wfn.org | Agency adopts plan to raise $700,000 for NCC

[NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG]

Oct. 9, 2000 News media contact: Tim Tanton·(615)742-5470·Nashville, Tenn.
10-21-71B{457}

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (UMNS) - Directors of the United Methodist Church's
ecumenical agency have adopted a plan for fulfilling a $700,000 commitment
to the financially struggling National Council of Churches.

The NCC's problems were a major item of business for the United Methodist
Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns during its Oct.
4-8 board meeting. The meeting was the New York-based commission's first for
the 2001-2004 quadrennium.
 
In a resolution adopted unanimously Oct. 6, the commission decided to
request an advance from the church's financial agency of $400,000 for the
Interdenominational Cooperation Fund, which the commission administers.
Another $200,000 will be sought from other United Methodist agencies. Those
amounts, combined with money already paid by the denomination, would meet
the $700,000 goal.

Bishop Melvin Talbert, ecumenical officer of the Council of Bishops, urged
the other directors to support the effort and expressed appreciation after
the resolution was approved. The integrity of the United Methodist Church is
on the line, he said. "We need to do this for the good of the whole."

During the discussion, the Rev. Bruce Robbins, top staff executive of the
commission, noted that the United Methodist Church is the only NCC member
that has not contributed its fair share amount. "So we're in a fairly
difficult position, having been the ones who led the way on that."

The money will be used to replenish the NCC's Ecumenical Commitment Fund.
The NCC, which includes more than 30 denominations and organizations, has
been trying to get back on track after going through a period in which its
reserve funds were gradually depleted.

The $700,000 is the largest amount being contributed by any NCC member. Last
fall, Bishop William Boyd Grove, then ecumenical officer for the Council of
Bishops, stated an intention for the United Methodist Church to find ways to
contribute that amount. The figure was based on consultations among United
Methodist leaders on the NCC, and it represents 35 percent of the $2 million
that the NCC had requested of member communions. The Council of Bishops
adopted a resolution in May calling on the Commission on Christian Unity and
the denomination's General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA) to
develop a plan for providing the money.

In its own resolution, the commission said it will ask the GCFA to approve
an immediate advance of $400,000 to the NCC. Talbert and Bishop Fritz Mutti,
newly elected commission president, will meet with GCFA directors at their
annual meeting Nov. 16-18 in Albuquerque, N.M. The money would be drawn from
the Interdenominational Cooperation Fund against the amount budgeted for the
fund for 2001 through 2004. The commission is requesting that GCFA forgive
any interest on the advanced money, as part of its contribution to the
recovery fund.

In addition, the resolution calls for a delegation of commission members and
bishops to ask each United Methodist general agency that has a relationship
with the NCC to contribute to the recovery fund, with a goal of raising at
least $200,000.

The funds will be provided on condition that the NCC has a balanced and
attainable budget in place for 2001, and that any staff cuts be done with
sensitivity to racial inclusiveness issues. 

The resolution also notes that the commission's ICF Funding Task Force will
work to limit the United Methodist Church's contribution to 25 percent of
the NCC's Ecumenical Commitment Fund's total. The United Methodist Church
has been the largest contributor, providing annual amounts ranging from 36
percent to nearly 45 percent during the 1997-2000 period. 

Robbins and Lonnie Brooks, a commission member from Anchorage, Alaska,
drafted the resolution.

The United Methodist Church has already paid $91,701 toward the $700,000. Of
that, $58,701 came from the ICF in 1999, $18,000 came from the commission,
and $15,000 came from United Methodist Communications.

Other members of the NCC have contributed $1.3 million as of Oct. 2. The
biggest donors have been the Presbyterian Church USA, $500,000; the
Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, $300,000
each; and the American Baptist Church, $100,000. Support also has come from
the Antiochian Orthodox, Christian Methodist Episcopal, Disciples of Christ
and Greek Orthodox churches, as well as the Reformed Church in America, the
United Church of Christ, the International Council of Community Churches,
and an individual donor.

Talbert, who has been involved in the NCC since 1974, was outspoken about
the organization's problems and the need for ensuring its survival.

The NCC's financial problems started becoming evident six years ago, he
said. "Some of us saw this coming, but I think others were in a state of
denial."

The NCC's cash flow was down, yet the problems weren't obvious. One factor
was that the council was receiving a high volume of money, or "flow-through
dollars," for its Church World Service and Witness relief unit, according to
commission and GCFA staff. Those funds looked good on the NCC's balance
sheet, but the council was actually spending down its own reserves during
those years.

Last fall, the NCC's finances came unraveled. The Commission on Christian
Unity temporarily suspended its support until the council was able to answer
questions related to its finances; the suspension was lifted in December. In
the meantime, the NCC's top staff executive left office early and was
replaced by the Rev. Robert Edgar, then president of a United Methodist
seminary. New financial policies were adopted.

"The National Council of Churches is going to be struggling from week to
week, month to month, at least for the next six months if not for the new
few years," said John Goolsbey, a GCFA staff executive who leads the NCC's
audit review committee.

Talbert urged the commission members not to look at the NCC solely from a
financial perspective. 

"I have witnessed some powerful ministries in and through the National
Council of Churches," he said. Those have included working for civil rights,
leading efforts to provide hunger and famine relief for North Korea, calling
attention to the problem of church burnings, and assisting in the reunion of
6-year-old Elian Gonzalez of Cuba with his father. 

If the NCC went bankrupt, Talbert said, its members would immediately have
to form another organization like it to carry out the work that the churches
cannot do alone.

After the resolution was approved, Mutti underscored the commission's
support for the NCC.  "We have a longstanding commitment to the National
Council, and we want its mission and ministry to be fulfilled in whatever
configuration" the organization may adopt in the future, he said. "And the
United Methodist Church will be a part of that."

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