NCC will woo Baptists, Catholics, Pentecostals
The Layman Online, May 24, 2000
The governing board of the National Council of Churches decided on May 23 to try to broaden the organization to include Roman Catholic, evangelical and Pentecostal groups. The organization is now comprised principally of mainline, black and Orthodox denominations.
Some radical changes in political philosophy would probably be necessary if the council is to convince denominations such as the 16-million-member Southern Baptist Convention to join the NCC. The doctrinal and political views of the NCC and Southern Baptists are far apart. Southern Baptists have either ignored or highly criticized the NCC.
Robert Edgar, general secretary of the NCC, told the board that he plans to meet soon with Southern Baptist leaders.
The largest Christian group not affiliated with the NCC is the Roman Catholic Church, with 50 million U.S. members.
The decision to try to broaden its membership is part of the NCC’s attempt to develop a stronger financial base. The organization had a deficit of $4 million in 1999 and has had to work within a limited number of supporting members to try to bail itself out of debt. Only two-thirds of the NCC’s 39 members paid any membership fees in 1999.
The Presbyterian Church (USA) was the leading financial contributor to the NCC in 1999. Earlier this year, the PCUSA, through the Office of the General Assembly and the General Assembly Council, agreed to contribute $500,000 more toward a bailout.
That proposal spawned a backlash within the PCUSA. Letters, e-mail and phone calls to Presbyterian headquarters in Louisville ran 9-1 against the bailout. The 212th General Assembly, which will meet June 24-July 1 in Long Beach, Calif., has on its agenda an overture that would reduce PCUSA funding of the NCC to a fraction of what it has been.