wfn.org | WCC searches for vision, funds

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3193 notes).

Note 3188 by UMNS on Sept. 26, 1996 at 16:29 Eastern (4715 characters).

SEARCH: World Council of Churches, ecumenical
Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT: Linda Bloom                          474(10-21-71B){3188}
         New York (212)870-3803                     Sept. 26, 1996

Despite money woes, WCC's
future remains viable: Talbert

by United Methodist News Service

     Despite its current financial crisis, the World Council of
Churches (WCC) has a viable future.
     That's the opinion of United Methodist Bishop Melvin Talbert of
San Francisco, who serves on the council's central committee,
executive committee and finance committee. Talbert also is the
current president of the National Council of Churches in the U.S.A.
     His viewpoint was echoed by the Rev. Bruce Robbins, general
secretary of the United Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and
Interreligious Concerns. Robbins said he remains impressed "by the
tremendous role the WCC can serve" in bringing Christians of
different traditions and perspectives together.
     Talbert and Robbins were part of the WCC's September central
committee meeting in Geneva, where the need for fundamental change
in how the council operates dominated discussions. Also among the
156 delegates were Jan Love of Columbia, S.C., Kathyrn Bannister of
Bison, Kan., and Ari de Carvalho of Milwaukee, Wis., all United
Methodist representatives.
     Love--who has more than 20 years of experience with the WCC--
called the meeting "a fundamentally important turning point," not
unlike a period in 1968, when the whole image of the council was
reshaped to include influences from Asia, Africa and Latin America.
     A contributing factor to the current situation has been WCC's
looming deficit. "Without question, its the worst financial crisis
the council has faced in decades if not forever," she declared.
     In his opening report, WCC General Secretary Conrad Raiser
noted that the ecumenical body has suffered a decline in income of
nearly 50 percent over the past seven years. Unfavorable exchange
rates and losses on investments have added to the problem.
     Only 60 percent of its member churches contributed to the WCC
budget in 1995. The United Methodist Church pledged about $350,000
for 1996 -- mostly from its Interdenominational Cooperation Fund --
as well as small amounts for specific projects, according to
Robbins.
     "The United Methodist undesignated support has been very flat,"
he added. "It's ranged from $325,000 to $375,000 (annually). United
Methodists comprise the third largest church, in terms of
membership, in the WCC.
     Bannister said that encouraging member communions to give
financial support to the WCC "is kind of like making nations pay
their dues to the U.N." -- it can't be forced. She noted that even
if all members contributed their share it would not be enough to
meet current needs.
     As a finance committee member, Talbert arrived in Geneva to
find next year's budget in a deficit situation. "We had to find
close to $1.1 million Swiss francs to balance the '97 budget," he
said, adding that about 46 full-time staff positions will be cut.
The financial forecast for 1998 is even worse, according to the
bishop.
     The need, Talbert stressed, is to rethink the whole WCC
structure "and find ways to live within our means."
     At this point, "how we are going to redefine ourselves and how
we are going to establish a firm financial base for the council is
not clear," according to Love.
     But the process has begun. At the September meeting, discussion
centered around a 16-page draft text for a 
"Common Understanding and Vision." Raiser has appointed a subgroup
of the WCC's executive committee to work with the drafting group,
Talbert said, to refine a proposal, incorporating input from both
the central committee and member churches. The finance committee
will then look at how best to fund the proposed new structure.
     Robbins supported the shaping of a new vision for the WCC.
Asking questions about the role the church serves in the world and
the responsibility of Christians, to each other and that world, "are
the right questions to ask," he said.
     By re-electing Raiser to another five-year term as general
secretary -- beginning in January, 1998 -- and continuing with final
plans for the 1998 WCC Assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe, the central
committee demonstrated its continued commitment to the organization,
according to Talbert.
     "The members of the council are not folding the tent," he said.
"They believe there is a future."
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