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  • Home
  • About
    • Officers and Provincial Coordinators
    • Past Presidents
    • By-laws
  • Updates
  • Ecumenical Handbook
    • About this Handbook
    • Introduction >
      • Essential Ecumenical Resources
      • The Episcopal Church in the Ecumenical Movement
    • Ecumenical Prayer and Worship
    • The Church Organized for Ecumenism >
      • The Anglican Communion
      • The Episcopal Church
      • The Diocesan Church
      • EDEIO
    • Full Communion Partners >
      • The Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht
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National Council of Churches (NCC)

​The Episcopal Church was a founding member of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA (1950).  Presiding Bishop Henry Knox Sherrill was its first president, and Cynthia Wedel later served as president.  Many Episcopalians have served on the staff.  Although the Episcopal Church may upon occasion disagree with a position taken by the NCCC, it remains committed to membership and participates in selected program areas.  The 1961 General Convention reaffirmed membership in these terms:  "This Convention recognizes the importance of having the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA speak to the Churches about the Christian implications of contemporary social, economic, and political issues, but also declares that no pronouncement or statement can, without action by this Church's authority, be regarded as an official statement of this Church".
 
            The Preamble to its constitution declares that “the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America is a community of Christian communions which, in response to the gospel as revealed in the Scripture, confess Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word of God, as Savior and Lord.  These communions covenant with one another to manifest ever more fully the unity of the Church.  Relying upon the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, the Council brings these communions into common mission, serving in all creation to the glory of God.”
 
            Membership in the NCCC is open to churches which can accept the nature and purpose of the Council as set forth in the preamble and the body of the constitution, and receive approval by a two-thirds vote of the member churches present and voting, and a two-thirds vote of the individual delegates present and voting at a meeting of the General Board.  The member churches are:
 
African Methodist Episcopal Church                      National Baptist Convention of America
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church               National Baptist Convention USA, Inc.
American Baptist Churches in the USA                  Orthodox Church in America
Armenian Church of America                                Patriarchal Parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)                              Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church                                       
Church of the Brethren                                         Polish National Catholic Church of America
Coptic Orthodox Church in North America              Presbyterian Church (USA)
The Episcopal Church                                          Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America                 Reformed Church in America
Friends United Meeting                                       Serbian Orthodox Church in the USA and Canada
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese                                 The Swedenborgian Church
Hungarian Reformed Church in America                 Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch
International Council of Community Churches                   Ukrainian Orthodox Church in America
Korean Presbyterian Church in America                  United Church of Christ
Moravian Church in America                                The United Methodist Church
                                                                                
            The Roman Catholic Church, most conservative evangelical churches, and Pentecostal churches are not members.  It is the most prominent ecumenical organization in the nation, though the member churches include less than half the Christians in the United States.
 
            The annual General Assembly of the NCCC is a body of approximately 260 persons.  Churches are represented in proportion to their size.  The representatives of the Episcopal Church are nominated by the Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations of the General Convention for appointment by the Presiding Bishop, with the advice and consent of the Executive Council.  The General Assembly takes responsibility for exploring and developing the many dimensions of relationships among churches. 
 
            Such tasks as oversight of NCCC budget, program and personnel are delegated to an Executive Board that meets three times a year and is representative of all the member communions and of Council units.
 
The National Council of Churches has brought to fruition the transformation process inaugurated in recent years. The necessary restructuring and re-organization process was not without pains and challenges. In observing the 50th Anniversary of its founding (of which the Episcopal Church was a key partner), in November, 1999 in Cleveland, the Council also reaffirmed its commitment to a fresh vision and structure for implementing the work that member churches do together as a national Council.
 
The Rt. Rev. Craig B. Anderson served as the President for the NCCC during this period of change and renewal. Dr. Pamela Chinnis served as a member of the Executive Committee for the NCCC, which shepherded the renewal process. The financial instability of the Council has been corrected by the decisions taken by the Assembly and the Executive Board. Episcopalians were active contributors to this re-ordering. The Executive Council of the Episcopal Church approved a contribution to the re-establishment of the NCCC’s financial stability (January 2000).
 
After many years of faithful service, Dr. Joan Brown Campbell concluded her term of office and a new General Secretary for the NCCC was selected. The Rev. Dr. Robert Edgar assumed the post of General Secretary in January 2000, and after serving two terms, was succeeded by the The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon in 2008. Clare Chapman is the present Interim General Secretary.
 
The Episcopal Church has been represented by a gifted delegation serving on the Assembly board for the NCCC. The role and work of that Assembly has been developed into a more participatory body.
 
            For information, write or telephone the National Council of Churches, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY, 10115.  Telephone: (212) 870-2228, or visit their website, www.ncccusa.org
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