Episcopal Press and News

NCC General Board Meets in Houston

Diocesan Press Service. October 1, 1968 [69-10]

HOUSTON, Tex. -- Disarmament; the death penalty; use of purchasing power; the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia; starvation in Nigeria-Biafra were all matters of concern for the General Board of the National Council of Churches when it met in Houston, Tex., September 12-13.

In a statement entitled "The Church as Purchaser of Goods and Services," the General Board emphasized the importance of including the social consequences among criteria for selecting a supplier. While the statement did not advocate, or recommend illegal forms of boycotts, it did state that the Church should patronize those vendors who better serve social justice and should, where necessary, make public its decisions and the reasons for them.

A new understanding of the nature of security in today's world was called for in another major policy statement, "Defense and Disarmament: New Requirements for Security." Security, the statement says, "must be supplied by international processes and institutions rather than by vast defense establishments." Called for were a reallocation of national resources and a new emphasis on human rights. Major steps suggested were arms control, reductions in defense spending and peace-keeping efforts through the United Nations.

Unanimously passed was a statement calling for the abolition of the death penalty. The position was taken in view of the Christian belief in the worth of human life; serious question that the death penalty serves as a deterrent; the possibility of errors in judgment and the irreversibility of the penalty; and the evident fact that economically poor defendants are more likely to be executed. Our Christian commitment is "to seek the redemption and reconciliation of the wrong-doers."

Based upon the policy statement on The Church as Purchaser of Goods and Services, the Board passed a resolution directing the National Council of Churches not to buy California table grapes. The effort is designed to aid efforts of grape pickers to organize in unions. It passed by only eight votes more than the necessary two-thirds.

In a statement on Justice, Law, Order and Freedom the General Board took up the problem of police-community relations. The statement declared that the church has a responsibility to "help inculcate respect for laws that are just and equitably enforced," and has "a like responsibility to help eliminate injustice and victimization, and to side with the poor and the victims of social inequity."

In other action the General Board deplored the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia and offered their encouragement to the people of that nation; urged massive relief programs for the human suffering in Nigeria-Biafra; and committed itself to the strengthening and enlargement of existing programs of family planning, both in the United States and in countries where assistance is requested.