c. 1996 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) In the historic moment when evangelical leader Don Argue addressed the National Council of Churches General Assembly in Chicago Wednesday (Nov. 13), the first words out of his mouth were a prayer for a dying Catholic archbishop.

The appearance of Argue, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, marked the first time an official of the theologically conservative association has addressed the NCC assembly, which tends to be more theologically liberal.

As Argue joined Protestant and Orthodox leaders in honoring Chicago Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, who was reported to be near death Wednesday, those involved in interfaith efforts saw it as a powerful moment in cross-denominational relations.

The Rev. Thomas Baima, ecumenical officer of the Archdiocese of Chicago, accepted the council’s first Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Common Ground Award on the archbishop’s behalf. The award derives its name from Bernardin’s recent effort to heal doctrinal divisions within the Catholic Church.”It was kind of a striking coming together of different religious groups in the country that have often been at odds with each other in a kind of act of unity focused on the witness of Cardinal Bernardin,”said the Rev. Bruce Robbins, ecumenical staff officer of the United Methodist Church.

Argue went on to take the role of teacher, reciting his association’s mission statement and the essence of its”Evangelical Manifesto”that defines the evangelical beliefs.

Robbins noted that the mission statements of the NAE and the NCC are similar _ both wishing to work through denominations to foster Christian unity. He expressed hope that Argue’s Chicago address will lead to better relations between evangelical and mainline denominations with shared histories.”For instance, in the United Methodist Church, we have not nearly enough conversations with Methodist churches of the Wesleyan Holiness tradition, many of which are members of the National Association of Evangelicals,”Robbins said.”I feel a sense of calling … to recognize and attempt to build stronger relationships with our churches very close to us who are in that organization (NAE) instead of the National Council of Churches.” Argue’s presence at the gathering of mainline Protestant and Orthodox Christians was viewed as an indication that the nature of ecumenism, mostly the domain of mainline Protestants in the United States, may be changing.”The National Association of Evangelicals was formed as a deliberate alternative to the National Council of Churches and much of the early history had a lot of animosity toward the National Council (of Churches),”said the Rev. Paul A. Crow Jr., chief ecumenical officer of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).”And the so-called liberal churches have not been as kindly to the National Association (of Evangelicals) as they could have been across the years.” Both Argue and the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, general secretary of the NCC, said shared issues _ from racism to pornography _ have prompted new communication between their groups.”What’s really driving us (is that the) moral level in the nation has descended so that those of us who hold to a biblical morality are being drawn together and are finding we have more in common than perhaps we had thought,”Argue said after his speech.

When asked who was responsible for the groups making new efforts to relate, Campbell said:”Both organizations have changed as we face problems together _ for example, racial justice, hunger, welfare and child pornography. We have found ourselves on the same side of these issues. We have found common ground.” Several observers also said Argue’s appearance was significant because it was more than an individual statement.”He comes with the blessing of his board and I think that makes it more significant,”Campbell said prior to Argue’s speech.

Argue proposed no new initiatives in his speech, but focused only on a rudimentary explanation of evangelicals.”His whole tack was to tell us what the NAE is and also to clarify what is an evangelical,”said the Rev. Douglas Fromm, associate for ecumenical relations for the Reformed Church in America.”I didn’t hear anything that addressed the negative history and I didn’t hear any invitation to say, `Now let’s see where we can go commonly together.'” But Fromm said just delineating where a group stands can be a first step for improved relations.”We work an awful lot with stereotypes as human beings and I think this was … clarifying,”he said.

But the Rev. Gilbert H. Caldwell, a United Methodist minister from New York City, who is a delegate to the NCC general assembly, said Argue”came as he is”without straying from his theological perspective.”Even as we touch base and converse in new ways that does not mean that we must (negate) the particularities of those whom we represent,”said Caldwell.

Evangelical observer Michael Cromartie said there may be some critics who will condemn the NAE for being open to addressing the NCC, but he thinks the NCC’s invitation to Argue is a good sign.”There will be many who welcome it because they know that these kinds of conversations should have been going on for a long time,”said Cromartie, director of the Evangelical Studies Project of the conservative Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.”We live in a day and age where we need to be talking and persuading one another of our views instead of just lobbing verbal hand grenades at each other. The more dialogue that takes place _ dialogue rooted in theological convictions _ the better.”

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