wfn.org | NCCCUSA General Assembly

[CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org (CAROL FOUKE)]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the 
USA
Contact: NCC News, New York, 212-870-2227, or
                Noon Nov. 11 to 1 p.m. Nov. 14, 
Media Desk, 202-662-1444
Internet: news@ncccusa.org

NOV. 11-14 GENERAL ASSEMBLY, NATIONAL COUNCIL OF 
CHURCHES
Hotel Washington, 15th & Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., 
Washington, D.C.

News Media Welcome!  For credentials and materials 
and to request help with your questions and with 
setting up interviews with Assembly participants, 
come to the NCC General Assembly Media Desk, on the 
Hotel Washington's Lower Level near the Ballroom.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE AGENDA
(Agenda is subject to amendment)

All sessions are in the Hotel Washington Ballroom 
unless otherwise noted.

TUESDAY, Nov. 11

9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. - 50-member NCC Executive 
Board, a high-level "subset" of the 270-member 
General Assembly, with its own assigned 
responsibilities.  (Hotel Washington, Roof Level)

3:00 to 5:00 p.m. - Case Study on Global Issues in 
Religious Freedom and Persecution & Assembly 
Orientation (Hotel Washington, Roof Level).

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 12

10:00 a.m. - Seating of the delegation of the Mar 
Thoma Syrian Church of India, the NCC's 34th member 
communion.

10:20 a.m. - Election of new NCC officers for 1998-
99.

10:30 a.m. - The Churches' Response to the Changing 
Religious Landscape of the United States.  Guest 
Speaker: Dr. Diana Eck of the Harvard University 
Pluralism Project.

11:45 a.m. - Address by His Holiness, Aram I, 
Catholicos, the Great House of Cilicia, Armenian 
Apostolic Church, and Moderator, World Council of 
Churches Central Committee.

12:15 p.m. - "Noon News Briefing."  With officers 
and others among the day's speakers and 
participants.  Check NCC Media Desk for location.

1:45 p.m. - Greetings from Local Ecumenical 
Partners: Dr. Sulyman Nyang, President, InterFaith 
Conference of Metropolitan Washington, and the Rev. 
Gordon M. Forbes, Interim Executive Director, The 
Council of Churches of Greater Washington.

2:00 p.m. - Greetings from the National Conference 
of Catholic Bishops.

2:05 p.m. - Presentations and actions on National 
Ministries issues: Organ and Tissue Transplantation, 
Churches and Disabilities, Churches and the Public 
Schools, No Barriers for Deaf People in Churches, 
Leonard Peltier, Paper Use.

4:00 p.m. - Presentation: Institutional Barriers to 
Inclusiveness in Our Churches.

4:30 p.m. - Report of NCC General Secretary, Rev. 
Dr. Joan B. Campbell.

6:30 p.m. - Service of Installation of Bishop Craig 
Barry Anderson as NCC President for 1998-99 and of 
other NCC officers (Washington National Cathedral).

THURSDAY, Nov. 13

8 a.m. - Media Breakfast with the editor and authors 
of the new book "Out of the Ashes," a theological, 
ecclesiological and ethical reflection on the church 
burnings.  Check Media Desk for location.

9:30 a.m. - What Shape Might Future U.S. Ecumenical 
Cooperation Take?  (Report of the NCC's Ecclesiology 
Task Force)

10:45 a.m. - Introduction of the new book "Out of 
the Ashes."

11:00 a.m. - International Ministry issues, 
including the 50th Anniversary of the Universal 
Declaration of Human Rights, Sierra Leone, Anti-
Personnel Land Mines.  Guest Speaker: Jody Williams, 
Coordinator, International Campaign to Ban 
Landmines, and Co-Winner (with the ICBL) of the 1997 
Nobel Peace Prize.

12:15 p.m. - "Noon News Briefing."  With Jody 
Williams and others among the day's speakers and 
participants.  Check NCC Media Desk for location.

1:45 p.m. - The 70th Anniversary of the Faith and 
Order Movement, with a Look at Today's Church-
Uniting and Church-Dividing Issues.  Guest Speaker: 
Dr. Mary Tanner, Chair, Faith and Order Commission, 
World Council of Churches.

3:20 p.m. - A Celebration of Ecumenical/Interfaith 
Service Achievements.

4:00 p.m. - Tour of the U.S. Holocaust Museum and 
Special Program on "Protestant and Orthodox Rescuers 
and Resisters."  (U.S. Holocaust Museum)

7:30 p.m. - Reception for the Rev. Riad Jarjour, 
General Secretary, Middle East Council of Churches, 
and Mr. Alimany I. Koroma, General Secretary, 
Council of Churches of Sierra Leone.

FRIDAY, Nov. 14

11: 00 a.m. - Witness in the World: Report of NCC 
delegation visits to East Timor, North Korea and the 
Middle East.  Guest Speaker: The Rev. Dr. Riad 
Jarjour, General Secretary, Middle East Council of 
Churches.

RELATED EVENTS Nov. 10-14

Nov. 10 Worship Hosted by D.C. area Lesbigay-
Affirming Church Leaders.  7 p.m., New York Avenue 
Presbyterian Church, 131 New York Ave. N.W., Wash., 
D.C.

Nov. 11 News Conference by Interfaith Hunger Appeal 
delegation upon return from North Korea.  1 p.m., 
National Press Club, Lisagor Room.  

Nov. 12 Luncheon with the Rev. Dr. Barbara Brown 
Zikmund, President, Hartford Seminary, co-author of 
the new book "Clergy Women: An Uphill Calling."  
12:15 p.m., Hotel Washington.  Gains, inequities and 
problems of clergy women over the past decade.  
Advance registration required - Stop at the NCC 
Media Desk.

Nov. 13 "People, Not Mascots" luncheon on 
advertising and sports mascots that parody Native 
Americans, with Dennis Banks, American Indian 
Movement.  Noon, Hotel Washington.  Advance 
registration required - Stop at the NCC Media Desk.

Nov. 13 Gay/Lesbian Concerns Breakfast.  7:00 a.m., 
Hotel Washington.  Hosted by the National Leaders of 
Lesbian/Gay Affirming Christian Organizations.  
Advance registration required: Stop at the 
Lesbian/Gay Leaders Registration Table Nov. 10-11.

Nov. 14 State-Local Ecumenism Breakfast.  7:00 a.m., 
Hotel Washington.  Advance registration required: 
Stop at the NCC Media Desk.

-end-
 -0-