigation into the incident.
In Cleveland, four Koreans who survived the attack and the son of a victim met for the first time with three U.S. veterans who either took part in the shooting or were nearby at the time.
Major Robert Gray, retired, said he wants a "total, complete, impartial, honest investigation." Gray was master sergeant in the reconnaissance platoon at the time of the massacre.
In a statement on behalf of the survivors, Eun Yong Chung said they believe God will forgive the U.S. government and veterans involved in the massacre when they repent, take responsibility for their actions and officially apologize for the wrongdoings.
[ This news release was compiled, with permission, from National Council of Churches communication staff reports. For complete coverage of the NCC 50th anniversary events and NCC General Assembly, see: http://www.ncccusa.org/nccat50/ ]
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