God provides ecumenical alternatives
The Presbyterian Layman November/December 2000 Volume 33, Number 6, November 22, 2000
The demise of the National Council of Churches seems inevitable. When that moment comes, the NCC’s death will not necessarily be an event to rejoice over. Jesus prayed that his Church be one. The National Council of Churches has been an attempt – however flawed – to flesh that out.
The NCC has exhausted all of its life support by draining more than $6 million from reserves and abusing its most legitimate ministry, Church World Service, with nearly $2 million in fees – money that would have normally gone to help impoverished people. Consequently, Church World Service recently fled to its own shelter, a separate corporation that grants the relief arm financial independence.
Budget must be cut 38.4 percent
There’s a temporary lull in the death march. The United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church (USA) and a few other member communions coughed up $2 million to cover up the NCC’s 1999 deficit spending. Business leaders say that after major cutbacks, income and outgo for the 2000 calendar year will balance. But unless the budget is cut an additional 38.4 percent, the NCC will hemorrhage another $1.8 million during the first six months of 2001. Trouble is, there’s no blood left.
Leaders of the United Methodist Church have already announced that they intend to cut annual contributions by nearly 50 percent in years to come. That digs the grave even deeper.
The PCUSA is still a steadfast supporter, but more than a third of the NCC’s member communions show little conviction that theirs is a cause worth pursuing. They pay no dues.
Belated efforts to gain respectability
Because of its spending binges and unaccountability, the NCC is shriveling into a skeletal remnant without a prophetic voice. Its recent attempts to forge an ecumenical coalition with evangelicals, Pentecostals and Roman Catholics are belated efforts to gain respectability that it could not gain on its own.
But while the NCC is expiring, God’s intentions are everlasting. Indeed, there are other models for ecumenism, including the National Association of Evangelicals and the new World Reformed Fellowship. They are noteworthy because of their affirmations, not of our personal or political objectives, but of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.