More NCC Participation Urged
Diocesan Press Service. February 7, 1964 [XVIII-1]
Increased participation by the Episcopal Church in the National Council of Churches as "a means to strengthen Christian influence in American and world society" was urged Jan. 30 by the Joint Commission on Ecumenical Relations of the General Convention.
At the same time, the 21-membered group specified that NCC pronouncements "should avoid the impression that they offer the only specific Christian solution" to contemporary problems. The main purpose of NCC statements should be the "opening up of issues about which Christian people ought to be concerned, " the commission said.
The Joint Commission also suggested that NCC statements "should be so phrased as not to bring into question the Christian commitment of those who do not agree. " Specific solutions to political, social and economic problems should be left to statesmen or to others in specialized fields, commission members said.
However, they were just as adamant in their view that the NCC "should not stop making public statements" because "they have a useful function and we can profit by studying them without being obliged to concur in them."
These recommendations, among others, to General Convention were cited in a 17-page report after a two-year study of the NCC's over-all program. The study was authorized by the General Convention in 1961. The report will be presented for action to the 1964 General "Convention when it meets Oct. 12-23 in St. Louis, Mo.
Pointing out that NCC statements "do not necessarily represent the views of the Protestant Episcopal Church... which reserves the right to speak for itself, " the report stressed that often the NCC has tried to clarify the authority it expects such pronouncements to carry.
Time and again, the NCC unequivocally has stated that it speaks "to" and not "for" its 31 member communions. On this stand, the commission stated that NCC pronouncements "often reflect only the thinking of certain competent groups within the NCC and are not necessarily the conclusions of the NCC itself."
The report also recognized that "on many controversial matters the NCC cannot and does not expect to reach conclusions agreeable to all its representatives from the member churches, since the NCC contains within itself the same variety of opinions that are current outside it.."
Turning to specific charges that have been leveled at Protestantism's largest organized cooperative body, the Episcopal ecumenical relations commission had this to say about allegations of:
COMMUNISM -- "The NCC has shown in its literature, its pronouncements, its action--in the lives of its leaders and in many other ways--that its forces are enlisted in the fight for free men in a free world. . . The actual charge of Communism has been made against the NCC only by the most reckless and uninformed people. " After meeting with personnel of the U. S. House of Representatives' Committee on Un-American Activities and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, "we conclude that (this charge) is false . . .. The NCC does and should resent attacks that call it a 'tool of Communism'."
RECOGNITION OF RED CHINA -- "Neither the General Board nor the General Assembly (the NCC's two policy-making bodies) has ever taken action on the matter of recognition of Red China," though the Fifth World Order Study Conference at Cleveland in 1958 recommended:
".... Christians should urge reconsideration by our government of its policy in regard to the People's Republic in China. While the rights of the people of Taiwan and of Korea should be safeguarded, steps should be taken toward the inclusion of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations and for its recognition by our government."
Since the Fifth World Faith and Order Study Conference was held only for study, the NCC has stated that "the status of the findings of this conference has the standing only of a study document and does not represent an official view of the NCC."
STATEMENTS ON CHRISTIAN INVOLVEMENT IN SOCIAL ISSUES -- "The NCC has insisted that Christians have not only the right but also the duty to involve themselves in live issues of the day and that there can be no real spread of Christ's kingdom as long as they are forced to confine themselves to theories as against action."
Here, the commission members recorded their agreement that "a Christian has both the right and the duty to apply his religion to his daily life and to carry his Christian convictions to the office, to the factory, to the fields, and to the courthouse." But they also stipulated that an individual or a sizeable group of "earnest churchmen" who conscientiously oppose involvement in social issues should not be looked upon as "less than Christian" in upholding personal convictions.
"We, therefore, ask our NCC representatives to keep a close watch on the line of demarcation between Christian witness and political action, " the commission report said. "When the NCC believes it necessary to enter the field of political controversy, we expect our representatives to point out that dedicated Christians may be standing on either side of a particular issue.
"Nevertheless, " it continued, "our church and the NCC carry a general responsibility to help exercise a Christian influence on the entire life of our country; therefore, we ought to cooperate with other Christian bodies in defining a Christian response to the many problems of our time. We believe that the NCC is an increasingly effective instrument to this end."
Turning to the subject of Episcopal representation in the NCC General Assembly, commission members recommended that at least one bishop, one presbyter, and two lay persons-- one not professionally employed by the Church--be chosen from each of the eight provinces, so that geographical representation and balance may be obtained.
The Commission acted under the chairmanship of the Rt. Rev. J. Brooke Mosley, D. D., Bishop of Delaware. Commission membership is composed of the Rt. Rev. Richard H. Baker, D. D., Bishop of North Carolina; the Rt. Rev. Stephen F. Bayne, Jr., Anglican Communion Executive Officer, London, England; the Rt. Rev. Donald H. V. Hallock, D.D., Bishop of Milwaukee; the Rt. Rev. John S. Higgins, Bishop of Rhode Island; the Rt. Rev. George L. Cadigan, Bishop of Missouri; the Very Rev. John B. Coburn, D. D., Dean of the Episcopal Theological Seminary, Cambridge, Mass.
Also, the Rev. Gardiner M. Day, D. D., Cambridge, Mass.; the Rev. Dr. James W. Kennedy, New York City; the Rev. Dr. Arthur A. Vogel, Nashotah, Wisc.; the Very Rev. Gray M. Blandy, D.D., Austin, Texas; the Rev. William W. Lumpkin, Rock Hill, S. C.; the Very Rev. John V. Butler, D. D., New York City; Dr. Paul B. Anderson, New York City; Clifford P. Morehouse, New York City;
Also, Albert A. Smoot, Alexandria, Va.; Mrs. Paul F. Turner, Wilmington, Del.; N. Hamner Cobbs, Greensboro, Ala.; Ralph W. Black, Fargo, N.D.; and Mrs. Theodore O. Wedel, New York City.