NCC advocates pull out their big guns
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, February 9, 2000
Advocates for the National Council of Churches are rolling out their big guns in an effort to counter opposition to a proposed $500,000 one-time gift to the NCC by the Presbyterian Church (USA).
The PCUSA is leading the effort to bail the NCC out of its $4-million 1999 deficit.
Much of the opposition has been triggered by the Presbyterian Lay Committee, which used NCC documents to describe the organization’s financial crisis and its long-standing tradition of representing only the far-left voice of mainline denominations.
PCUSA counters opposition
After receiving a flurry of letters and telephone calls opposing funds for a bailout, PCUSA officials have countered with letters to members of the General Assembly Council and scheduled an appearance by the NCC’s general secretary, the Rev. Robert Edgar, before the General Assembly Council on Feb. 18. The General Assembly Council is the governing body of the PCUSA between annual meetings of the General Assembly.
Edgar, a United Methodist minister and former Democratic congressman who was rated by the American Conservative Union as one of the most liberal members of the U.S. House, is on the agenda to speak at 2 p.m. in the General Assembly plenary session. That time is strategic – coming near the conclusion of the council’s meeting and just before the General Assembly Council votes on the bailout proposal. The agenda does not include anyone who would oppose the NCC rescue, even though the NCC has been widely criticized by church and secular media for its financial problems and its forays into liberal politics.
The PCUSA’s supporters of the NCC also mailed to all members of the General Assembly Council a four-page letter written by the Rev. John Huffman Jr., pastor of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, Calif. Huffman is an evangelical pastor who has promoted cooperative Christian witness through the NCC and other ecumenical groups.
Kirkpatrick commits $100,000
PCUSA Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick, who promised to raise money from the PCUSA and other mainline denominations, has already committed $100,000 in bailout money from the Office of the General Assembly.
The General Assembly Council will consider an additional appropriation, originally set at $400,000. However, that request may be reduced. John Detterick, executive director of the General Assembly Council, said recently that he could not “in good conscience” ask the council to appropriate the full $400,000. He cited the fact that a 1999 year-end Presbyterian event for youth and young adults lost an estimated $1.7 million after drawing only 2,000 of the 30,000 people expected by the planners. Detterick said the Presbyterian event, “The Dawn … An Epiphany” was mismanaged.
Likewise, financial documents presented by the National Council of Churches at its 50th anniversary meeting in Cleveland in November concluded that the NCC mismanaged its finances. Auditors did not accuse anyone of fraud, but they cited “material weaknesses” – accounting language that suggests fraud or major errors could occur without being detected by normal staff operations.
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Edgar’s voting record when he served as a member of Congress
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Excerpts from letters with concerns raised by the Presbyterian Lay Committee
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