Commissioners OK report on NCC, approve continued funding
By Paula R. Kincaid, The Layman Online, Posted Friday, July 2, 2004
2004 General Assembly
Richmond, Virginia
June 26-July 3, 2004
General Assembly news indexRICHMOND, Va. – The 216th General Assembly accepted a report from its Committee on Ecumenical Relations on the National Council of Churches of Christ.
Among other recommendations, the report calls on the Presbyterian Church (USA) to sustain its basic level of support to the NCCC and Church World Service (CWS), “both in finances and human resources, while urging other member communions to seek every possible way of increasing their support.”
The report includes nine other recommendations, ranging from requesting the General Assembly Council to support the programs and activities of the NCC and Church World Service (CWS) through “cognate funding and programmatic participation;” requesting the GAC to provide more information to congregations about the value and work of the NCC and CWS through its news and communication services, with emphasis on ways that local churches may participate; and expressing its support for the possibility of a broader ecumenical table while maintaining its involvement in the NCC and CWS.
The Rev. Daniel T. Ledford of Huntingdon Presbytery proposed an amendment, which was rejected, that would have called on the denomination to sustain its basic level of support “contingent upon the limited funds available within the General Assembly per-capita and mission budgets and on the answers to the questions posed in point 2 below.”
The questions, which Ledford said weren’t answered in the committee’s report, include:
- Why does the financial support for the NCC from member communions continue to decline?
- Why are other NCC member denominations that are fully as wealthy as the PCUSA unwilling to support the council at comparable levels?
- What should the PCUSA do if the other member communions refuse to increase their support for the NCC, but continue to decrease their support?
- What are the non-church groups that are a rising source of funds for the NCC?
Ledford said there were “concerns about our continued funding of NCC at current levels while we are making major cuts in our own denominational staff, programs and missions.” He said the denomination is giving $500,000 to the NCC while cutting its own budget.
“A second concern about the NCC,” he said, “is it really producing Christian unity or disunity? … The review group recognizes that the NCCC is controversial, but not why. It acknowledges the NCC has declining support, but not why. The report acknowledges the support of other non-church groups that could be divisive, but not who they are.”
The assembly’s vote on the amendment was 177 (36 percent) in favor and 308 (63 percent) against. The NCC report then was approved by a vote of 385 (80 percent) – 95 (20 percent).