Source: The New York Times
On October 23, 2000, The New York Times reported that, "the National Council of Churches, a venerable but financially straitened organization that represents 35 Protestant and Eastern Orthodox churches, plans to seek an unusual meeting next year. The meeting, which would bring Christian leaders together across historical dividing lines, might even eventually lead the council into a broader, more diverse coalition if other Christian groups agreed. The proposed meeting -- to which Roman Catholics, evangelical Protestants and Pentecostals are to be invited -- has been discussed among the council's leaders, the Rev. Robert W. Edgar, its general secretary, said in an interview. The discussions have taken place as the council, now 50 years old, has sought to right itself financially, after budgetary problems threatened to overwhelm it late last year. Mr. Edgar, who has been the council's top officer since January, said the organization balanced its budget during the first six months of the year and expected to do so for the second half. But the council has also cut its staff by 30 jobs, some of which had not been filled, and now employs about 70 people, he said. And a statement released by the council earlier this month said it projected that expenses would exceed income during the first half of 2001. Speaking of the proposed meeting, Mr. Edgar said... 'This is the time to ask ourselves the hard questions about what the ecumenical movement needs to propel itself into the future.' He said the council, which has member churches representing more than 50 million congregants, drew inspiration from examples of collaboration among churches at the local level. 'What is the national equivalent of that, and how should it be shaped?' he asked. The council's leaders, he said, were agreed that 'our purpose of being is not to keep the National Council of Churches alive in its current form,' but to be open to working with other major church groups."