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The Rev. Dr. Robert Edgar is president and CEO of Common Cause, and is the former general secretary of the National Council of Churches of Christ. He is an ordained United Methodist minister and former U.S. Congressman.

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United Methodist Church

Representative of:

National Council of Churches of Christ
Common Cause

The Rev. Dr. Robert Edgar is president and CEO of Common Cause, and is the former general secretary of the National Council of Churches of Christ. He is an ordained United Methodist minister and former U.S. Congressman.

In May 2007, Bob Edgar was named president and CEO of Common Cause, a national nonpartisan, non-profit "citizens" lobby working to make government at all levels more honest, open and accountable, and to connect citizens with their democracy.

Dr. Bob Edgar served for more than seven years as general secretary of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, the leading U.S. organization in the movement for Christian unity. Thirty-five Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, historically African-American and peace communions, to which approximately 45 million congregants belong, work together in the Council to promote unity and to serve churches and people worldwide.

Dr. Edgar joined the NCC on January 1, 2000, at a time of great opportunity, as the 50-year-old Council began to reshape its life and mission. Under his leadership, the Council began focusing its energies on major initiatives in the areas of overcoming poverty, protecting the environment, fostering interfaith understanding, and building international peace.

An ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, Dr. Edgar came to the Council from Claremont School of Theology, Claremont, Calif., where he was president from 1990-2000. During that decade, he brought a school on the brink of collapse back to institutional health, confirming his reputation as an optimist, a futurist, and a coalition builder who enjoys meeting a challenge.

Dr. Edgar is well known for his service as a six-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives, where he was the first Democrat in more than 120 years to be elected from the heavily Republican Seventh District of Pennsylvania. His election and service demonstrated the bipartisan, ecumenical quality that has marked his whole life and ministry.

Serving in Congress from 1974 to 1987, he led efforts to improve public transportation, authored the community Right to Know provisions of Super Fund legislation, co-authored the new GI bill for the all-volunteer service, fought wasteful water projects and supported environmental goals. Among other appointments, he served as chair of the Congressional Clearinghouse on the Future (1982-86) and as a member of the Select Committee on Assassinations (1976-78) that investigated the deaths of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and President John F. Kennedy. In 1987, true to his belief in term limits, he voluntarily stepped down from office.

His wide-ranging career has also included pastorates at United Methodist congregations and stints as a teacher, college chaplain, community organizer, and director of a think tank on national security issues.

An active volunteer, Dr. Edgar serves on the boards of several organizations, including Independent Sector, the National Coalition for Health Care, Common Cause, and the National Religious Partnership for the Environment. He serves on the board of directors of the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, an independent, non-profit organization that is a principal resource for Congress on environmental and energy issues.

Dr. Edgar received a bachelor of arts degree from Lycoming College, Williamsport, Pa., and a master of divinity degree from the Theological School of Drew University, Madison, N.J. He holds five honorary doctoral degrees.

Bob is the author of "Middle Church," a call to progressive people of faith to take back the moral high ground from the right-wing extremists and make America a better and less divided country.

Latest Content by The Rev. Dr. Robert Edgar

Gifts for the Common Good

1 Corinthians 12:4-13

September 02, 2007

The Rev. Dr. Robert Edgar (UMC)

We have the Apostle Paul to thank for the image of the Body of Christ. In this particular passage, he was addressing the quarreling followers of Jesus in Corinth. Paul had established this Christian community only a few years earlier, and he was writing because he had heard they couldn't agree on leadership. Sound familiar? So they were arguing amongst themselves. Paul is trying to tell them in this letter-you're missing the point. Spend your energy on what Jesus taught us. Respect the gifts in each other. And it doesn't matter what race or class or ethnic background you are, we are all equal in the eyes of the one God.

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In a Dark Time the Eye Can See

Luke 5:1-11

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 9/Ordinary 14)

July 06, 2003

The Rev. Dr. Robert Edgar (UMC)

These are dark times that we live in today, dark in the sense of crisis around the world, in terms of violence, dark in the sense that we often don't know what to do or who will lead us in the future. These are troubling times.

When I was a senior in theology school back in February of 1968, I went to Washington for the first time. I was invited by William Sloan Coffin, who at that time was chaplain at Yale University and later became the pastor at Riverside Church. We were invited to New York Avenue Presbyterian Church as people concerned about the Vietnam War. Laypersons and clergy came to that gathering. As a theological student, it was the first time I had to cross a picket line because a very ultra-conservative of that day was carrying a big sign that said, "Kill a Commie for Christ's sake." I was troubled, but I crossed that picket line, went into the church, went up into the balcony, and listened to speaker after speaker wrestle with the questions of the Vietnam War.

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