Capsule Report: General Board, National Council of Churches, San Diego, CA, February 20-22, 1968
Diocesan Press Service. March 5, 1968 [63-11]
Peter Day, Ecumenical Officer
The National Council of Churches girded itself for action in the crisis facing American cities by action of the General Board at its meeting in San Diego, Calif., Feb. 20-22.
The president, Dr. Arthur Fleming, and the General Secretary, Dr. R. H. Edwin Espy, were given broad authority to act on the NCC's behalf to find money and manpower to deploy it through the National Urban Coalition, other coalitions, member Churches, and local councils of churches, to "coordinate the resources of the Churches and the National Council of Churches in the crucial struggle for justice in the nation."
The program envisages demands on all NCC units, including some that are not ordinarily involved in social action programs (for example, adult education), as well as upon the member Churches.
Business continued as usual in the adoption of three policy statements: on World Poverty and the Demands of Justice (unanimous); on The Imperatives of Peace and the Responsibilities of Power (100 yes, 14 no, 3 abstaining), a critical review of U. S. foreign policy on which the Episcopal delegation split, 6 for and 5 against; and on the principle of a guaranteed income for all Americans, on which the only negative vote was from an Episcopalian to dramatize the growing concern of many Board members about by-passing of the NCC's own rules for deliberate procedure.
Resolutions on matters of public concern:
(1) Called Christians to mobilize to battle world hunger on three fronts--family planning, food aid, and food production.
(2) Urged the President of the United States to take initiative in spite of "the grave risks involved" toward opening up peace talks in Vietnam. (Episcopalians were divided on the amount of criticism of U. S. policy to be included in the resolution). The resolution also asked the North Vietnamese government to use restraint in its present military operations.
(3) Deplored religious disabilities suffered by dissident Baptists and Jews in the Soviet Union.
(4) Expressed "shock and outrage" at the condemnation of 30 Southwest Africans by the government of South Africa under an ex post facto law.
(5) Approved non-commercial public broadcasting as a major means of "providing educational, cultural, public affairs, and entertainment programs" for all citizens.
(6) Opposed governmental limitation on overseas travel.
In addition, a hotly debated resolution on the U.S. Conference on Church and Society, which met last October in Detroit, was amended to eliminate any possibility of being understood as an endorsement of the Conference's findings. The report was "referred for study and/or action" to appropriate agencies.