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NCCCUSA General Assembly News
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the 
U.S.A.
Contact: NCC News, New York, 212-870-2227, or
(Noon Nov. 11 until 1 p.m. Nov. 14) NCC Media Desk, 
202-662-1444
Internet: news@ncccusa.org

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

General Assembly news and documentation will be 
available on the
NCC's Web Site: www.ncccusa.org

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE AGENDA
(Agenda remains 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.  (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.  Ambassador Andrew Young, a United Church of 
Christ minister, is the nominee for the office of 
President Elect (for 1998-99); he'd serve as NCC 
President in 2000-01.

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.  Will include round table 
discussion to lay the groundwork for a proposed NCC 
policy on interfaith relations.

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, brought by Bishop Joseph 
Fiorenza, Vice President, NCCB.

2:05 p.m. - Presentations/ actions on National 
Ministries issues: Organ and Tissue Transplantation 
(Guest Speaker: Dr. Clive Collender, Chief of 
Surgery, Howard University Hospital), Churches & 
Disabilities, Churches & Public Schools, No Barriers 
for Deaf People in Churches, Leonard Peltier (Guest 
Speaker: Dennis Banks, American Indian Activist), 
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

7:30 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.  (Hotel Washington, Federal 
Room)

8:50 a.m. - Special Address by the Hon. Albert Gore, 
Vice President of the United States.

9:45 a.m. - What Shape Might Future U.S. Ecumenical 
Cooperation Take?  (Report of the NCC's Ecclesiology 
Task Force)  Includes table discussions.

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.  (Honoring eight state/local 
ecumenical/interfaith councils)

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

9:40 a.m. -- Christian Witness in the Public Square.  
Special Presentation: Bill Moyers, Correspondent.  
Guest Speakers: Bishop McKinley Young, African 
Methodist Episcopal Church, on Campaign Finance 
Reform, and Representatives of the Maryknoll Society 
Peace and Justice Office on Debtor Nation/Jubilee 
2000.

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.   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 
Activist.  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.

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