The NCC’s Death by 1,000 Cuts

on September 21, 2012

 

All is not well at New York City’s Interchurch Center. (Photo credit: Travelpod)

By Jeff Walton

One year after officials with the National Council of Churches (NCC) described “a perfect storm” hitting the ecumenical body, the NCC board has drastically cut staff, budget and the scope of the council’s work. Salvaging the once-prestigious NCC was described as an effort to return the council to “the leading edge of ecumenism,” while the few remaining staff are being styled as “theologically trained community organizers.”

The NCC, which counts the United Methodist, Episcopal and Presbyterian (U.S.A.) churches among its members, once employed hundreds of staffers at its Manhattan headquarters. Today, the council has shrunk to a dozen fulltime and a handful of part time and contract employees with a budget of just under $3 million.

Read more here.

  1. Pingback by National Council of Churches Bidding “God Box” Farewell « Juicy Ecumenism on February 13, 2013 at 5:33 pm

    […] cuts follow another round that reduced the council to a dozen full-time and a handful of part-time and contract staff between May and September of 2012. It is unclear […]

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