Episcopal Press and News
NCC's 50th Anniversary Celebrates the Past, Restructures for the Future
Episcopal News Service. November 18, 1999 [99-169]
(ENS) The National Council of Churches (NCC) of Christ in the USA celebrated its 50th anniversary by reflecting on its role in the ecumenical movement, embracing new leadership, and adopting a sweeping restructure to take it into a new millennium.
In a sprawling four-day meeting marked by forums on a wide range of issues, worship services, reunions, caucuses and even a special concert by the Cleveland Orchestra, the future of the organization was on the minds of everyone.
Meeting in the same auditorium in Cleveland where it was formed nearly 50 years ago, delegates to the NCC General Assembly gathered under a cloud of uncertainty, facing some predictions that a looming financial crisis threatened its future. That pessimism was balanced, however, with a genuine excitement over the election of Ambassador Andrew Young as president and former Congressman Robert Edgar as general secretary, two preacher-politicians with enough organizational ability to make the changes necessary.
Young began his career by serving in the NCC youth office, right out of college, before moving to Atlanta to work with Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He was elected to Congress in 1972, serving three terms until he was appointed by his friend Jimmy Carter as the U.S. representative at the United Nations in 1977. He later served two terms as mayor of Atlanta and co-chair of the 1996 Olympics.
He credits his tenure with the NCC's Youth Division in the 1950s with "laying a wonderful foundation for me. It not only prepared me for the civil rights movement but my involvement in Congress and the United Nations essentially came from my experience in ecumenical Christianity." After his graduation from Hartford Seminary in 1955, Young was ordained in the United Church of Christ and served a parish in Georgia before joining the NCC staff in 1957.
Edgar was elected to Congress in 1974, the first Democrat in a heavily Republican district in Pennsylvania in 120 years, serving five terms before voluntarily stepping down in 1987 because of his belief in term limits. An ordained Methodist minister, he served parishes in Pennsylvania and as chaplain at Drexel University in Philadelphia. For the last 12 years he has been president of Claremont School of Theology in California, an institution that was "just a hiccup away from going out of business. I led in changing the spirit and image of the school around, and now people see it as a model of how to salvage institutions in financial distress," he said. He was credited with rejuvenating the school and taking the endowment from less than $4 million to more than $22 million.
Edgar and Young inherit an organization that has enjoyed some glorious moments in the past, championing social causes, especially during the civil rights movement of the 1960s, and produced two translations of the Bible that have sold over 70 million copies.
For a variety of reasons, however, support for the council has dwindled. The Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, who is finishing nine years as general secretary, attributed the decline to some changes in the ecumenical movement itself, with more attention and support going to local causes and ecumenical cooperation.
The Rev. Canon Patrick Mauney, director of Anglican and Global Relations for the Episcopal Church, served as a member of the Transition Management Team that was charged "to develop budget, structural design and staff configurations for a sustainable and viable council."
Meeting behind closed doors, the NCC Governing Board shaped the proposals that went to the General Assembly. Bishop Craig Anderson of the Episcopal Church, who is finishing his term as NCC president, said that the restructuring was like "trying to ride a bicycle while we're still trying to build it." Someone else described the NCC as a camel with 35 humps, each representing one of its members.
While many of the details must be worked out, it is clear that the New York-based staff will be cut by at least a third, or 34 positions, including three associate general secretaries and four high-level directors. Anderson made an "impassioned plea to be together and work for what we are about -- the unity of the body of Christ -- and not be pulled apart and fragmented, which is sin."
In an effort to work within what was called a "fiscal framework," the NCC Executive Board must deal with a shortfall in 1999 of nearly $4 million. An emergency appeal to members to make a one-time "gift" to cover the immediate shortfall met with some resistance because of the murky financial picture -- and the $750,000 cost of the anniversary celebration itself. The board appointed Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and Richard Hamm of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) to solicit funds.
Just before the meeting the NCC got involved in a story that illustrates its ability to put items on the human rights agenda. Responding to a request from the National Council of Churches in Korea, the NCC asked the Pentagon last December to look into detailed testimony from survivors of a massacre of 400 civilians 50 years ago by U.S. soldiers at No Gun Ri. The account was dismissed by both the U.S. and Korean governments. Then some veterans, in an Associated Press story September 29, admitted that they had participated in the massacre.
Four massacre survivors and three veterans came to Cleveland for an emotional service of recognition and remembrance, lighting candles to illuminate "the deepest corners of our hurt and our fear and our guilt." After the meeting, the group traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with government officials who promised to look into the charges.
Campbell said that the service and meeting is "exactly the kind of 'truth and reconciliation' work the church should be and is doing all over the world." She praised the survivors for their persistence in pursuing justice and the veterans for their courage in coming forward.
A church leader who knows a great deal about truth and reconciliation, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, paid tribute to the NCC in a letter. He was prevented from attending because of a prostate operation. He commended the NCC for "the fervor of your love and caring.... most notably during apartheid." He said that the NCC had been "steadfast" and "incredibly generous -- you were there for us. God is proud of you."
General Secretary Konrad Raiser of the World Council of Churches, Canon Clement Janda of the All Africa Council of Churches, and the Rev. Riad Jarjour of the Middle East Council of Churches all brought greetings, pointing out the importance of the NCC on the world stage.
In a sweeping service filled with powerful preaching and music, Young was installed November 11 as the 20th president of the NCC. The Rev. Otis Moss, Jr. hailed him as a voice for peace and justice. "We have a voice, a vision and a victory," he said. In a surprise appearance by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Young was called "one of the authentic links to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." He said that Young "is part of the glue that holds the world together."
At a news conference later Young did not seem disturbed by the NCC's financial crisis, suggesting that it has always been in financial trouble. He suggested that his experience of helping to restructure city government in Atlanta will help in the NCC restructure.
"I get to stand in the way of the Holy Spirit," he said. "Organizing 35 communions and the people in them to take seriously the covenants in the Old and New Testaments is a challenge I'm ready to take."
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