wfn.org | SUDAN, INTERFAITH WORK, FINANCES ON NCC EXECUTIVE BOARD AGENDA

["Nat'l Council of Churches" <nccc_usa@ncccusa.org>]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
Contact: NCC News, 212-870-2252/2227
E-Mail: news@ncccusa.org; Web: www.ncccusa.org
NCC2/27/02 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SUDAN, INTERFAITH WORK, FINANCES ON NCC EXECUTIVE BOARD AGENDA

	February 27, 2002, NEW YORK CITY - A resolution on Sudan, developments in
interfaith relations work and an update on finances were on the agenda of
the National Council of Churches winter Executive Board meeting, held here
Feb. 25-26.

	SUDAN: A comprehensive Resolution on Sudan approved by the NCC Executive
Board makes a series of recommendations to the U.S. government and churches
aimed at facilitating an end to the Sudans 20-year-long civil war.  The
Board of Directors of Church World Service, a global humanitarian ministry
of the NCCs 36 member communions, approved the resolution last October.

	The 152-line resolution and 20-page annex give us a much more detailed and
comprehensive policy base for ecumenical public policy advocacy on the
Sudan, noted the Rev. Canon Patrick Mauney of The Episcopal Church,
presenting the resolution.  Mauney chairs the CWS Board of Directors and
represents CWS on the NCC Executive Board.  We take action as the United
States government takes a more active role in seeking peace for the Sudan.

	The NCC and CWS already are preparing study materials on the Sudan for
churches use in 2002-2003, and CWSs 2,000 fund-raising CROP WALKS in
2002-2003 will include an educational focus on the Sudan.

	The resolution will be available at www.ncccusa.org, or by mail from the
NCC/CWS Communication Department, Room 880, 475 Riverside Drive, New York,
NY 10115.

INTERFAITH RELATIONS: The NCCs work to foster better interfaith
understanding was highlighted during the Executive Board meeting.  The Board
welcomed the commitment by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ to assure staffing
for that work through September 2003, and celebrated publication by the NCC
s Friendship Press of the second edition of God is One: The Way of Islam.

	The Rev. Dr. Jay T. Rock, NCC Interfaith Relations Director, reported that
in June, the NCC and Hartford (Conn.) Seminary will offer a one-week
intensive course on Islam for Christian clergy and lay leaders.  He also
noted plans for a pilot test during the next 12 months of Faithful Living
Workshops, a model for multi-religious conversation, in five cities:
Lexington, Ky.; Seattle, Wash.; St. Paul, Minn.; Los Angeles, Calif., and
Orlando, Fla.

	Interfaith Relations priorities, Dr. Rock said, are
relationship-building - primarily with Muslim, Jewish and Buddhist
communities and with Native American traditionalists; engaging young adults,
and equipping members of congregations for interfaith dialogue.

	The Executive Board heard two guest speakers - Dr. Sayyid Syeed, Secretary
General of the Islamic Society of North America, Plainfield, Ind., and
former Congressman Paul Findley (R-Ill.), author of Silent No More, an
account of his own journey of encounter with scores of Muslim men and women
and his growing understanding of the Muslim world.

	Dr. Syeed called on his listeners to help create a society where all
religions are given a role to contribute to the spiritual richness of this
new society and to overcome the legacy of a millennium that has been full
of demonization between Christians and Muslims.

Findley said his book is a plea for interfaith understanding, noting, I
was 52 years old before I knowingly had a conversation with a Muslim.
Affirmed NCC General Secretary Bob Edgar, For Americans who have absorbed
the stereotypes of Muslims that are pervasive in our culture, the experience
of getting to know even a single Muslim neighbor or co-worker can be the
breakthrough that replaces false images with a realistic picture.

NCC FINANCES: The Rev. Philip H. Young, NCC Finance and Administration
Committee Chair, reported on steps taken since the Boards last meeting in
November 2001 to ensure that revenues and expenditures balance at the end of
the NCCs July 1, 2001,-June 30, 2002, fiscal year.

These have included more than $1 million in savings through program budget
and staff reductions (from 54 to 36, mostly in the administrative support
positions) and consolidation of office space, putting 2001-2002 projected
revenues/expenditures at $5.7 million.

-end-