Report of the National Council of Churches General Secretary
to the 2008 General Assembly 

November 11, 2008 

The apostle Paul is quite clear:  One of the surest signs of the Holy Spirit is when those who have received different gifts gather to use them for the common good – and, in so doing, point to the truth that the Christ who claims us is not divided.  It seems to me that we often overlook this spiritual significance of such an assembly.  Our willingness to meet trustfully and prayerfully with one another – Orthodox and Protestant, black, brown, and white, theological liberal and theological conservative, immigrant church and long-established communion – is itself a counter-witness to the fearfulness of this culture, a counter-witness to the us-them rhetoric of election campaigns, a counter-witness to the me-first individualism of our economic system, a counter-witness to the cycles of violence and vengeance that so distort life in the community of God’s children.  For one hundred years, we have gathered – or, rather, been gathered – by God’s grace, not to celebrate our achievements but to give thanks for what God has done, is doing, and will do to tear down the dividing walls of hostility that separate even the followers of Christ.  May our time together this week build up the church in love and give glory to our Creator! 

I have started, as we must, with God’s initiative of grace.  For much of this report, however, I want to focus on our response to such grace by speaking about accountability: 

                -  accountability of the churches to one another,
                -  accountability of the parts of the ecumenical movement to one another,
                - accountability of the NCC staff to the churches, and
                - accountability of the churches to God for the world. 

Accountability of the churches to one another.  This is the essential principle of conciliar life:  A council of churches is not an agency that provides services on behalf of its members.  It is, in the words of our Constitution, a “community of Christian communions” which, in response to the gospel and on the basis of shared confession, “covenant with one another” to manifest the unity that is ours in Christ and to come together as communions in common mission.  There is no “Council and the churches;” the Council is you in relation to one another. 

This principle has been repeatedly affirmed in ecumenical documents, but not widely practiced. One WCC staff person, after visiting every national council in the world, concluded his summary report this way: 

The key issue is that most churches show only partial commitment to what is involved in being a fellowship of churches.  Where there is commitment, it is often to the Council as an institution and not to the other churches that comprise its membership.  Most councils, thus, are an ecumenical facade behind which churches remain as unecumenical as ever. 

Listen for this idea of our mutual accountability throughout the assembly, and especially in tomorrow morning’s plenary when we will also take note of the “marks of our commitment” to one another. 

Accountability of the parts of the ecumenical movement to one another.  This movement is, fundamentally, an effort to be the church, living in fuller obedience to the will of God.  That is why dialogues aimed at realizing visible unity at the table of our Lord, struggles to promote justice and peace in God’s one family and God’s one creation, efforts to serve our neighbors in times of need, common witness to Jesus Christ, as well as prayer with and for one another are complementary items on the ecumenical agenda.  I am convinced that ecumenism gets more interesting and profound precisely when these sometimes-conflicting priorities are held in creative tension.   

To be concrete, this means that Church World Service and the National Council of Churches have a theological mandate to be together but a history that has led us to become distinctive bodies.  Over the past year, John McCullough and I, along with our colleagues, have worked to clarify the new relationship (as you have already seen in the presentation of the Constitution and Standing Rules); but, at the same time, we have worked to rebuild the bonds of collaboration because we know that we are accountable to one another as parts of the ecumenical movement.  This is the assembly of both – together. 

The movement is also expressed globally, nationally, and locally though councils of churches that, while not structurally related, are mutually accountable parts of this effort to be the church God wills.  We have already been led in worship by friends from the Colorado Council of Churches.  Watch for the presence of others from the world and state councils.  Without them, this assembly would be immeasurably impoverished. 

Accountability of the NCC staff to the churches.  I am blessed to work with an outstanding group of staff colleagues!  Not long ago, I had someone familiar with our work ask me:  “How large is your staff – about 100?”  The answer is less than a third of that number.  As you probably know, the Council cut several positions a year ago in order to bring expenses into line with stable, projected revenue.   I deeply regret the toll that took on persons involved, but I am pleased to report that staff morale is high and that there is a real sense of shared vision.  The single annual report, which I trust you have read with care, is an indication that our work is growing more integrated – a goal that was furthered by a joint meeting of our commissions and commission leaders last January. 

There are many other highlights from the year, several of which  (given the limitations of time) I will simply list. 

Creation of effective staff team
- intentional fellowship and worship 

Deepened relationship with and among the churches
- church-to-church visits
- increased communication with church leadership 

Strengthened relationship with CWS and other ecumenical organizations 

Improved financial picture
- decreased expenses
- increased giving from the churches
- new foundation interest
- major gifts from individuals
- clean, unqualified audit 

Efforts to reactivate the Washington office
- UCC secondment for staff in racial justice
- donor support for staff person focused on poverty issues
- Knight Foundation grant 

Highly effective work on eco-justice
- materials dealing with climate change 

Recovery of strong program of women’s ministries
- human trafficking conference
- revival of Justice for Women Working Group 

Renewed focus on the work of Faith and Order
- follow-up to Oberlin conference
- electronic journal aimed at young theologians 

Strengthened interfaith relations
- Muslim-Christian Initiative
- response to “A Common Word between Us and You”
- work with Jewish leaders 

Efforts to strengthen young adult involvement in ecumenism
- “New Fire” gathering
- young women’s networks
- NCC interns 

Work on immigration reform
- collaboration with state councils of churches and CWS

Promotion of health care reform
- monthly alerts  for education and advocacy 

Aggressive communication of ecumenical message
- website celebration of 100^th anniversary
- work with major television networks 

Witness during election year
- Social Creed
- “Christian Principles for an Election Year”
- “Sacred Conversation” on race
- letters to the candidates and President-Elect 

Leadership visit to the Middle East
- follow-up advocacy on behalf of Middle East Christians 

Effective administration
- Constitution and Standing Rules (and Governing Board Bylaws)
-  new union contract 

New resources for effective congregational leadership
- new collaboration in education and leadership ministries 

Ongoing ministries
- Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches
- curriculum development 

Public witness, often with interfaith partners or other ecumenical coalitions, on a range of issues
- torture
- persecution of Indian and Iraqi Christians
- No Child Left Behind
- war in Iraq
- the poor in this economic crisis 

On the basis of all this, I dare to say – with thanksgiving to God! – that the organizational health of the NCC is vibrant. 

There is an obvious irony in all this:  The churches hire the staff to hold them accountable to the commitments they have made to one another, but the staff is also accountable to the churches for how we are doing this job!  Perhaps the biggest accomplishment of the year is precisely on this point – that we are beginning to shift the understanding of what it means to be a council of churches.  This is not an organization you have joined but a community you have formed on the basis of commitments to one another. 

Accountability of the churches to God for the world.  This is a formulation of H. Richard Niebuhr that I find useful when thinking about our social ethical stance.  There are, writes Niebuhr, at least two ways of being religiously irresponsible to which churches are prone.  One is to think that the churches are accountable to the world for God.  This is “worldly religion,” concerned with society’s approval, offering religious sanction for the status quo.  The polar danger is to think that the churches are accountable to God for themselves.  This is “isolated religion,” focused internally, preoccupied with guarding its own holiness and securing its own survival. 

At its best, this community of Christian communions has affirmed a different way:  recognizing that we are, above all, accountable to God (not popular opinion), but accountable to God for this world which God has so loved and for which Christ died.  The NCC is not a left-wing body or a right-wing body; we are more radical than that!  We are a community that dares challenge the powers that be, of whatever political persuasion, with a vision rooted in our Christian faith.  Our calling, as my pastor put it in a recent sermon, is not just to make a difference (though that is surely important), but to proclaim a different way of living.  Or in the words of our Strategic Plan, “to promote a vision of authentic common life as an alternative to that prevalent in contemporary North American culture.”  Watch for this kind of accountability throughout our assembly. 

I will end by observing what you already know:  The challenges of the coming months are likely to be quite overwhelming.  We can expect more people to be in great economic need – more people globally living in absolute poverty, more people domestically facing home foreclosure and loss of employment.  Along with tougher economic times comes an increased risk of conflict, and possibly even a pushback against the affirmation of diversity that was so much a part of last week’s election. 

Churches will surely feel the pinch as well, perhaps with declining offerings.  And that means we all will be faced with a choice:  either to turn inward, protecting what is “ours,” or to live more ecumenically, sharing resources as a basis of common witness on behalf of those threatened by economic deprivation and social conflict.  I do not wish for times of crisis; the toll they take on the most vulnerable is unacceptable to the Christian conscience.  But times of crisis, precisely because we cannot revel in “our” success, can be opportunities to live out the Lund Principle:  doing all things together except those which deep differences of conviction compel us to do separately.  We can be sure of God’s initiative of grace.  The question, as always, is how we will respond.

Michael Kinnamon
General Secretary
National Council of Churches