 Deficit-plagued NCC receives favorable review By John H. Adams The Presbyterian Layman Volume 34, Number 5 Posted July 6, 2001 LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The National Council of Churches, despite an ongoing deficit in funds and Christian mission, has won yet another vote of confidence from the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Meanwhile, Philip Young of Petaluma, Calif., a PCUSA delegate to the council and one of the architects of its financial restructuring after its $6-million deficit in 1999, told The Presbyterian Layman that the NCC will survive no more than a year unless it merges with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops into a new ecumenical group.
The General Assembly voted 420-74 to accept the recommendation of the Committee on Catholicity and Ecumenical Relations – a favorable review of the National Council of Churches. The Presbyterian Church (USA) and the United Methodist Church are the leading financial supporters of the National Council of Churches, and Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick has worked over the years to keep PCUSA support high enough so that the council would not collapse. The General Assembly’s pro-National Council of Churches resolution was its response to an overture by the Presbytery of Savannah (Ga.). That overture sought to hold the denomination accountable for its continued relationship with and multimillion-dollar support of the National Council of Churches. The Savannah overture also called for an end to Presbyterian funding if the National Council of Churches failed to end its deficit-spending and failed to involve evangelicals and Catholics in the ecumenical work. In a related matter, the General Assembly approved ongoing discussions between the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Roman Catholic Church. Kirkpatrick has been deeply involved in past discussions and wants to convince Catholics that they should align with the NCC in a new ecumenical organization. There has been no indication that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is interested in such an alignment. The NCC’s renewed deficit spending comes despite a multi-million-dollar bail-out by the NCC’s largest member denominations last year. The Presbyterian Church (USA) promised $500,000 to the bail-out contingent upon the NCC producing a balanced budget. When it learned that the NCC would probably not meet this contingency, the General Assembly Council decided to forward the money anyway. In the fiscal year which ended June 30 the NCC had projected a deficit of $730,000. Next year revenues are expected to drop at least another 2 percent, Edgar admitted, forcing further cut-backs. The board rejected a proposed 5 percent cutback in spending. Several factors contributed to the NCC deficit. The NCC was the largest partner with Americorps, President Clinton’s community service volunteer program. But administrative problems led the NCC’s partnership to be shut down last year. The Clinton Administration promised to reimburse the NCC for at least $200,000 that the NCC claimed as expenses, but the new Bush Administration withdrew that promise. There were also $90,000 in unexpected severance costs for 17 NCC positions eliminated last year. More amazingly, it was learned that the outgoing General Secretary Joan Brown Campbell received a $95,000 severance package, which also was unbudgeted. Next year, the NCC will have to pay $356,000 owed to Church World Service, the NCC’s relief arm. Church World Service was given virtual autonomy last year amid concerns the NCC had long siphoned too much money away from the much larger and more popular relief agency. The NCC will also have to pay Church World Service $2.4 million over the next 10 years for funds the NCC had previously borrowed to pay for retiree health benefits. |
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