NCC: Broke but still brokering

National | Theological bankruptcy came early for the National Council of Churches, but with a 1999 deficit of $6.4 million, financial bankruptcy can't be very far behind | Edward E. Plowman

If the National Council of Churches were a business, it would be bankrupt.

At last month's NCC governing board meeting in Washington, treasurer Phil Young, a Presbyterian minister, announced the 1999 deficit was about $6.4 million-more than a third higher than reported last November at the NCC's 50th-anniversary bash in Cleveland. Over the past decade, NCC managers have taken more than $20 million out of their reserves, all but depleting them. They even raided restricted funds, which must be repaid-if and when they all can be identified, and if the money can be raised.

Records were a shambles, some expenses could not be documented, funds were commingled, and staff resisted budget "compliance," the auditors reported in November. Joan Brown Campbell, who retired in December as general secretary, shouldered some of the blame. At the November general assembly, she argued that advocacy programs are more important than management details.