Calvin Synod Herald, 1973 (73. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1973-05-01 / 5. szám
6 CALVIN SYNOD HERALD and a 4 percent gain in 1971. The second largest church, the Southern Baptist Convention, showed a 1.7 percent gain with a new membership total of 11,824,676. The third largest church is the United Methodist Church which had a 1.5 percent decline and has a new total of 10,671,774. The Yearbook reports that contributions are rising as membership is falling. Nine major Protestant denominations reported that with 266,750 fewer members in 1971, they received $63,433,445 more in contritutions than in 1970. Off. of Comm. U.C.C. 3s 31 is “UJ/tctt 3fe Nile ant 7 Have you ever noticed? When the other fellow acts a certain way, he is “ill-tempered;” when you do it, it s nerves. When the other fellow is set in his ways, he’s “obstinate,” and when you are, it is just “firmness.” When the other fellow doesn’t like your friends, he’s “prejudiced;” when you don’t like his, you are simply showing that you are a good judge of human nature. When the other fellow tries to treat someone especially well, he is a “flatterer;” when you try the same thing you are using “tact.” When the other fellow takes time to do things, he is “dead slow”; when you do it, you are “deliberate.” When the other fellow spends a lot, he is a “spendthrift”; when you do, you are “generous.” When the other fellow holds too tight to his money, he is a “tightwad”; when you do, you are “prudent.” When the other fellow dresses extra well, he’s a “dude”; when you do, it’s simply a “duty one owes to society.” When the other fellow says what he thinks, he is “spiteful”; when you do, you are “frank.” Author unknown N.C.C. RESOLUTIONS New York, N.Y., April 25 — National mission leaders of member denominations of the National Council of Churches made several crucial decisions that will change the face of the council’s Division of Church and Society. After months of evaluating its program, the Steering Committee decided to: • make important staff changes • centralize decision making, priority setting and budget in the division’s board, cutting down on the former autonomy of project funding • hire an Associate General Secretary as early as possible to guide the development of the division • recommend that its Corporate Information Center remain in the Council • organize a staff team around a primary concern for justice • discontinue field services • lodge Evangelism concerns with the Associate General Secretary According to Church and Society chairman James Christison of the American Baptist Churches, it was a day of “reordering the affairs of the division.” And Episcopal Bishop Roger Blanchard, whose committee gathered all evaluations and formed the final recommendations emphasized the widespread denominational “agreement that there must be a Division of Church and Society, that this division was fundamental to the council and the churches and that a weak and ineffective division could only do harm.” The decisions recommended by his group were “strategic to reach that goal.” and the first step was to make the division fiscally sound, “with the knowledge that opportunity to shape a new division is at hand.” Accordingly, the Steering Comittee cut projections from last year’s general undesignated income of $469,000 to $390,000. In addition to the core budget for the support of executive staff, the division administers special projects which in 1972 created a total budget of $1,042,000. That total for 1973 is expected to reach $750,000. Consequently the committee reduced from thirteen to seven the number of the executive staff. Action was taken to give notice of termination to all staff but with the understanding that they can reapply for newly described positions. The committee also empowered a twelve member denominational group to rewrite job descriptions, and recommend hiring of executive staff as well as an Associate General Secretary. The committee is headed by Ms. Peggy Billings of the United Methodist Church and includes several members of the committee which recommended the changes that were adopted Wednesday. The reasons for the recommendations were outlined by one of the committee’s members, the Rev. Carl Thomas of the Lutheran Church of America. Throughout their evaluation, the key themes were “dissatisfaction with the status quo,” he said. “No one saw additional funds for carrying on business as usual.” Rather there was an almost unanimous call for the kind of decisions that were taken by the Steering Committee. N.C.C. Neios
