NAE president responds to NCC leader's about-face By Paula R. Kincaid The Layman Online Friday, November 17, 2000 Kevin Mannoia Dr. Kevin W. Mannoia, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, said he is "deeply disappointed" that Robert Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches has decided to remove his name from an ecumenical statement supporting the sanctity of marriage. A Christian Declaration of Marriage, drafted and signed by leaders of the National Association of Evangelicals, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, the National Council of Churches and the Southern Baptist Convention, was released at a Nov. 14 press conference in Washington, D.C. On Nov. 17, the closing day of the annual meeting of the NCC's General Assembly, Edgar told delegates that he would take steps to withdraw his name from the statement, because he personally favors gay marriage and gay union blessings. Mannoia said Edgar did not attend the meetings of the committee that drafted the Declaration. Dr. Eileen Lindner, associate general secretary of the NCC was the organization's designated representative. "The spirit of the committee that worked on this document was an extremely positive spirit," he told The Layman Online. Mannoia said he assumed that Lindner kept Edgar apprised of what was going on, and in personal conversations with Edgar, "he assured me that he was very supportive and wanted to be at the press conference," said Mannoia. He added that unfortunately the NCC's assembly would not permit Edgar to attend the press conference. 'Extremely offensive' language The day before Edgar stated he would withdraw his name from the Declaration, he defended his actions to a caucus of gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people. "We were involved in taking out language that was extremely offensive," Edgar said. "It [the Declaration] was an attempt to talk about the value of marriage." "I would be very interested in knowing what the 'extremely offensive' language was," said Mannoia, reiterating that Edgar was not at any of the committee meetings. "It was not a derogatory measure aimed at any of the groups mentioned," Mannoia said. "This was a document about marriage and therefore did not include any statement about same-sex unions. … We didn't even address the issue in the document. It's not about that. It's about marriage." Mannoia said that no one at the table "had an agenda to hurt anyone. I don't understand what he means by that." Support for the Declaration Mannoia said that even though Edgar has withdrawn his name on behalf of the NCC, it does not alter the fact that there are many churches, communions and members of the NCC that appreciate and support the marriage effort, and "we would certainly continue to welcome them in this." "Many within the NCC that support this and we don't want that door to be closed," he said. "It was a wonderful committee. It was really a joy to work with these people and the spirit of unity was clearly evident in the group," he said, adding that there are future plans concerning the Declaration. "If the NCC does not want to partner with the Roman Catholics, Southern Baptists and evangelicals on this," he said, then "I feel sad that they have chosen not to engage with us on this very important issue."

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