wfn.org | NCC can offer 'prophetic voice,' Edgar says

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

March 28, 2000 News media contact: Linda Bloom·(212) 870-3803·New York
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NEW YORK (UMNS) - The National Council of Churches (NCC) stands at "a unique
position in history" to offer a prophetic voice to the world, the
organization's top executive says.

The Rev. Robert Edgar spoke about the NCC's challenges during a March 28
briefing at the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. Edgar, a United
Methodist pastor and former Congressman, became the ecumenical agency's
chief staff executive on Jan. 1. Before then, he had served as president of
United Methodist-related Claremont (Calif.) School of Theology.

He accepted the position of NCC general secretary partly because the
organization had a vision that went "beyond itself," he said.

But while it is nice to celebrate the past - the NCC observed its 50th
anniversary in November - Edgar noted, "The world we live in is different
than the world we were born into."

He recounted some of the rapid changes that have occurred in the world,
adding that of the world's current population of 6 billion, "more than half
of all the people who ever lived on planet Earth are alive today." While
earlier generations had the luxury of predictable futures, that is no longer
the case, Edgar said. Citizens of the world today have the ability to
improve, harm or even destroy the future.

At the brink of a new decade, century and millennium, he believes God is
calling people of faith "to address the needs of the planet in a prophetic
voice."

One way the NCC can do that, according to Edgar, is to address issues
ranging from gun violence to relief for flood victims in Mozambique by
looking at the needs of children.

He also is more inclined to think locally. While an ecumenical organization
like the NCC is still needed to help churches network and pool resources for
common causes, Edgar said, the ecumenical movement itself has shifted to
local communities.

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United Methodist News Service
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