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2000-199

 "Broader ecumenical vision" spread before NCC General Assembly

by Jan Nunley

     (ENS) The National Council of Churches' annual General Assembly opened in 
Atlanta November 14 to a welcome from its president, former Ambassador Andrew 
Young, who described his hometown as so segregated 40 years ago that it could 
have gone "the way of Bosnia or the Middle East."  But Atlantans have learned to 
appreciate their differences, he said.

     Now "we see a government unable to govern itself through the normal 
processes of elections, it seems, but looking at it another way, we have no 
choice but to find ways to work together regardless of who gets to be president," 
Young commented.  "He won't be able to get a thing done without reaching out to 
the other side."

     Addressing delegates sent by the Council's broad diversity of 35 member 
communions, ranging from Quaker to Orthodox, Young said, "We hold in this room 
some hope for the world, that we can disagree but not be disagreeable, come 
together bearing witness to different visions, be strengthened by them and learn 
to grow in grace."

     The NCC's business included launching a 10-year ecumenical mobilization to 
overcome poverty. Young encouraged the churches to be as demanding of business 
and the private sector as they have been of the government. The second major 
focus is exploring how a divided U.S. church might find new ways to work 
together.

     In a keynote speech, the Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, professor at Eden 
Theological Seminary in St. Louis and General Secretary of the Consultation on 
Church Union, said that the central question for the NCC is "what is the 
ecumenical future that God is creating for the churches and how can we best 
embrace it?"

     Kinnamon traced more than 50 years of work initiated by the NCC, the World 
Council of Churches, the Vatican and others, and emphasized that "the essence of 
a council of churches is not only what we do together but what we are together, 
the relationship of the churches to one another…. Expanding the table must 
include deepening our commitment to each other," he said, "or we are in danger of 
losing more than we gain."

     Before the general assembly opened., the NCC's 50-member Executive Board 
heard Dr. Bob Edgar, the NCC's General Secretary, and Barbara Ellen Black, the 
NCC's Interim General Manager, confirm a small surplus in operating revenue over 
expenditures for January-June 2000. They said they expect the same for July-
December 2000, and brought forward a balanced budget for January-June 2001, which 
was adopted by the Executive Board.

     The Executive Board celebrated the end to years of deficit spending and 
restoration of the Council's fiscal integrity, including implementation of a host 
of financial controls and efficiencies.  Results include a "clean" audit, with 
"no material weaknesses," for January-June 2000.

     During calendar year 2000, the Council's global humanitarian response 
ministry, Church World Service, took responsibility for its own financial and 
administrative management.

      "We now have a clear focus in the NCC's ministries of faith, justice and 
education and on how much money this part of the NCC has to manage," Edgar said.

--The Rev. Jan Nunley is deputy director of the Episcopal Church's Office of News 
and Information. Information in this story was taken from NCC releases.