CLEVELAND (UMNS) The Rev. Robert W. Edgar believes he has four qualities that led to his nomination to succeed the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell as general secretary of the National Council of Churches of Christ (NCCC) in the USA.

Those same qualities as a salvager, an optimist, a futurist and coalition-builder will help him shape the council, currently grappling with financial and administrative problems, into a leaner and more effective organization, the United Methodist minister said in a Nov. 10 interview.

Edgar, 56, a former congressman who has been president of the School of Theology at Claremont, Calif., since 1990, will be formally elected by the council's general assembly on Nov. 12.

While acknowledging the challenges facing the NCCC, he detects "a deep well of respect, a deep well of gratitude and a deep well of thoughtfulness" regarding the council and its accomplishments.

Noting that many denominational structures have become bureaucratic and bloated and "need to be refreshed," Edgar said it's not surprising to find any 50-year-old institution "stuck in the mud."

When he took the helm at Claremont, the United Methodist-related school was embroiled in financial difficulties, including the effects of embezzlements in the 1980s. Since 1990, however, the school's endowment has grown from $3.8 million to $21 million. Significant capital improvements also have been made, such as the construction of 90 units of additional student housing.

The NCCC's financial problems were underscored in October, when the United Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns decided to suspend funding temporarily to the council from the denomination's Interdenominational Cooperation Fund. The suspension is in place until the commission receives answers to questions about "past and future fiscal policies and management" and is assured that a viable financial recovery plan will be implemented.

The real key to improved financial health for the NCCC, Edgar believes, is not the usual strategy of cutting budgets and staff although that may be necessary but "to build hope and to create enthusiasm." People give money to fund exciting ideas, he explained, not to reduce deficits.

"My hope is that I could be a cheerleader to get some of that excitement going," he said.

As a beginning, Edgar hopes to find some quick, achievable goals. He also wants to sharpen the focus on the NCCC's mission and have the whole structure "reflect the ethnic, gender and cultural diversity of its member communions."

Edgar would like the council's 35 members to consider the NCCC's mission for the new millennium and find ways to tap into local communities. He envisions a program similar to Habitat for Humanity which focuses on building affordable housing that would be designed to rebuild people's lives.

He hopes the membership can celebrate its differences as well as find common direction. "I want us to be able to respect a minority point of view," he said.

Edgar served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's Seventh Congressional District from 1975 to 1987. During that period, he was a member of the House's Veterans' Affairs and Public Works and Transportation committees; chairman of the Congressional Clearinghouse on the Future; chairman of the Northeast-Midwest Congressional Coalition; and a member of the Select Committee on Assassinations, investigating the deaths of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and President John F. Kennedy.

He was national financial director of Sen. Paul Simon's presidential campaign from 1987 to 1988 and then director of the Committee for National Security, a private think tank, until his appointment to Claremont.

Edgar is a graduate of Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pa., and has a master of divinity degree from Drew University in Madison, N.J. He was ordained an elder in the United Methodist Eastern Pennsylvania Conference in 1968. As pastor of East Falls United Methodist Church in Philadelphia, he founded a committee that led to efforts to reduce gang violence and promote civil rights. He also is a co-founder of the People's Emergency Center, the first shelter for women and children in Philadelphia.

A member of the United Methodist Commission on Communication since 1992, Edgar currently is chairman of the search committee for a new general secretary to succeed the Rev. Judy Weidman, who is retiring.

Edgar is married to the former Merle Deaver. They have three sons, Rob Jr., David and Andrew.

November 11, 1999

Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, New York, and Washington.