NCC wants to divert hunger funds to reduce budget shortfall
The Layman Online, November 18, 1999
After dipping into its Burned Churches Fund for more than $330,000 to reduce its $4-million 1999 budget shortfall, the National Council of Churches now plans to siphon $1.4 million from hunger money raised by Church World Service/CROP, the most popular program in the NCC.
The Burned Churches Fund transfer was questioned, so the money may have to be returned.
Meanwhile, regional CROP offices and the New York headquarters of the NCC were busy trying to placate angry CROP supporters who did not believe hunger money should be used to plug the holes caused by the NCC’s deficit.
In New York, the NCC was trying to put a positive spin on the situation. Callers were told that the $1.4 million from Church World Service/CROP was its proportionate share of a $2.4-million financial and management audit – and not an extraction of hunger money for the deficit.
Explanation doesn’t reconcile
But that explanation didn’t reconcile with the NCC Executive Board’s considerations and actions that were occurring out of the bright lights and pomp of the NCC’s $764,500 birthday party in Cleveland Nov. 9-11.
The Executive Board received from the Transition Management Team a document (titled TMT-1 Rev.) that said the United Methodist Church would probably pay $700,000 toward the $4-million deficit goal, other denominations would pay $2 million and CWS would pay $1.4 million. That would total $4.1 million – slightly above current deficit estimates.
Officials of the Presbyterian Church (USA) have set a goal of raising $600,000 for the deficit, but their plan may include a number of contingencies.
Most successful ministry
While an organizational underling in the NCC, Church World Service is the NCC’s most successful ministry. It enjoys support even from evangelical congregations that would not consider allying with the National Council of Churches because of the NCC’s political views and liberation theology.
Many participants in the highly successful community CROP walks are not aware that Church World Service is an agency of the National Council of Churches. In fact, Church World Service rarely mentions the NCC. The 550-word web site history of Church World Service does not include a single reference to the NCC. Neither does the mission statement. The NCC appears among its links and in the small type with its 1998 financial disclosures.
There is some disagreement between the two bodies about the name. Church World Service lists itself as Church World Service/CROP. The NCC calls the organization Church World Service Witness – the official name that was bestowed by the NCC. But some Church World Service leaders shy from using “Witness” because they believe it detracts from the organization’s commitment to service. “Witness “is often a word used by liberal church groups to include a wide range of activities, including politics.
$58.4 million raised in 1998
In 1998, Church World Service raised $58.4 million for hunger relief and prevention. That’s nearly 10 times the amount raised by the NCC from its 35 member-denominations. The $58.4 million represents more than 85 percent of all money raised by the NCC. Nearly 45 percent of Church World Service’s funds come from CROP walks in more than 2,000 U.S. communities. A few years ago, CROP walks raised less than 10 percent of Church World Service’s annual budget.
Unlike the NCC, Church World Service is a grassroots movement. According to its 1998 report, during the last 15 years, 4,356,069 men, women and children – including many disabled people using wheelchairs – participated in community CROP walks to raise money for hunger causes.
In many communities, the CROP walks are visible models of the kind of racial harmony the NCC speaks of often but, some critics say, does not reflect in its leadership ranks. They are also models of local ecumenism that includes such non-NCC participants as Southern Baptists, Roman Catholics, Pentecostals and independents.
Local programs get 25 percent
Local programs, such as community soup kitchens, get 25 percent off the top, unless the local boards divert some or all of the 25 percent to other projects. Such diversions occur in response to national and international emergencies and, when that happens, CROP’s local leadership goes the extra mile to ensure that community hunger programs are fully funded.
Church World Service also allows individual participants in the CROP walks to designate relief agencies. Therefore, some CROP funds go to relief efforts conducted by Southern Baptists and evangelical groups that generally disagree with the NCC’s theological and political views.
Hunger agency a subsidiary of NCC
Church World Service currently has a separate board, comprised of representatives of the 35 denominations that make up the NCC. However, that board is not autonomous. It is called a “unit board” and is under the aegis of the NCC’s Executive Board. Likewise the executive director of Church World Service reports to the general secretary of the NCC.
As a subsidiary of the National Council of Churches, Church World Service is charged with some of the overall financial and management overhead. That figure is about 5 percent of Church World Service’s income, according to Carol Fouke of the NCC’s communications office in New York. At 5 percent, the Church World Service contribution to the NCC in 1998 would have been about $3 million. That $3 million, plus the NCC’s dues from member denominations, accounts for nearly all of the NCC budget.
Fouke said that Church World Service’s net income (gross income from $58.4 million in revenue was more than $5 million in 1998) is not systematically diverted to the NCC. Rather, she said, it is used to build the reserves for Church World Service. However, the Church World Service’s 1998 financial statement showed only 1 percent income from investments, an exceptionally low return considering Wall Street’s performance in 1998.
Restructuring negotiations
Negotiators are trying to work out a restructuring of the NCC and a new relationship with Church World Service. One plan would be to grant Church World Service more autonomy in its oversight of human services and finances.
Church World Service negotiators favor more independence from the NCC. According to a report summary issued Nov. 8 by the NCC/Church World Service negotiating team, Church World Service proposed that its assets and liabilities be managed under a separate 501(c) 3 corporation under the authority of the Church World Service Board of Directors.
There has even been some discussion of Church World Service taking over management and financial responsibilities for the NCC. Church World Service has more than 350 employees. The NCC has about 220, and restructuring calls for eliminating one-third of those jobs.
Good will factors
Whatever plan is adopted, there are sensitive goodwill factors involved. Simply speaking, Church World Service has it and the NCC doesn’t. Church World Service’s fundraising is growing because of increased community support. Denominational support for the NCC has dropped dramatically – thirteen of the 35 communions paid no dues during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. Some denominational leaders have told The Presbyterian Layman off the record that they tolerate the NCC only because of their support for Church World Service.
Church World Service has been careful not to let the NCC’s troubles rub off on its hunger ministry, which explains why Church World Service rarely mentions that the NCC is its boss.
That relationship is tenuous for many reasons, including conflicts in political philosophy. For example, some of the major supporters for CROP walks are business leaders. The politics of the NCC includes numerous anti-business positions, including its advocacy for canceling third-world debts. US investors, some of whom support CROP walks, would have their own investments at risk if debts were canceled.