From Gotham City to Capitol Hill

The National Council of Churches, long strapped for cash, is leaving its costly digs in Manhattan and consolidating with a slimmer staff in a Washington, D.C., office within walking distance of two branches of the federal government.

Therein lies a tale of church leaders who sought to wield moral influence from the high-rise “God Box” in New York but have shifted to the triangle-shaped United Methodist Building, said to house the only nongovernmental offices on Capitol Hill.

“The critical NCC policy work can be coordinated from any location,” said Peg Birk, transitional general secretary of the council, “but to be the prophetic ‘voice of the faithful’ on the ground in the places of power, it is best served by establishing our operations in Washington.”