wfn.org | Celebration, struggle mark NCC anniversary

["Disciples Off. of Communication"<wshuffit@oc.disciples.org>]

Date: November 18, 1999
Disciples News Service
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Contact: Clifford L. Willis
E-mail: CWillis@oc.disciples.org
on the Web: http://www.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/ }

	-- end --