wfn.org | NCC assembly takes up debt relief, education, rights of disabled

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Nov. 17, 1998	Contact: Linda Bloom·(212) 870-3803·New York     {675}

By United Methodist News Service

Interfaith relations, public education, the rights of the disabled and
international debt relief were among the issues considered during the
National Council of Churches (NCC) General Assembly Nov. 11-13 in
Chicago.

Delegates, including United Methodists, gave unanimous preliminary
approval to a proposed policy statement on interfaith relations. The
statement will be circulated for study and review, with final action set
for the November 1999 assembly.

The statement is intended to encourage ecumenical participation in
interfaith relations and to provide a policy base for the NCC in working
with men and women of other religions.

Prepared by the NCC's Interfaith Relations Commission, the document
reflects the fact that U.S. Christians now find themselves in direct
relations with Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, Native American traditionalists
and other groups, according to the Rev. Margaret Thomas, commission
chairwoman.

The statement invites "affirmation of the Trinitarian theological
understanding of Christian faithfulness as including faithful relations
with people of other religious traditions," Thomas said. It also
encourages engaging with people of other faith backgrounds on social
concerns and justice issues.

A first reading of a proposed policy statement, "The Churches and the
Public Schools at the Turn of the Century," included a presentation by
David Hornbeck, superintendent of the Philadelphia school district. He
called upon NCC members to use their "moral vision and political power"
to support a quality education for all public school children.

Hornbeck called public education "the next great civil rights
battleground of the nation" and urged churches to take leadership. Along
with Philadelphia's mayor and school board, Hornbeck has filed a civil
rights lawsuit pressing for fair funding for that city's students.

General Assembly delegates also adopted a new policy statement,
"Disabilities, the Body of Christ and the Wholeness of Society." It
affirms a life of dignity and respect for human beings, including those
with disabilities, with such rights as access to education, health care,
useful work and recreation, as well as friendship, spiritual nurture,
freedom and self-expression.

A call to "cancel the unsustainable international debt of highly
indebted poor countries" was adopted, and the Jubilee 2000 campaign for
debt cancellation was endorsed.

An amendment presented by Mary Weathers, a United Methodist delegate,
was added calling for the immediate cancellation of debt in
hurricane-ravaged Honduras and Nicaragua. She noted that Honduras "has
been ravaged by debt for many years."

In other business, NCC assembly delegates:

* Sent a letter to President Clinton, asking for restraint and the use
of nonmilitary solutions concerning problems with Iraq.
* Expressed support for the United Nations and had a first reading on
"Seven Pillars of Peace for the 21st Century," a proposed policy
statement on the United Nations.
* Celebrated the 50th anniversary of the World Council of Churches
during a service at First United Methodist Church in Evanston, Ill., the
site of the WCC's second assembly in 1954.
* Heard, for the first time, a speaker from the Pentecostal tradition.
The Rev. David D. Daniels, III, of the Church of God in Christ, is an
associate professor at Chicago's McCormick Theological Seminary and a
former member of the NCC Faith and Order Commission.
* Received greetings from the Rev. Gwynne Guibord, national ecumenical
officer of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Churches, who
decried violence against gays and lesbians.
* Received greetings from retired Bishop Timothy Joseph Lyne of Chicago,
representing the National Conference of Catholic Bishops.
* Approved membership for the American Diocese of the Malankara Orthodox
Syrian Church.
* Honored eight ecumenical agencies for their innovative programs.

The NCC is composed of 35 Protestant and Orthodox member communions.
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