More Trouble for the NCC

Responding to criticisms of the National Council of Churches’ (NCC) liberal political activism, NCC General Secretary Robert Edgar has defiantly announced that the council’s leadership is committed to “standing up and speaking out when others have told us to sit down and be silent.”

As negative responses from the delegates mounted, Father Demetri Kantzavelos, a Greek Orthodox delegate, announced that he “want[ed] it entered in the record” that he was quite “dismayed” at the absence of Edgar and other NCC officers from the session. The other delegates erupted in applause to express their shared frustration. Current NCC President Thomas Hoyt appeared to explain that the officers were in a special meeting.

Kishkovsky attributed the Antiochian withdrawal to “profound anxieties” among Eastern Orthodox over “the nature of their ecumenical involvement.” He also noted the existence of “articulate groups” within Eastern Orthodox churches that push for withdrawal from all ecumenical councils. Kishkovsky briefly alluded to the Antiochians’ displeasure with the pro-homosexuality stances of some NCC denominations. But he failed to mention the Antiochians’ reactions against the NCC’s political agenda and its June fundraising letter.

Despite the concerns of the delegates and the departure of the Antiochians, NCC leaders demonstrated no interest in shifting the council’s focus away from political activism …

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