One-third of the delegates at last December’s National Council of Churches assembly in Miami Beach could not affirm unqualified belief in the reality of God, the divinity of Jesus, or life after death. This startling evidence of the inroads of liberal theology on the leadership of major Protestant denominations comes from the first study of beliefs ever included in the customary poll made at NCC assemblies.
On God, 33 per cent were unable to choose the response, “I know that God really exists and I have no doubts about it.” Most of these agreed with a weaker statement: “While I have doubts, I feel that I do believe in God.”
The statement, “Jesus is the Divine Son of God and I have no doubts about it,” was rejected by 36 per cent of the NCC delegates, most of whom preferred the answer, “While I have some doubts I feel basically that Jesus is Divine.”
Thirty-one per cent of the delegates could not say with complete certainty that “there is a life beyond death.”
Only one out of four believed “the miracles actually happened just as the Bible says they did.” The largest group (35 per cent) chose the “natural causes” explanation, while 26 per cent were either unsure the miracles happened at all or sure they didn’t.
Questionnaires were filled out by 223 voting delegates, as well as a larger number of observers from church councils, local churches, or denominations. The delegate group was quite representative of the geographical and denominational make-up of the NCC. And those who responded were mostly professionals: 70 per cent had attended previous NCC assemblies, two-thirds were ordained clergymen, and 42 per cent were on denominational staffs. Three-fourths were from major metropolitan centers (somewhat over the national average), and only 4 per cent were Negro, compared to 11 per cent in the U. S. population. Nine out of ten NCC delegates were college graduates. Only 6 per cent were under 40 years of age.
The theological questions were based on those used in the 1966 Glock-Stark study, Christian Beliefs and Anti-Semitism. In most cases, the San Francisco area sample used in that study proved more conservative than the NCC elite. For instance, 57 per cent of the Glock-Stark group chose the strong statement on biblical miracles. Also, 57 per cent of the San Francisco sample believed the Virgin Birth is “completely true,” compared to 28 per cent of the Miami delegates. The statement that “the Devil actually exists” ’ was held fully true by 38 per cent of the Californians, and only 23 per cent of the NCC leaders.
The lowest percentages at Miami were on the statement that “a child is born into the world already guilty of sin,” a belief not required in many NCC denominations. Only 13 per cent of the delegates as a whole believed this (half the percentage of the California sample). But in the denominational breakdown, the statement was affirmed by one-third of Episcopalians and 61 per cent of Lutherans. The Lutherans were the most traditional group on six of the eight theological questions, with the Episcopalians ranking second.
The Glock-Stark general sample from these two denominations proved less conservative than the NCC delegations. But Disciples of Christ and the American Baptist Convention were just the reverse. For instance, 62 per cent of the American Baptists in the California sample held to the literal truth of Bible miracles, compared with 4 per cent of the ABC’s Miami representatives.
The social-action emphasis in major denominations over recent years is reflected clearly in the NCC poll. A vast majority thought Negro advance was too slow, whereas Newsweek’s major poll last year showed the bulk of the general public thinks it’s too fast. Also, 79 per cent of the NCC delegates believed “discrimination against other races” would “definitely” or “possibly” prevent salvation.
On the reverse side of the coin—factors “absolutely necessary for salvation”—love of neighbor edged out “belief in Jesus Christ as Savior” as most important. Other factors, in order, were: prayer, doing good for others, holding the Bible to be God’s truth, baptism, regular communion, church membership, tithing, and being a member of a particular religious faith.
Summarizing questions on non-Christian religions, the NCC report said: “A Christian monopoly on God’s salvation is, apparently, a fading tenet of Protestant doctrine both among church leaders and local churchmen.”
The social-action theme also came through strongly in a judgment of priorities for missionaries. Ranked as most important was meeting acute human need, followed by working under indigenous churches, leadership training, and conversion. In a separate question, preaching ranked as the least important, followed with a second-place tie between “conversion” and “community and national development.”
In a question on the Viet Nam war, 52 per cent said the United States should start to withdraw troops, 24 per cent said the war should continue on the present level, and 13 per cent favored increased attacks.
Protestant Panorama
The Great Valley Presbyterian Church of Malvern, second-oldest Presbyterian congregation in Pennsylvania, served notice that it does not consider the new “Confession of 1967” compatible with “our historic position” and “does not subscribe to, nor will be subject to” this year’s constitutional changes.
The national organization of Methodist campus ministers decided to dissolve into the sixteen-denomination National Campus Ministry Association. And the Methodist college student movement voted to “phase out” in favor of the University Christian Movement, which includes Orthodox and Roman Catholics. The latter move needs denominational approval next year.
The Methodist Conference in the Caribbean and Central America became independent of British churches after 207 years. The first president is second-generation minister Hugh Sherlock of Jamaica, and the vice-president is prominent Guyana jurist Donald Jackson.
The Primitive Methodist Church (12,000 members) plans a denomination-wide “Spiritual Emphasis Crusade” from World Communion Sunday through Thanksgiving.
United Presbyterian mission planners are floating a trial balloon for flexible appointment of missionaries, to terms ranging from ten years to two years or less. Career appointments could be made after five or ten years.
The council of The American Lutheran Church gave preliminary approval to communion and pulpit fellowship with the three other bodies in the Lutheran Council in the U. S. A. The proposals will be voted on at the 1968 Omaha convention.
Personalia
Anglican Bishop Clarence E. Crowther was ordered deported from South Africa by June 30 “in the public interest.” Crowther, 38, vocal foe of the government’s racial segregation policies, will settle in England after a visit to the United States. Since he is an American citizen, the U.S. embassy planned an inquiry.
Fort Wayne, Indiana, pastor John W. Meister, who lost to William P. Thompson in last year’s election for stated clerk of the United Presbyterian Church, was chosen executive secretary of the UPC’s Council on Theological Education.
Gordon Henderson, administrative assistant to former Arizona Governor Samuel Goddard, will head a national monitoring campaign for the United Church of Christ to see that radio stations “now heavily weighted with extremist propaganda present other points of view and give persons and organizations attacked on the air an opportunity to reply.”
Jon Reid Kennedy, 25, managing editor of the Christian Beacon, was named chairman of International Christian Youth, U. S. A., college arm of the fundamentalist American Council of Christian Churches.
Robert Mounce, formerly of Bethel College in Minnesota, has been named first professor of religious studies at Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green.
Colonel Emil Nelson, field secretary for thirteen Western states, was named national evangelism consultant of the Salvation Army.
Thomas B. McDormand, who is retiring as president of Eastern Baptist College and Seminary, will become general secretary of the Atlantic United Baptist Convention in Canada.
Miscellany
Universalist-rooted Crane Theological School at Tufts University will close in June, 1968, because it is a financial drag on the university. Tufts will continue its religion department. The Unitarian Universalist Association is in the midst of a year’s study on whether to merge its other two small seminaries, Meadville in Chicago and Starr-King in Berkeley.
The executive committee of the World Student Christian Federation met in Prague, Czechoslovakia, to plan a world student conference for the summer of 1968 in Finland. An announcement said “the program will feature seminars on new universities, rich and poor nations, politics, technology, and urbanization.”
Members of Ottawa’s Bethel Pentecostal Church spent fourteen months producing a forty-eight-pound handwritten Bible for Canada’s centennial. Among chapter-writers were Prime Minister Lester Pearson and provincial premiers.
Roman Catholic laymen in Wilmington, Delaware, organized to push resolution of a dispute between Editor John O’Connor of Delmarva Dialog, recently judged the best diocesan weekly in its class, and Bishop Michael Hyle. O’Connor resigned after Hyle urged three of his backers on the board to resign. The bishop blames financial problems for the dispute, while the editor blames opposition from conservatives.
