The Rev. Dr. Robert Edgar

Denomination: United Methodist Church (UMC)
Organization: National Council of Churches of Christ

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.

Day1 Weekly Programs by The Rev. Dr. Robert Edgar

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Gifts for the Common Good

Sunday September 02, 2007
The Rev. Dr. Robert Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches of Christ, calls us to rigorous discipleship that seeks to live a live working for peace, caring for the poor and attending to all of creation.

In a Dark Time the Eye Can See

Sunday July 06, 2003
The Rev. Dr. Robert Edgar is general secretary of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, headquartered in New York, New York.