wfn.org | NCC president visits ecumenism committee

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Note #5993 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

26-June-2000
GA00047

	NCC president visits ecumenism committee, brings message not of "please"
but of "thanks"

	Young weighs in on NCC/WCC funding debate

	by John D. Filiatreau

LONG BEACH, June 26--The General Assembly Committee on Catholicity and
Ecumenical Relations had a surprise visitor Monday when Andrew Young, the
president of the National Council of Churches of Christ (NCC), dropped in to
say, "I really think that all I can say is thanks" for the support the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has given the NCC since its founding a
half-century ago.

	Young, noting that support of the NCC is controversial these days, told the
commissioners that the civil-rights movement in the United States was just
as controversial in the early 1960s. Even while the movement was picking up
steam, the issue of  racial justice "was still too volatile in our local
churches."

	"We deal with controversial issues at the national level and at the
ecumenical level because it's easier," he said, "but it's important that we
give a clear theological sense of direction. ... The NCC is not so much
united on the issues as it is united in Christian fellowship. ...There are
plenty of disagreements and always will be."

	Asked how commissioners can "sell" support from the NCC to their
congregations, he replied: "It was very hard for Martin Luther King Jr. to
sell the civil-rights movement to his own congregation. ... They never
agreed with him (about civil disobedience), and still don't."

	Asked about the wisdom of the NCC's involvement in the case of Elian
Gonzales, Young noted that former NCC executive director Joan Brown Campbell
"was responding directly to a request from the Cuban Council of Churches.
.. And she tried to represent the family values that are now being upheld
by the courts and the President and everybody else."

	Later in the morning the committee heard testimony on Overture 00-55, which
would limit the PC(USA)'s financial support of the NCC and the World Council
of Churches (WCC)..

	Elder Burrell Watson from Oklahoma said Presbyterians' support of the NCC
should be "reduced to a level that's commensurate with what the other
churches are giving." The NCC has 35 member communions and the PC(USA)
contributes more than any other member, he noted.  Burrell said the NCC uses
PC(USA) contributions to weigh in on "many issues (that) are secular in
nature," making many Presbyterians feel "ill-served" by the use of their
money.

	The Rev. John Muller of Fort Worth, Texas, faulted the NCC for "poor
stewardship," saying: "The NCC has not been a 10-talent steward" of "our
beloved denomination's ecumenical talents. We should not be giving them all
10 of our ecumenical talents."

	John Boone of Nashville, Tenn., said the PC(USA) contributes $1.07 per
member in support of the NCC, while the other 34 member denominations
contribute only 33 cents. "It's one thing to be generous," he said, "but
it's another thing to be reckless." He said the PC(USA) has been in the
position of "being an enabler for somebody that's out of control."

	The Rev. John Buchanan of Chicago spoke against overture 00-55, saying the
NCC is "essentially an ecumenical expression of the Christian church." He
credited the council for inspired leadership in rebuilding churches damaged
and destroyed by arson fires in recent years. He noted that both the NCC and
the WCC are "in transition."

	Syngman Rhee, the newly elected moderator of the General Assembly, also
spoke in favor of the NCC and against the overture.

	"It's not the issue how much we give," he said. "The question is, do we see
ourselves as only  we do our denomination work, or do we see the WCC and NCC
are our work?"

	He said the WCC showed him long ago "what it meant to be touched by God in
a world of war" when it provided "bread for the hungry, blankets for the
cold, and most important, hope for the hopeless." He noted later, "there are
thousands of Syngman Rhees around the world today.

	The Rev. Phil Young of  Redwoods Presbytery, the NCC's treasurer, said a
reduction in the PC(USA)'s support for the WCC and NCC would be
"debilitating to the capacity of the Presbyterian Church" to do mission in
the world, and the ecumenical organizations' other member denominations
would also be weakened. Moreover, he said, a withdrawal of support at this
time would be "demoralizing to the people now working to help the NCC
recover" from fiscal mismanagement. He said the NCC is "a sign of the grace
of God in the world."

	The committee recognized a group of about 35 ecumenical guests from partner
churches in many nations, including Korea, Japan, Croatia, Nicaragua, South
Africa, Madagascar, Kenya and Trinidad-Tobago. A representative of the
Presbyterian Church of Ireland said he brought greetings from "your mother
church."

	The Committee on Catholicity and Ecumenical Relations also:

	* Approved an "Ecumenical Vision Statement" intended to guide the committee
in its work, as a supplement to a "Vision Statement on the Unity of the
Church," adopted in 1993.

	The statement says the of PC(USA) , "We search for diverse patterns of the
visible unity of Christ's church, seeking concord in essential things:
faith, sacraments, mission, and ministry."

	 * Concurred with a decision that the PC(USA) enter a church-to-church
dialogue with The Episcopal Church, "the primary focus of which is to be
possible means toward the reconciliation of ministries in the two churches."

	* Concurred with a similar decision for church-to-church dialogue with the
Moravian Church in America in which the PC(USA) and Moravian church would
"seek common agreements that could lead to establishing full communion"
between them.

	* Urged that the PC(USA) "take action in conjunction with the General
Assemblies of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and the Cumberland
Presbyterian Church in America, agreeing to enter church-to-church
conversations searching for means to strengthen their mutual relationships,"
and present the results to General Assemblies between now and 2006.

	* Suggested a celebration of the adoption of the "Visible Marks of the
Church," and participation in Churches Uniting in Christ (COCU) "by
reaffirming the commitment of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to engage
with partner churches in Christ's mission, and especially in a shared
mission to combat racism."

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