About the New York State Council of Churches

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History
Programs and Ministries
Governance
Funding
Members
Officers
Staff
Constitution and Bylaws

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It is the essence of ecumenical work to seek ways of helping all humanity to know the nurturing and continually creating presence of God. Thus the preamble of the New York State Council of Churches includes the following sentences:

"...We are called by the Word of God and mutually joined together in the name of Jesus Christ to proclaim the Gospel powerfully and to manifest creatively God's good and just purposes throughout New York State. Therefore, we covenant to care for one another, safeguard the presence of a vital Christian faith community in each place, provide hospitality to all, proclaim the Gospel boldly in each place, and declare God's just will among powers and principalities."

From this, grows the purpose of the New York State Council of Churches as a statewide organization through which Christian denominations accomplish mission goals that can be achieved more effectively by working together. Historically and in the present time, mission goals focus on social justice, institutional pastoral care, and ecumenical cooperation in education, worship and action.

History

The organization that is now the New York State Council of Churches continues the work of the New York State Council of Churches, which was formed by a merger of Alcohol Education For Youth, Inc. and New York State Council of Religious Education which continued the work of the New York State Sunday School Association founded in 1889.

Programs and Ministries

The programs and ministries of the New York State Community Churches are designed to nurture the community of faith and to be the Church in the public arena. These two aspects of ecumenical work in New York are interrelated because only as the community of faith has its own needs met can it be a vital presence in the public arena.

Nurturing the Community of Faith

What an organization such as the New York State Council of Churches can do to be supportive of its member churches includes providing networking opportunities, a forum for addressing common problems and education on issues that affect large segments of the constituency. Some of the ways this is done includes:

The Forum is a gathering of denominational leadership. It gives bishops and executives the opportunity to gather around a supportive table where they can share concerns and enrich each's understanding of what it means to be the church in today's world. This sharing also informs the pastoral and prophetic ministries of the New York State Council of Churches. The Forum meets in a retreat format two times a year.

Part of safeguarding the presence of a vital faith community in each place is support for local and regional ecumenical and interfaith organizations across the state. Whether the need is letters of support for activities, assistance with making contacts or requests for information this relationship is a collegial and reciprocal one. New ways of providing resources and linkages are being explored.

The NYSCC supports the community of faith through special events, educational resources and communication on topics of concern to religious community. In the past year the New York State Council of Churches has done such things as being a conduit for information during the 9/11 disaster and helping churches understand emerging public policies that affect their ministry (such as child sexual abuse by clergy).

The Church in the Public Arena

For the member denominations of the New York State Council of Churches, being the Church in the Public Arena takes the form of both prophetic and pastoral ministries.

Prophetic Ministry

Prophetic ministry in the public sphere is best seen in advocacy with decisionmakers and education resources about the issues for congregations. At times there are legislative memos of support or opposition, testimony before committees or press conferences. The two groups primarily responsible for the prophetic ministry of the New York State Council of Churches are the Collegium and the Public Policy Commission.

The Public Policy Commission is made up of representatives from member denominations and local and regional ecumenical organizations. They act as a link to bring information to and from the body they are representing, recommend issue priorities, oversee and participate in advocacy efforts.

The Collegium visits each year with the Governor and legislative leaders. In the fall of 2001 they extended their witness to the New York delegation in Congress with a trip to DC and will be returning in the spring of 2003.

Healing Ministry

Healing ministry in the public sphere is evident in the work of the Chaplaincy Commission which oversees the certification and recommendation of Protestant chaplains in state institutions of Corrections, Family and Children's Services, Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Developmental Disability. They set the criteria, develop the process by which perspective candidates are certified, serve on certification committees and help develop proposals for more effective ministry.

The Chaplaincy Commission is also made up of representatives from member denominations plus active and retired chaplains from the various state departments that employ chaplains.

Governance

Representatives (usually the Bishop or Executive ) of member bodies plus the chairs of the Commissions and Standing Committees make up the legal governing body of the New York State Council of Churches. It is called the Collegium. The Collegium has responsibility for the spiritual well being and organizational integrity of the organization and for exercising leadership in local, regional and statewide ecumenism.

Standing committees are responsible for organizational oversight in areas of Finance, Personnel, Membership and Nominations. These committees report and make recommendations to the Collegium. In addition to usual requirements for a quorum, standing committee meetings must have representatives from at least three denominations.

Funding

Nearly two-thirds of the funding for ministries and programs of the New York State Council of Churches comes from denominational judicatories. Gifts from congregations and individuals are another important source of funding. The remainder comes from investment income and a chaplaincy grant. No monies are received from government or United Way sources.

Who Are Members?

The members of the New York State Council of Churches are denominational judicatories serving New York State as a whole or a significant segment thereof.

Members are expected to affirm the purpose of the organization, contribute a fair share of financial support and appoint representatives to the Collegium, Commissions and Standing Committees. In the past year judicatories representing the following denominations have participated:

American Baptist Churches
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Empire Baptist Missionary Convention
Episcopal Church
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Presbyterian Church (USA)
Reformed Church in America
Religious Society of Friends
United Church of Christ
United Methodist Church

 

 Officers

Commission Chairs

The Rev. Charles H. Straut, Jr.	Public Policy	The United Methodist Church
Ed Muller	Chaplaincy	Retired New York State Ministerial Program  Coordinator for Department of Corrections (UM)

 

The Staff

The New York State Council of Churches has both support and program staff.

Executive Director - Mary Lu Bowen -
With 23 years of ecumenical experience, Mary Lu has served as Executive Director since 1998.

Support Staff

Sylvenia Cochran, Administrative Assistant
Staff member since 1978, Syl is also the office manager and keeper of chaplaincy records.

Charlene Schaffer, Bookkeeper
Charlene began as bookkeeper for the New York State Council of Churches in 2005.

Program Staff

Damaris McGuire, Chaplaincy Coordinator
Since 1999, "Demi" has been overseeing the certification process, dealing with problems of chaplains and acting as an interface with the state.

Dan Hahn, Public Policy Consultant and Communications Specialist
As Public Policy Consultant, Dan does in depth study and writes about issues, makes legislative contacts and helps plan strategies and events.
As Communications Specialist Dan has designed and manages the web site, and is responsible for the newsletter.