Money withheld to NCC over Elián

 BY D. AILEEN DODD

 Hispanic congregations in the Miami district of the
 United Methodist Church have withheld donations to
 a fund used recently to bail out the struggling
 National Council of Churches from its 1999 deficit
 and balance its current budget.

 The council Thursday was anticipating $400,000
 from the United Methodist Church for its debt-relief
 campaign. Methodists are among several religious bodies in the council's alliance
 of 36 denominations committed to raising $2 million to help the group.

 The Methodists are the largest donors, promising some $700,000 to the program.
 But a group of South Florida clergy, still angry about the agency's role in reuniting
 Elián González and his father in the boy's custody battle, would rather see the
 money go elsewhere.

 ``We are against any money to the NCC,'' said Miguel Velez, pastor of Coral Way
 United Methodist Church in Miami. ``We don't agree with the general church.
 Most of our Hispanic churches are very concerned about the NCC's participation
 in the political arena in Cuba. It is an oppressive system.''

 Coral Way and the Hispanic American United Methodist Church of Hialeah
 withhold money from a fund that feeds into the national denomination's
 Interdenominational Cooperation budget, which allocates money to the council.
 The church gave the council $641,000 in 1999 and 2000 in basic budget support,
 some of which is paid on a monthly basis.

 ``We have a line item [that] churches are asked to contribute to help support the
 ecumenical work of the [NCC]. We've been doing that for years,'' said the Rev.
 Clarke Campbell-Evans, Miami District superintendent of the United Methodist
 Church. ``There are some churches that have chosen, because of the Elián
 situation, not to be supportive.''

 Council officials said the agency hasn't felt the pinch from the lack of support from
 Miami.

 ``Many of the same people who criticize the fact that we do humanitarian,
 education, and material support to Cuba are helpful to us and send blankets to
 Mozambique or [aid] to Venezuela when there is a flood,'' said Bob Edgar, general
 secretary of the council.

 The council had a year-end deficit of $5.9 million in 1999. Of that, $4 million was
 covered by the special debt-reduction campaign -- $2 million from member
 communions and $2 million from other sources. The remaining $1.9 million loss
 was offset by support revenues and gains, NCC officials said.

 The $400,000 offering from the national Methodist Church is an advance on the
 denomination's payment for 2001-04. It has already given the council $100,000.
 Another $200,000 is expected to be contributed by Methodist agencies.

 The council has also received $500,000 from the Presbyterian Church USA;
 $300,000 from the Episcopal Church; $300,000 from the Evangelical Lutheran
 Church in America, $100,000 from the American Baptist Church and $500 from
 the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, among others.

 Edgar said the council's 1999 debt came mostly from borrowing money from
 surplus funds to balance the budget since 1994. Costs for the Elián González
 custody battle were not part of the deficit, he said.

 ``All of the planes were donated, and the expenses were very minimal,'' Edgar
 said.

 ``There was an outpouring of financial support.''