Council Focuses on Fiscal Woes, Staff Cuts
CLEVELAND — It was billed as a 50th anniversary celebration, but the National Council of Churches meeting this week instead focused on staff cuts and the fiscal woes of the troubled religious alliance.
The council, formed in Cleveland half a century ago and meeting here to commemorate that event, is made up of 35 Christian denominations in the United States with more than 50 million members.
It has been involved in numerous relief, development and social justice efforts through the years, such as a project to rebuild burned black churches.
But the council, now based in New York, has also suffered from financial accountability problems and is facing a $3.2-million operating debt for 1999.
The council’s executive board approved cutting 34 jobs from its staff of about 120 people but was still struggling to come up with a budget for 2000.
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