Title: ELCA Council Approves $300,000 Contribution to the NCC
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

November 16, 1999

ELCA COUNCIL APPROVES $300,000 CONTRIBUTION TO THE NCC
99-286-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) is making a one-time allocation of $300,000 to the National
Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (NCC) to help the
organization resolve what the Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop
of the ELCA, described as a $3.5 million deficit.  The ELCA Church
Council approved the contribution, provided that the NCC can approve a
balanced budget for 2000.
     The council met here Nov. 12-14.  It functions as the ELCA's board
of directors and serves as the legislative authority of the church
between churchwide assemblies.  Assemblies are held every other year;
the next is Aug. 8-14, 2001, in Indianapolis.
     The ELCA is one of 35 Protestant and Orthodox denominations
representing almost 52 million Christians which make up the NCC.  The
New York-based organization held its annual meeting and 50th anniversary
celebration Nov. 9-12 in Cleveland.
     Anderson attended the NCC meeting and reported the organization's
financial situation to the ELCA Church Council.  The NCC has an annual
budget of more than $60 million.
     There had been an "investigative audit" of the NCC's finances to
determine the cause of the deficit, Anderson said.  "There seems to be
no malfeasance but a lot of sloppiness."
     The member denominations were asked to help cover the deficit, he
said.  "This contribution would be over and above the regular
contribution the ELCA makes each year to the core budget of the NCC."
     In Cleveland the NCC installed the Rev. Andrew Young as its
president and elected Dr. Robert W. Edgar as general secretary.  Both
take office on Jan. 1.
     Edgar and Young both served in the U.S. House of Representatives
in the 1970s.  Young became U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and
was elected mayor of Atlanta.  Edgar left Congress in 1987, and he
served 12 years as president of the Claremont School of Theology,
Claremont, Calif.
     The Rev. Daniel F. Martensen, director of the ELCA Department for
Ecumenical Affairs, told the ELCA Church Council that the NCC is at a
promising point of transition, and the member churches can affirm the
organization.
     "We left a team there in which the NCC can trust," he said.
"There is trust that is warranted at this point."
     Anderson sent a fax message Nov. 15 to leaders of the NCC and
several other denominations.  It shared the action of the ELCA Church
Council to set aside $300,000 for the NCC.
     "The members of the Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America enthusiastically took this action as a sign of our
continuing commitment to the ecumenical work in which we are engaged
together," Anderson wrote.
     Once the NCC executive board approves a balanced budget for 2000,
"this one-time contribution will be allocated before the end of 1999
calendar year," he added.


For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html