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CENTRAL COMMITTEE
29 January - 6 February 2001
Potsdam, Germany

30 January 2001

WCC aims to mobilize more funds


The Moderator of the Finance Committee, Bishop Wolfgang Huber, Germany, advocated a double strategy for securing the budget of the World Council of Churches (WCC) for 2001. In his view, a vigorous effort is needed both "to mobilize potential income and to reduce possible expenditure".

Addressing the Central Committee on Monday 19 January at its meeting in Potsdam, Huber said that the WCC had already taken appropriate steps for income development in the medium term, with the appointment of the new Director of Income Monitoring and Development, Michiel Hardon from the Netherlands, and of Jane Richardson as Executive Secretary for Income Development in the USA.

Huber also indicated that the 1999 financial year had ended on a "very positive" note. At the last Central Committee meeting in September 1999, the WCC had to report a possible deficit of 778,000 Swiss francs, but the year had closed with a surplus of around 3 million Swiss francs, thanks largely to "excellent investment results". As a result, the WCC had been able to allocate "considerable contributions to the necessary reserves". This would enable the Council to balance the budget for the year 2000.

Huber urged Central Committee members to give more active support to the "10 million campaign" aimed at achieving a substantial increase in contributions from WCC Member churches by the year 2005.

Photos from the Central Committee

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The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 342, in more than 100 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but works cooperatively with the WCC. The highest governing body is the assembly, which meets approximately every seven years. The WCC was formally inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its staff is headed by general secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany.