NCC’s new emphasis seems to have been spurred on by the organization’s financial plight. Membership, funding, and staff have been declining for two decades. Last year was particularly tough for the 35-denomination, 50-million-member organization. Consulting fees, retirement fund errors, and an unexpected rash of burned churches drawing down the NCC’s rebuilding fund have left the NCC with an estimated $6.4 million deficit. The NCC board is in the process of reinforcing financial accountability.

In May the council received another blow when Church World Service (CWS), an organization under the auspices of the NCC, formalized its break from the council. As the NCC’s relief agency, CWS was responsible for about 85 percent of NCC spending, thus eliminating a large part of the NCC’s traditional mission.

Taking a landmark step of its own in March, the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) changed its bylaws to allow NCC members also to have a membership with the NAE if they commit to NAE’s statement of faith and mission. This change gave rise to a bid by the Reformed Church in America in June to become the first member of both organizations.

“The Reformed church has historically been both ecumenical and evangelical,” Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, general secretary of the Reformed Church told the Religion News Service. “I trust that we can build bridges between divided parts of the Christian community for the sake of our common witness to the world.”

But many evangelicals remain wary of the newly developing relationship, saying the NCC has traditionally focused on political concerns. As an example, some evangelicals point to a June speech at the Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly, where NCC President Andrew Young reiterated his support for homosexual rights but spoke little about specifically spiritual matters.

“While the NCC has been making small overtures to the evangelical community for years, this new openness seems to be largely driven by financial considerations,” says Brad Ericson, editor of Conversations, an Evangelical Free Church newsletter. “The real question is whether the new NCC will have a focus and goals that reflect what all Christians should agree is most important: the advancement of the Kingdom of Christ and his glory.”