Timing of Edgar’s pro-gay statement aided fundraising
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, December 4, 2000
There’s an old saying in journalism: Keep an eye on the money. But keep another eye on the calendar as well. Together, money and dates tell an intriguing story about the efforts and strategy of Robert Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, to rescue the NCC from its financial pit.
February 18, 2000
Louisville, Ky.
Edgar told the General Assembly Council of the Presbyterian Church (USA) that the NCC had cleaned up its act after years of irresponsible spending. In making a pitch for a $400,000 gift to help balance the NCC’s 1999 books – at one time $6 million in the hole – Edgar said the NCC was no longer using limousine services for its staff and that the NCC had corrected $197,000 in retirement appropriations for people who were no longer on the payroll.
During a question-answer period, Edgar was asked his personal view of the issue of ordaining practicing homosexuals. He ducked the question, saying that was not the sort of issue the NCC wished to become entangled in. He was careful not to take sides in an explosive fight that might have jeopardized the request for the $400,000.
(Before Edgar became general secretary, the NCC had dealt with the ordination issue twice, voting not to accept the application of the Metropolitan Community Church, a denomination made up of gay activists and their allies, as a member of the NCC.)
February 19, 2000
Edgar and staff leaders of the PCUSA were persuasive. Despite receiving more than 1,000 letters, e-mails and phone calls opposing the $400,000 gift to the NCC, the General Assembly Council voted to give the ecumenical body the money. Nonetheless, the council also included a number of conditions before the money could be released.
September 23, 2000
The PCUSA General Assembly Council gave final approval to the $400,000 gift to the NCC. The council also reneged on its previous requirement that all the money be secured before the General Assembly Council would send its $400,000 check to the NCC. At the time, Methodists had given less than $100,000 toward a total pledge of $700,000, and there were questions about the remaining amount. The General Assembly Council’s check was sent to NCC headquarters in New York City a few days after the Sept. 23 vote.
November 15, 2000
Atlanta, Ga.
Edgar and former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young, president of the NCC, called a press conference after the meeting of the NCC executive board and just before the opening of the NCC’s General Assembly.
Edgar produced a press release on NCC stationary saying he had signed “A Christian Declaration on Marriage.” He said the NCC’s General Assembly prevented him from being in Washington, D.C., that same day for a joint press conference with other signers, including representatives of the National Association of Evangelicals, the U.S. Roman Catholic Bishops and the Southern Baptist Churches.
Edgar had not personally worked on developing the statement – that was handled by another NCC employee – but he did not mention at his press conference that he had any problems with the statement. He said the statement was a broad, ecumenical affirmation of marriage and of the need for the church to provide strong support for married couples. The statement made no reference to homosexuals. It defined marriage in traditional Biblical terms – between a man and a woman.
November 16, 2000, 7 a.m.
The NCC’s gay-lesbian caucus held a breakfast meeting on the second day of the NCC’s General Assembly. The speaker was Welton Gaddy, executive director of the Inter-Faith Alliance, a social action-political arm that obtained seed funding from the National Democratic Party and consistently supports issues favored by the left-flank of the Democratic Party.
Gaddy was talking about what gays bring to the ecumenical table. During his address, he raised concerns about Edgar’s signing “A Declaration on Christian Marriage,” which Gaddy called a denial of homosexual rights even though the declaration makes no reference to homosexuality. He did not criticize Edgar. “I’m not going to second-guess,” Gaddy said. “I know Bob Edgar and I trust Bob Edgar.”
Gaddy welcomed Edgar’s explanation.
Edgar, who told the caucus that he favored unions for same-sex couples and ordination of homosexuals, said the statement was not intended to be against “holy unions.” Furthermore, he told the caucus, “We were involved in taking out language that was extremely offensive.”
(Later, Bishop Kevin Mannoia, who signed the statement on behalf of the National Association of Evangelicals, expressed surprise that Edgar took credit for taking out “language that was extremely offensive.” Mannoia said there was no such language to begin with.)
November 16, 2000, 11:30 a.m.
The NCC’s General Assembly considered the application of the Alliance of Baptists to become the 36th member communion in the NCC. The application was approved unanimously – but there were two protests – by United Methodist Bishop Melvin Talbert and United Church of Christ President John Thomas.
While both men voted in favor of admitting the Alliance of Baptists, both also lamented the past failures of the NCC to accept the application of the Metropolitan Community Church to become a member of the NCC. The Metropolitan Community Church is made up principally of homosexual activists and their allies.
Talbert’s complaint was contrary to decisions at the 2000 Quadrennial Conference of the United Methodist Church. Nearly two-thirds of the delegates to Methodist Conference voted to put in their denomination’s Book of Discipline prohibitions against ordaining practicing homosexuals and allowing Methodist ministers to conduct services for same-sex couples.
Thomas also favors same-sex unions and ordination or homosexuals. But his view is consistent with the polity of the United Church of Christ, which allows local congregations to make those decisions. The United Church of Christ is the only denomination in the NCC that officially provides that much leeway.
Talbert’s statement was challenged by another Methodist delegate to the NCC’s General Assembly. Leland Collins, an evangelical who heads the Georgia Christian Conference, spoke briefly and politely as a point of personal privilege. Without recounting the votes of the Quadrennial Conference, Collins said there were many in the United Methodist Church who did not agree with Talbert. Talbert, who is African American, later accused Collins, who is white, of racism for disagreeing with him.
November 16, 2000, evening
Bishop Talbert, the ecumenical officer for the United Methodist Church, flew to Albuquerque, where he would make a personal appeal on Nov. 17 for Methodist funds to help the NCC.
November 17, 2000, morning
Albuquerque, N.M.
Talbert asked members of the Methodists’ General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns to give the NCC $400,000. The commission approved Talbert’s request with modifications: instead of an outright gift, the $400,000 would be a loan, at a 7 percent interest rate. The principle would be repaid by deducting expected Methodist contributions over a three-year period. The NCC would be responsible for the interest if it failed to get its books and finances in order.
According to Claire Chapman, executive director of the commission, there was no mention of the brewing controversy at the meeting of the NCC.
November 18
Atlanta, Georgia
At roughly the same time the Methodists were considering the $400,000 loan to the NCC, Edgar made a dramatic announcement: He retracted his signature from “A Christian Declaration on Marriage.”
“I would like to make a public apology,” Edgar told the NCC General Assembly. “I did not serve you well in the last week and a half. I signed my name onto a letter that had not been approved by a committee. After careful review, I realized this is a mistake. I want to apologize to those whom I have offended. I affirm and support the inclusion of Metropolitan Community Church for membership and I support a blessing of partnership, marriage of people who love each other.”
The retraction came after both the United Methodist and PCUSA funds had been secured.
(In a telephone interview with The Layman, Chapman expressed surprise about Edgar’s flip-flop. She said it could be a factor in response to the NCC’s request for an additional $200,000 in Methodist money to enable the NCC to balance its 1999 books. She is presenting requests to a number of Methodist agencies for the $200,000.)
November 21
“We are grateful to Dr. Edgar for withdrawing his support of this most recent attack on same-sex marriage and accept his apology gladly,” said Mel White, executive director of Soulforce in a press release. Soulforce is the gay activist organization that conducted unlawful demonstrations at the 2000 General Assembly of the PCUSA and the 2000 Quadrennial Conference of the United Methodist Church.