November 6, 1999

CLEVELAND—Two who were present at the NCC's Constituting Convention, along with the NCC's current general secretary, offer their reflections on the NCC's founding and first 50 years.

United Methodist Bishop James K. Mathews has never forgotten the excitement of the NCC's Constituting Convention in 1950.

Recalling the days in Cleveland when the NCC was formed, Bishop Mathews points out that the delegates were all on the main floor of the huge Public Auditorium, seated in sections by communion. "And then," he says, "we began to notice certain figures who would stand out. I remember particularly a man named Hermann Morse, a Presbyterian who had come out of the Home Missions Council. He was moderator of a number of the sessions and I was greatly impressed by his skill. And then Franklin Fry of the Lutherans began to show up to great effect. And, of course, Bishop Henry Knox Sherrill, who was then Presiding Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church and, as it turned out, became the first president of the National Council of Churches. And there were many others.

"What struck me about this was that almost immediately one had a sense that these leaders were now our leaders. In other words, you sort of forgot about the denominational distinctions for the time being and it added to the excitement to see these highly talented persons¾and I mention only a few of them¾who were now our leaders. I think that was one of the highly significant things that happened while were there."

Bishop Mathews also remembers well that Secretary of State Dean Acheson "made a notable address on behalf of the President," by radio, heard in the auditorium and carried to the nation by on all major networks. "He was very polished, and that impressed us as well. There was a celebratory note that continued throughout and it was an extremely uplifting experience." Bishop Mathews adds that the excitement of Cleveland "tended to be renewed each time there was an assembly of the NCC every two or three years. It was a rekindling of the ecumenical spirit."

Like many who attended the NCC's Constituting Convention in Cleveland in 1950, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church Bishop J. Clinton Hoggard has an indelible memory of the giant snowstorm that very nearly wrecked the meeting. "I went to the meeting from my pastorate in Yonkers, New York," he recalls. "But we couldn't go out for the first day because the Northeast was snowbound."

Despite the logistical nightmare created by the storm, its seemed that nothing could stop the event, because the creation of the National Council of Churches was an idea whose time had come. "It was a triumphant thing," Bishop Hoggard says. "It was Protestantism making a grand display to America and the world.

"In the public auditorium, we saw the pageantry that was enacted with all the communions heads, their banners, and the clergy in all their attire. I had a sense that unity was coming and it was a oneness in the life of America via the Church and her many members."

For the Rev. Dr. Joan B. Campbell, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches, the NCC's 50th Anniversary Celebration is like a reunion of family and friends to celebrate a 50thwedding anniversary.

"When people celebrate a 50th wedding anniversary," she says, "it's not because every year was perfect, or because the marriage remains the great love affair that it was. They celebrate those 50 years of commitment, and the couple's commitment to the future."

Similarly, she says, the National Council of Churches is celebrating its 50th anniversary, not because all 50 years were perfect, or because everything is perfect now. "We celebrate the rich mix that is the National Council of Churches, the fact that the churches have remained together all these years, and all the contributions we have made together to church and society locally, nationally and internationally."

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