National Council of Churches
Encyclopedia : N : NA : NAT : National Council of Churches
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA (usually identified as National Council of Churches, or NCC) is a religious organization currently (2006) consisting of 35 Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, African-American and historic peace Christian denominations in the United States, and is widely regarded as a leading force within the ecumenical movement of Christianity. NCC is related fraternally to hundreds of local and state councils of churches and interfaith organizations, and to the World Council of Churches, but though they may include many of the same member churches, these councils have no fiscal or administrative connections to each other.
The National Council of Churches was organized in 1950, and its forerunner, the Federal Council of Churches was founded in 1908. A sister organization, Church World Service, is a humanitarian and relief arm of the NCC's member denominations.
Headquarters are located in New York, New York, with a public-policy office on Capitol Hill in Washington DC.
Representatives of the NCC's member denominations meet together annually in a general assembly, with several other meetings each year by a smaller governing board.
Most of the Council's work is done through five ecumenical program commissions -- Communication, Education and Leadership Ministries, Faith and Order, Interfaith Relations, and Justice and Advocacy. Membership in these commissions extends far beyond the NCC's 35 member communions to involve participants from more than 50 U.S. faith groups, including Roman Catholics, Evangelicals and Pentecostals.
The NCC's current General Secretary, Rev. Bob Edgar, is a former pastor, seminary president, and six-term member of Congress.
Contributions
Among the NCC's contributions are:- the translation and publication of the Revised Standard Version and the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, a preferred translation in seminaries and divinity schools.
- the Uniform Sunday School Lesson Series, used for more than a century by many denominations as the basis for curriculum and study materials.
- the publication of the annual Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, a comprehensive directory to the religious life of North America.
- extensive work on environmental, peace and social justice issues.
- administration of Worldwide Faith News[link], a web-based interfaith news distribution system affording large and small faith groups, even those in developing nations, equal access to media.
Criticism
Conservative
There has been an ongoing conservative reaction to the work of the NCC. Some evangelicals, fundamentalists, and the politically-aligned religious right, notably the privately-funded Institute on Religion and Democracy, generally accuse the NCC of being a left-wing organization. The NCC has long voiced support for minimum wage laws, environmentalist policies, affirmative action [link], and other policies generally opposed by the political right. The NCC USA has also supported efforts to establish comprehensive national healthcare coverage, and opposed the Iraq War, secret U.S. prisons, torture of prisoners and other human rights violations. In addition, some conservatives object that the translations of the Bible under NCC sponsorship have tended toward gender-neutral language.Liberal
The NCC has consistently declined to take public positions on issues where there is not consensus among its diverse constituent member bodies, and this results in criticism by some liberal Protestants. Some have complained because the NCC has declined to extend membership to the Metropolitan Community Church, a communion whose ministry advocates full participation by gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people.Online
The NCC provides extensive, searchable online resources through its Web site (http://www.ncccusa.org) and at a membership-based public advocacy Web site, FaithfulAmerica (http://www.FaithfulAmerica.org). Occasional e-mailed updates and newsletters about these services, sent to constituents, sometimes cause critics to accuse the NCC of spamming; however, every such message provides a clearly identified "unsubscribe" option in full compliance with all regulations.Governing Board Members
The Rev. Michael E. Livingston, Trenton, NY (President)
Bishop Thomas L. Hoyt, Jr., Shreveport, LA (Past President)
Ms. Clare Chapman, New York, NY (Committee Chair)
The Rev. Peg Chemberlin, Minneapolis, MN (Committee Chair)
Dr. Susan E. Davies, Bangor, ME (Committee Chair)
The Rev. Robert Chase, Cleveland, OH (Commission Chair)
The Rev. Raymon Hunt, Charlotte, NC (Commission Chair)
The Very Rev. Archmandrite Demetri C. Kantzavelos, Chicago, Ill (Committee Chair)
Dr. Michael Kinnamon, St. Louis, Mo (Commission Chair)
The Very Rev. Leonid Kishkovsky, Syosset, NY (Committee Chair)
Dr. Audrey Miller, Cleveland Heights, OH (Committee Chair)
Rev. Fred Rajan, Chicago, Il (Committee Chair)
Mr. Marvin L. Roloff, Minneapolis, MN (Committee Chair)
Dr. Barbara Brown Zikmund, Rockville, MD (Commission Chair)
in addition to representatives from all member denominations.
Member denominations (January 2006)
Wikipedia article -- [home page]- African Methodist Episcopal Church -- [link]
- The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
- Alliance of Baptists -- [link]
- American Baptist Churches USA -- [link]
- Diocese of the Armenian Church of America -- [link]
- Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) -- [link]
- Christian Methodist Episcopal Church -- [link]
- Church of the Brethren -- [link]
- The Coptic Orthodox Church in North America -- [link]
- The Episcopal Church in the United States of America -- [link]
- Evangelical Lutheran Church in America -- [link]
- Friends United Meeting -- [link]
- Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America -- [link]
- Hungarian Reformed Church in America -- [link]
- International Council of Community Churches -- [link]
- Korean Presbyterian Church in America
- Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church
- Mar Thoma Church
- Moravian Church in America Northern Province and Southern Province -- [link]
- National Baptist Convention of America -- [link]
- National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. -- [link]
- National Missionary Baptist Convention of America -- [link]
- Orthodox Church in America -- [link]
- Patriarchal Parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in the USA -- [link]
- Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends -- [link]
- Polish National Catholic Church of America -- [link]
- Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) -- [link]
- Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. -- [link]
- Reformed Church in America -- [link]
- Serbian Orthodox Church in the U.S.A. and Canada -- [link]
- The Swedenborgian Church of North America -- [link]
- Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch -- [link]
- Ukrainian Orthodox Church of America -- [link]
- United Church of Christ -- [link]
- The United Methodist Church -- [link]
External links
- [National Council of Churches USA home page]
- [FaithfulAmerica home page]
- [Church World Service home page]
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.